Katherine_F

Democracy, whether I realize it or not, plays a big role in my life. In my opinion, it is a society in which people are free to share their oppinions and ideas without being judged or persecuted. In America, when we hear of things like going to church or reading a certain book or even listening to the radio and watching tv, it is not common for us to associate those things with going to jail or being shot. Why? Because we are Americans, living the "good life." We, in America, are given the opportunity to express ourselves in ways that people across the world would never even immagine. We are given many rights including freedom of press, allowing us to read, listen, or watch anything we want, whether it is supporting or against something that our country, as a whole, believes in. We have the privilage of voting and having a voice in our communities and, if we try hard enough, we even have a chance to change things on a big scale.

While we have been given these rights, we always have the choice of whether or not we are going to use them. There are so many Americans who have no idea how good they have it. We complain about things like the height of taxes, but don’t stop to think about how those taxes are going to support our country and the “American way of life.” There are people in this country who critisize the president or state officials, when they did not even vote or voice their oppinions to elect someone else. Many people, including me, tend to get wrapped up in our own lives and not think about what is going on around us. There are so many easy ways that anybody could get involved and use the privilages that people have worked and are still working hard for us to have at our fingertips. These things include going to the local school commitee meeting to support something you care about or donating things to the less fortunate.

The people of this country work tirelessly so that we can be a place for people to come and feel welcomed and safe to give their suggestions of how to make this society better. We have the freedoms and the laws protecting us from any real type of persecution, so why dont we use it? Are we going to just sit and enjoy without giving anything back? Freedom isnt free. If we like the way we live our lives, then we need to think about what we can do to keep things the way that they are. They dont have to be things that change our crazy schedules around and complicate our lives, but simple things. So now the future of our country belongs to us. What are we going to do about it?