I Am America

I AM AMERICA (c)2002
July 4th, 2002
Eric Shore

I am America.
My name is recognized by people of every nation on Earth, no matter their language. Some see me as the coming of age of Humanity in freedom and prosperity. Others see me as “The Great Satan;” to be feared and kept at bay because contact with my culture causes their anachronistic parochialism to crumble.

I am America.
I am the unthinkable for some, and the unimaginable for others because I am all colors, all beliefs, all ages . . . there is no “them” and “us” to me. I embrace all people because I am all people. I am the “One” that arises from “many.” I am the first republic since Rome, and the first in recorded history to embrace the “Rule of Law" and the certainty that government rules only by the consent of the governed. I am the first to ever be born of “We the People.”

I am America.
I am more powerful than the next five nations on the planet, yet I do not conquer. I have an economy that dwarfs those of the next ten countries’ combined, yet I do not dictate. I give more of my wealth to the needy of the world than nearly all other countries combined, yet never publicize it or seek praise. When others are in pain, I am there. When tragedy strikes, I am there. I had the power to rule the world when no one could have prevented it, yet chose to spill my own blood to protect others from losing theirs to tyranny. I die each year to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and free the oppressed.

I am America.
I am not perfect, but I correct my mistakes. I have enslaved the helpless, but then set them free, and offered a hand as they rose to equality. I have brutalized and taken lands from Native Americans in my rush for expansion, yet honor them today for their character and heritage, and leave them with a degree of sovereignty and independence reserved for them, alone. I have taken part in atrocities around the world in the name of freedom, but have arrested and imprisoned my own people when they were shown to have been responsible. I am the only one to have ever used atomic weapons in anger, yet even then, only to end a war I did not start.

I am America.
My belief in my future gives me faith, my dreams give me hope, and my history endows me with charity. It is my diversity, though, which provides the strength to realize these ambitions; and my desire to change the world for the better that directs my destiny.

I am America.
I am the Last Best Hope of Humanity.