America is an invention. Devised just over 200 years ago, its people have invented new ways to use its power for good and evil. We may have helped some people, but how many died and suffered to make just a few people’s lives better? When the Declaration of Independence was written, people declared each other equal. Most of those people were hypocrites. Many people today are still hypocritical. You may have freedom of religion, speech, and once in a while, freedom of assembly, but America limits the freedoms of thought. The mind is the most complex thing in the universe, and each of ours is influenced by groups of aged men in business suits. They say America stands for freedom and individuals. They say we are the best country in the world, and we probably are, but as a nation, we do not realize that we are creating another invention. One that ruins ideas, and shoves them away. There are no ideas that only Americans can have, but only Americans can corrupt themselves, and halt their march to real freedom, and that is exactly what we are doing. Apparently, to be American means to be one who causes harm to their great nation. I also agree with others, though; not all citizens of the United States contribute to the downfall. Many people are trying to make the nation better, but the government throws their petitions away. These people are the Un-American, and maybe we should listen to them.

Our constitution is, without a doubt, one of the most important parts of our lives. Many people do not realize this. They take their lives and opportunities that “America gave them” for granted. The Bill of Rights was annexed to the Constitution in 1791, four years after the Constitution was written. Described on this document were the rights that we have today. The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to peacefully assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. That is a written declaration of law. Throughout our history, we have been denied these rights. On 13 August 2002, hundreds of protesters assembled peacefully outside of a hotel in Oregon where President Bush was attending a conference. These people were protesting the policies, set by the president, concerning increased logging of our national forests. These woodlands are protected from all logging industries, but if the government needs to keep warm at night, who cares? These people care, I care, and I am sure many others care, too. Continuing throughout the day, the protesters caused no trouble or danger for anyone. Riot police soon arrived and barraged the people with rubber bullets, pepper spray, and beanbag rounds because the petitioners were exercising their rights. Our nation is being corrupted and the government is tearing apart the Constitution, ripping it into pieces and casting it at our feet. The United States either has not realized why it was born, or it plans on dying mighty quickly.

There is an excellent punk-rock band named Bad Religion. The guys in the group are practically 40, but they still keep rocking. Over the past ten years or so, they have devised some of the most interesting and powerful lyrics I have ever heard. One of their many songs is entitled “New America”. “We are just a step away/ from realizing what we strive to be/ but we’ve got to break out/ from this blind and lame senility/…we are just marching towards extinction/ with blinders on our eyes/ jeopardizing everything/ we’ve learned and come to realize.” These words are an excerpt from the song “New America”. This song explains the views of the Un-American. Very few in our large population have heard, let alone followed, this song. The nation, as I see it, cares not for change. Why should America listen to these few people? Officials will not represent them in congress, even though senators and representatives are “the people’s voice”. “Transcend the mass hysteria/ change is the thing you’re weary of.”

Enter Morgan Morel. Morgan is our 15-year-old male subject. He considers himself to be an Un-American. Morgan is intrigued by the ideas of “a more perfect union”, as the Preamble to the American Constitution puts it. Preaching to his peers, and once in a while an adult figure, he opposes sweatshops, the people who buy articles produced from sweat shops, and most ideas put into his head by the media. As you can see, Morgan knows how the media and our pop culture can influence the minds of - not only small children but also - every citizen in the nation. He heard about the “riot” in Oregon as he sat with his beloved mater, listening to the late night news. All educated people learned about their rights in school, just as Morgan had. He knew that those protestors were denied a direct privilege from our forefathers, the men who founded our great melting pot of a nation. His eighth grade history teacher, Mrs. Lisa Drane, ensured that he remembered the First Amendment over all others. This amendment states that each citizen has the right to petition the government along with assembling, in a peaceful manner, to execute this action. Deducing that the “rioters” were in fact assembling peacefully, he knew that they were cheated of their liberties. Why do we, as a people, blunder and assume that all is well within the confines of the government’s populace? Why does the media teach us how to live the “American Way”? How can we ensure that those aged men in business suits are not controlling our liberties? They get paid fortunes to decide how our world revolves. When can we decide for ourselves, and get paid for it, too?

Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was the World Trade Center Buildings 1 and 2. Constructed by American hands, on American soil, they served as a playground for trouble. A bombing in 1993 caused a ruckus within the nation. Not ten years later, two planes crashed into the Twin Towers, yet another plane crashed into the Pentagon. For the next year and probably into the near future, the United States was a wild rodeo, where the people are the cowboys, and the government and the media are the bucking broncos, throwing us at their feet, wherever they wish, and stomping all o’er us. The nation has realized what those liberating documents were about, though, and from the ashes arises the phoenix, waving it’s Red, Blue, and White wings, filling the nation with honest, powerful patriotism. Many a person has come to realize what the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were for. They realize that these liberties given to us make America the greatest nation on Earth. They know that being controlled by a faction, which takes away their liberties to not be the true American Dream. America is not healed yet. We have not all acknowledged the problems we face. Until every single citizen, and illegal immigrant betwixt, knows what must be done, America cannot point it self in the correct direction. We will face hardships on the way, as we already have, but each one will contribute a positive adjustment to our nation’s strength as a people. Will America yearn for its liberties for years to come, or will the people gain them back through their fruitful deed of believing in what they want? Only time can tell us, and only time can oil the gears of America to make the nation last. For America is no longer a mere invention to be toyed with. America is the greatest machine in the world, with billions of gears. Which of these gears will be oiled first, and which ones will be left behind? Machines cannot work unless every gear is in check. Our gears are malfunctioning left and right. The question is: will America last?