Report, edit, etc...Posted by Felagund on 2006-10-24 at 22:28:32
I wrote this essay tonight for a VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) essay contest. Basically, it's a 3-5 minute speech. It's also geared to be very patriotic, and $500 are on the line if my local chapter picks it out of all the essays submitted. Normally, not many people submit essays, so I could win some nice amount of cash. 
I'd also like to note that second and third places are $300 and $200, respectively.
I'd also like to note that second and third places are $300 and $200, respectively.QUOTE
In 1776, a group of extraordinary men secured America's independence from Great Britain. The new Constitution would secure America's freedom from internal strife and corruption thirteen years later. That document has served as the basis for a government for dozens of countries, and every last nation that has tasted democracy has never gone back. With such transcendent success, what could possibly forestall the ultimate ascent of that most basic ideal of freedom? The free nations of this world have shown that they can and will win wars. In 1944, the Allied nations were hailed as liberators of France, and today, the main Axis nations of Germany, Italy, and Japan all have some form of a republic. Wars can be won, but freedom's numerous challenges lie not in winning people's obedience but winning people's hearts.
There is one paramount reason that America has faced so much difficulty in securing Iraq. It is the same reason that has plagued the expansion of democracy and freedom itself. We have the power to liberate everyone, but we will never have the power to make them want to be free. Freedom is defined as being unrestrained, and if America forces its beliefs upon others, is America truly accomplishing liberty? Freedom of speech, religion, and thought are not institutions merely granted to people. They are beliefs that are developed over centuries of practice and encouragement. Even America, the parent of modern democracy, is still evolving its institutions. Societal change is never sudden, instead often taking hundreds of years to develop. Simply because America declared that Iraq has all the freedoms that Americans enjoy hardly means that Iraqis are capable of appreciating their new liberty. Until they truly have that desire for freedom and are willing to die for it, they will never know its true meaning.
Likewise, countless examples could be cited showing how America has spread liberty across the entire world, but there are no examples of America making any people believe in an ideal. The most freedom can do for any oppressed people is to offer them a choice and give them a chance to decide for themselves. For hundreds of years, America has given people hope across the world, offering a better way of life than they were accustomed to. Jews could find sanctuary from the numerous pogroms of Europe, Irish could escape famine, and Muslims, Christians, and Hindus could all live in peace and prosperity. However, there continues to be persecution despite America's effulgent example of freedom. In Sudan, millions of victims have been displaced by militias, China keeps the vast majority of its population well beneath the poverty line, and Pakistan continuously trades blows with India over a small strip of land known as Kashmir. For those that wish to appreciate our freedom, America cannot be there to hold their hand every step of the way, but like a good parent, they can give those peoples that seek freedom a step in the right direction.
There have always been those that desire power for themselves, of course, and those that appreciate freedom will be there to guard against those that don't.
There is one paramount reason that America has faced so much difficulty in securing Iraq. It is the same reason that has plagued the expansion of democracy and freedom itself. We have the power to liberate everyone, but we will never have the power to make them want to be free. Freedom is defined as being unrestrained, and if America forces its beliefs upon others, is America truly accomplishing liberty? Freedom of speech, religion, and thought are not institutions merely granted to people. They are beliefs that are developed over centuries of practice and encouragement. Even America, the parent of modern democracy, is still evolving its institutions. Societal change is never sudden, instead often taking hundreds of years to develop. Simply because America declared that Iraq has all the freedoms that Americans enjoy hardly means that Iraqis are capable of appreciating their new liberty. Until they truly have that desire for freedom and are willing to die for it, they will never know its true meaning.
Likewise, countless examples could be cited showing how America has spread liberty across the entire world, but there are no examples of America making any people believe in an ideal. The most freedom can do for any oppressed people is to offer them a choice and give them a chance to decide for themselves. For hundreds of years, America has given people hope across the world, offering a better way of life than they were accustomed to. Jews could find sanctuary from the numerous pogroms of Europe, Irish could escape famine, and Muslims, Christians, and Hindus could all live in peace and prosperity. However, there continues to be persecution despite America's effulgent example of freedom. In Sudan, millions of victims have been displaced by militias, China keeps the vast majority of its population well beneath the poverty line, and Pakistan continuously trades blows with India over a small strip of land known as Kashmir. For those that wish to appreciate our freedom, America cannot be there to hold their hand every step of the way, but like a good parent, they can give those peoples that seek freedom a step in the right direction.
There have always been those that desire power for themselves, of course, and those that appreciate freedom will be there to guard against those that don't.