PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

So, this is far from a poem, but my mind works like the ocean, I catch things as they come in. Sure, I miss some, and those simply get washed back up at a later date. This line of thinking has been landing on the beaches for quite some time.

With all due respect, our world is changing. Granted, I am only twenty two years of age, and that limits my ability to see the long run. Or maybe it enhances my ability to see the long run as it really is, a collection of short periods of time that add up to make a long volume that we call history. Let's think about history for a second, and our place in it. The world is, and always has been, a place that stands on the brink of war, the edge of destruction. As we speak, American soldiers are engaged in a war halfway across the world, against a determined foe. We deploy soldiers and Marines to various locations that we feel might pose a problem in the near future. Our every act of foriegn policy is one designed to either win a currer war, prevent a war or make sure that we win a future war. Granted, that is simply the way we have to be in this day and age. We must stand ready to fight, and win, a war against any nation at any time. Such is the price of being the world's superpower. We have a target on our backs. I can say this with clarity, having spent time in the United States Military. But if one takes a step back from my, from our, small picture, we can see the world as it happens. United States forces are spread thin. We form the backbone of the forces that 'police' the world, that answer the call of freedom around the globe. We are struggling to pay for this, and there are domestic issues at home. Our masses grow hungry, they look for jobs that do not exist. We place too much emphasis on the use of other countries. There oil, there scientists. They send there masses to our doorstep and those masses, through the complacency of our own people, acheive far more then we do, for the most part. Complacency is the key word. I played sports my whole life and served in the Army. And I was told that complacency is the enemy, it will weaken you and batter down your skill levels, leaving you vulnerable. Complacency comes from being too good for too long. I feel that we, as a nation, suffer from that condition. It has been too long since we banded together and fought for something together. A war, a political change, a social shift. We stand divided, and divided we must soon fall. While we welcome the masses, 'Send us your masses', we must look to the inside to find our power. We are called the United States, but we are a divided people. Back to history.
Rome fell when it grew too large, its armies spread to thin. There were those who were unhappy with the way the nation was run, and with the armies involved in foreign affairs, Rome was an easy target for anyone, and everyone, who wanted to take a chance at the Eagle. Problems at home, military spread to thin. Financial issues, a people divided. Tell me, does that begin to draw a line? No nation, no ideal will ever live for eternity. Hitler created a Reich that was supposed to last for a thousand years. As we can see, he failed. Rome fell, Greece fell. Alexander conquered the world and lost it. So we must ask ourselves, what can we do to avoid that same fate? We must stand strong, we must fall back on the principles that guided the creators of this nation. I do not mean the ones who signed the documents, not at all. I mean the minute man, the volunteer who bled and died at Yorktown and Bunker Hill. Those are the people who founded this nation, the ones who put aside petty differences and stood strong. They refused to answer to a tyrant, refused to act as pawns. They made there place in history with an iron will and they carved out a nation.
As we have rights taken away by our own government, we must think back to those times. It is a right granted to us in the very Bill of Rights, the right to keep arms. This right is given to us so that we may stand against a tyrant and say 'No, this is too much. You have crossed a line, and I will defend that line. Do not tread on me.' It would seem that we have forgotten this fact, and we are letting our rights be taken away. We are letting the attitude of the world shape us. What happened to the proud American at D Day? He stood and said 'No, I will not stand for this. I will fight and I will die, but I will die for my own reasons, for my own values. That of a United and forward thinking America, and I will not allow others to suffer." Now, we allow ourselves to suffer, and few have the courage to stand up. We are moving backwards as the world grows. When things do not work, we fix them.
But most importantly, let us not forget that America was won, not with an Army, but with a collection of citizens that were riflemen. The citizen of this great nation is, and always has been, its most dangerous weapon. A hunter, a rifleman. And we can become that again. You just have to look in the mirror and understand that we each play a part in this. What is your part?