It is easy for me to remember the year that I was first married because it was also the 200th birthday of America. Now that my own age is approaching three quarters of a century, that number seems extremely small. Most everything grows at a phenomenal rate at the beginning – children, puppies, bird hatchlings – even seedlings. After that primary spurt of growth, growing slows down. It’s likely that the same holds true for countries.
Our country is young, bold, impetuous. Like a toddler falling down while learning to walk, our country struggled to become independent of Europe. That independence began nearly 250 years ago. Since then, we have attempted to brazenly impose our will upon the rest of the world, like a rebellious teenager. My grandmother would have been a young woman during that frivolous time known as the Roaring Twenties – a time when the country’s economy was prospering. It was the first step on the path of consumerism – the path we are still on today.
We have recklessly trodden the gardens of our Mother Earth. Our bloated collective ego has run amok and there is devastation everywhere we turn. Population growth in the United States is slowing down as more women opt for equality. There is more evidence every day; however, that consumerism is not slowing down. If we continue down this road of greed and selfishness, we may end life as we have recently known it. As more people begin to awaken and mature as a nation, we may be forced to take a step backwards. If we are to celebrate another birthday in this country, we will have to set aside our childish ways. We will need to choose a path of tolerance and peace. We will have to realize that being a bully does not make us a great nation. Having a strong military and having guns accessible to even small children, is not a sign of power. It is a sign of fear. The only way that our country can mature, is to release the fear that has held the masses in its grip. We must adopt an attitude of honor and respect for all things and for each other. If we do not, we may not make it to our 300th birthday. The passage of 100 years is nothing, relative to Earth herself; but how the next 100 plays out is up to us.
