Think back a moment, if you will, to when you studied World War II in school. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt brought us into World War II, did the people of the United States unite as a bundle of sticks, or did they go their separate ways, protesting every minute detail at every twist and turn? Faced with war, the mothers took over the jobs the fathers had to leave. The children helped make Victory gardens. Bottle drives were started to help find metal for the army to use. Anything that could be done was done. For in unity there is strength. And when they worked together, they knew they could not be defeated.
Hit the fast forward button, let’s move a head about sixty years. September 11, 2001. It was a Tuesday, and the memory of those planes hitting the buildings and the field still remains embedded in our minds. After that catastrophe, flags were lowered, and signs were put up; signs that said ‘God bless America’ or ‘United we stand’. Signs that showed our support for our nation, our leaders, our fallen heroes, signs that showed our support and our love. We were a bundle of sticks. Again we believed what President Abraham Lincoln said, ‘United we stand, divided we fall.’ We stood united.
Congress gave the President the authority to declare war. And so he did. Steadfast as always, we stood behind him. For we knew that if we were a bundle of sticks, it would be impossible for our enemies to injure us. We were proud to be American. We were proud of our freedom. And we would stand by in support of those who fought bravely for it, giving up their lives that those of us here may inherit the treasure of liberty. No enemy could stand against us. We were united.
Fast forward again, this time to the present day. Controversy after controversy has come up and torn our country apart. Whether it is over Terri Schiavo, privatizing social security, illegal aliens, or taxes and tariffs, we have been divided. No longer do we pay heed to lessons learned in the past. No longer do we care. No longer are we worried that we will be torn asunder, and that thus divided we will fall. What has become of the unity that surrounded us? Where is the tender arm of Lady Liberty that wrapped us together as a bundle of sticks within her sweet embrace?
Are we alone, as a single stick, easy to snap in two by what powers there are in the world? Or can we once more quell our quarrels and make up as repentant siblings, ready to return to the loving arms of their mother, Freedom? In unity there is strength. In division, there is nothing.
COOL article! Very well written…. Good job.
I enjoyed the article, keep up the good work!
The analysis is superficial and misguided. The author deplores the lack of unity but makes no enquiry to determine the causes for this division. To be able to speak out against wrong actions regardless of the consequences is the hallmark of a civilised and democratic society. Blind allegiance can only lead to tyranny.
the author is not saying we should blindly support our government, but that if we wish to progress as a people we must accept the fact that some people do support it and others dont, put that aside, and continue to work together for the betterment of our society.