Reading #3

To me the "idea of being an American" is having the freedoms that many other countries don't. I think its hard for me to understand the idea of being American because that's all I've ever known, but I've talked to people who have been to other countries and say how much they appreciate living here.
Being American means having the freedom to start from nothing and become successful. I also think that part of being America is being able to take advantage of the freedoms we exercise everyday. I couldn't ever imagine being told what to eat, how to dress, and what I couldn't do day after day.
It just so happens that my grandparents, mom, and I were in a somewhat "heated" discussion on who the next President should be right before I wrote this blog. My Grandparents who are in their early sixties are adamant about voting for McCain. However, my mom and I want to vote for Obama. I think that the ideas of "being American" and the direction of our country are completely different from mine. My grandparents believe that McCain should take office because he has been in war and has seen it as a primary source.
I think that America has been steered in the same (wrong) direction for almost eight years. I believe that if Obama goes into office he of course won't be able to change the country in one term, but he could start getting the wheels turned in the right direction, towards change.
A democratic society to me is a society that has the ability to choose how they run their country, who runs their country, and what's right for their country. I think that the previous generation has the same concept of what a democracy is I just think that my generation believes that our country is growing farther and farther away from the idea of a democracy.
America and the idea of democracy are completely intertwined. There would be no America without democracy. It's the foundation America was built on but sadly it's the same foundation that I believe is crumbling. People come here and depend on the democratic society we have today.