Philip Germain: Choosing the future

Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor
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I was proud to give a local Democratic response to the State of the Union the other night, though Tomi Lahren seems to have an issue with political redheads now.

What I heard was not only a betrayal of our nation’s values, but of our core beliefs as human beings. The United States has always been a nation of immigrants, back to our very founding. We’ve been an amazing melting pot, but with a troubled past. This country was built upon the backs of slaves and immigrants, and we must remember that no matter how far we go. There is no rewinding the clock of history, but ensuring we acknowledge it and blaze a future that embraces our diversity.

There is a Greek proverb that I believe we must follow as a nation, “a society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” What future will the current generation of lawmakers leave to mine? What will my generation leave to the next? This is what we must have in mind.

There are children who are currently in our nation without any fault of their own under attack with nowhere to hide. What will the ink of history write? Will we protect our neighbors and ensure that they have the opportunity to pursue the American dream, or will we turn our back on our basic tenants and deport them? Will we try to save a dying coal industry while defunding future energy, or let America lead the way of green energy? Will we be the nation that ensures women’s rights are human rights, or will we turn back the clock? Will we protect the most vulnerable amongst us to give them a fighting chance of achieving the American dream, or crush any hopes for corporate profits? Will we choose to ensure our brothers and sisters receive the care they need at an affordable rate, or will we watch as savable lives are lost? This, my friends, is the crossroads we stand at.

I choose the future. Not as Democrats, or as Americans, but as human beings, we must choose progress. We cannot stand by as our core beliefs are thrown to the side in favor of corporate profits and supremacy. We must take this moment to remind ourselves why it is we are involved, why we wake up every morning with a mission, why we spend those long nights, why we sacrifice our time, and why we choose the future.

 

Chair, CA25 United for Progress

 

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