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5.14.2006

We the People

Wow… it's been a while since I posted… about 3 weeks, did ya miss me? There's been plenty of stuff that's been keepin' me busy, and I must apologize for that. One of those thangs that happened while I was away from the keyboard, was I witnessed the march against House Resolution 4437.

400,000 immigrants walking down the Jackson Boulevard, in Chicago. Now, this bill does a number of things like requiring a “700 mile fence along the US-Mexican border” and “requiring the federal government to take custody of illegal aliens.” Other such things as “making employers to verify workers' legal status” and “housing of illegals will be considered a felony and subject to no less than 3 years in prison”… those kinda things. Then there's these small details like requiring “all United States Border Patrol uniforms to be made in the U.S. to avoid forgeries”… sometimes I wonder. [Honestly, think about how much time is spent on the little details, what my name should be on myspace.com—I don't know how many times I've gone through this. It's not like I don't get it, I understand the significance… but c'mon man… decide on something a little bit more important… please. I'm beggin' here.] Anyways, for a list of details… click here.

Now, my major issue with this bill is—what happened to being American? I would argue that many people (possibly the majority) are not Americans—as defined by our important documents. For the definition of American, dictionary.com cannot help—instead look to the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights to define what being American is all about. Now, I'm not going to make you read these documents (but American is defined in the ideas it holds). I talked to a few individuals, asked what it means to be an American, as this debated heated. And I went through these documents, because to the rest of the world, this is what the United States of America is defined by.

The Declaration of Independence states "we hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." I take this as "all Men" (apparently women, you are not included… hehheh)—regardless if you are American or not—are endowed with the right to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Is it then, against American policy to ban an individual who is willing to accept a job below the conditions of another man? Lemme ask you this, why do people come to America? What's the number one reason, why people come/came to America? This country was once described as the land of opportunity. I would argue that it still is. With enough work, anyone can make it. [Where else can you have a guy saying "Who is Mike Jones?" and put his own cell phone number on a CD and have people buy his music and get probably the most ignorant following on Earth. I apologize if someone is offended, but seriously… he really does half the work and then repeats what he just said. There are places for that kind of music; intellectual stimulation is not one of them. I got nothing against Mike Jones; his lyrics just don't do it for me.] What I'm trying to say is, our Declaration of Independence says "hey! All men have the right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." To deny an individual work in America, to feed her/his family is against the Declaration of Independence—especially hypocritical when it's all about family, in America.

And as always there’s another perspective to this view; if individuals deny themselves the right to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” they are then not American. If I were to deny my own self the right to pursue my happiness, I am then being un-American. Saying things like "oh, it much too difficult of me to prosper in this society due to the situation I was born with," is un-American. And this is simply because “all [individuals] are created equal and endowed by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights.” If you believe yourself to be under another individual, that is un-American. And the fact is some individuals are born with more resources [money, talent, connections], it just means another individual has to work a little harder; even still, anyone can make it.

In a response to this bill, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union” [Preamble to the United States Constitution] must reconsider our citizenship. Am I American? Are you American? “America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You’ve got to want it bad, because it’s gonna put up a fight.” [The American President]