It amazes me that we as Americans have instilled so much political and social wisdom in our science fiction and other literary forms, yet continue to fail in our understanding of how those principles apply to our society and to our personal, daily lives.
We believe that everyone has a right to be heard, that everyone has a right to live as they choose, that they have a right to earn a living and to have the comforts of home and family. Yet we continually violate those principles because what is said offends us, or the way an individual lives seems 'unfit' by our standards, or that their mistakes decades ago dictate a current lack of trustworthiness or fitness to participate in society.
What right do we have to call ourselves Americans and still ignore the rights of those around us? What makes us so pure, so righteous, that we can dictate to others, that we can control or limit others? Are we so fearful that those who have made mistakes must be cutoff from our society? Are we so uneasy in our own beliefs that we cannot allow others to disagree with us or to challenge our assumptions as a society? Does a mistake decades ago make someone less than human today and give us the right to deny the rights we so cherish as a society?
Is this what America has become?
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