We have reached the July 4th holiday weekend, and perhaps the most amazing aspect of it is that we are already half way through the year.
The last six months and a few days have zoomed by. When I was a boy, it felt like time crawled. I was warned back then that it would not always seem that way, and now that I am older I can see they were right.
Time is a precious resource, and we better make the most of it because we never know when we will be out of it.
As for July 4th, I hope we all took time to reflect on the significance of this holiday. Birthdays are important days for us all, and the same goes for our nation.
Our nation is now 232 years old and continues to be a shining example of democracy and freedom.
Of course, our country does have its problems. In addition to social problems that are too numerous to cover here, we are now struggling with a slowing economy, rising unemployment, high gas prices, and an unpopular war.
However, if nothing else, this holiday should make us feel grateful for the many freedoms we have.
For example, consider freedom of the press. When we open our favorite newspaper, I doubt many of us take the time to consider just how unique a document it is.
In many countries that are not democracies, the government's first priority is to strangle all efforts to have a free press. After all, if they want to control their citizens, the last thing they want is for them to read about what is really going on with their government.
Though our media is sometimes bashed, we should never lose sight of the need for a free and independent press. Also, the media should never forget that it has been blessed with a sacred responsibility to serve the public.
More and more media outlets are taking on the characteristics of large corporations. As anybody who has worked for a large corporation can attest, the adjectives "free" and "independent" are often the last words used to describe the culture in those organizations.
Because of this, the media must never forget that they are there to represent the public and ask the questions that we want asked and not worry about who it offends.
In the upcoming Summer Olympics that will be held in Beijing, China, it will be fascinating to see how the government there will attempt to control the media.
When the Olympics are held, it is a time when the host nation can spotlight itself to the world.
In most cases, that is not a big deal, but China is different. For all the talk about how the country is becoming more open, the government still tramples its citizens' rights.
Recently, the government evicted people living in low-income apartments and tore their homes down as part of attempts to beautify their country for the coming games.
This was reported by multiple news organizations here in the United States, including CNN. However, the big question should be whether it was reported in China. Though I don't know for sure, my guess is 'no.'
The bottom line is we have a lot to be grateful for in America. Though we all take our freedom for granted at times, we should at least stop and ponder this fact sometime this weekend.
We better be careful not to take it too much for granted. Because if we do, we might wake up one day and find that it is gone.
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