Essay About Human Rights And Our Freedom

In a passage derived from, Rights of Man, Thomas Paine praises America as a country of which, “the poor are not oppressed”, “their taxes are few”, and “their government is just”. He portrays America as a flawless land of opportunity that is welcoming to any and oppressive to none. His claims are not only outdated, but are simply skewed with inaccuracy. In fact, today, America could be described as a country full of hatred with governments full of corruption and power exclusively shared throughout the wealthy. Dr. Martin Luther King best summed up American’s disarray while discussing civil rights in his Birmingham letter when he said, “The fed up negro has so many pent up resentments and latent frustrations and he must release them”.

During this time in which African Americans were so unsure about their future, it is shameful that present day Americans commonly exhibit equivalent frustrations about our current nation’s injustices. America was founded on ideals that parallel justice, equality and freedom from religious and political discrimination. Unfortunately, many power struggles, extremist views and unfair corruptions have halted our nation's progression. Today we deal with instances such as a judicial decision that jailed a rapist for a mere 3 months or a despicable university scandal in which the wealthy paid their kid’s way into “prestigious” universities that thousands spend their lives preparing for. How is that justice? Present day America experiences terrifying acts of murder committed by individuals that claim to embody our President’s morals and discriminatory views.

Dr. King spoke the words that the suffering cry, “Hatred and violence have no sanction in our religious and political traditions.” Nevertheless, we attempt to support this moral but we refuse to take immediate action to deter future tragedies. We look to our leaders in power for guidance but only seem to receive a commemorating tweet. When is enough, enough? Moreover, with such a direct view of pure evil in the form of slavery or the Holocaust, we must be scared of the extremist views that many calls, “freedom of speech” or “freedom of religion” today. Mr. King embodied a strong willpower and pure passion that should be desperately taught in a present day society stocked with individuals that would rather an easier way than fight through adversity in dreams of success. While America remains more “free” than many countries around the world, to become the great nation that Thomas Paine described, we have a long fight ahead of us full of political cleansing, wealth distribution and judicial refurbishment.