(no subject)
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
with conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame,
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
When did we stop meaning that? And why? When did we become such a country of elitist snobs that this stopped being important? The Mother of Exiles. We are the place where anybody should be able to come-- "the wretched refuse of your shores" --and find the ability to "breathe free". Everybody should be able to come here and find a chance for a life without ridicule and derision, racism and ethnocentrism. Yes, this post is overly dramatic and my own personal soap box, but damnit, that's what we're supposed to be. I don't understand why white-skinned English speakers became the norm, what everyone wants to strive for. I don't like our country most of the time and I hate what we've come to stand for. We're not supposed to be the world's policemen, we're not supposed to force every other country into our own mold, we're supposed to be the place where anything goes; freedom is our byword and liberty is our mantra. Has anybody noticed that everytime we try to take over another country in the name of democracy and human rights, it goes all to hell? That has never once worked out for us. Why can't we learn a goddamn thing?
with conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame,
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
When did we stop meaning that? And why? When did we become such a country of elitist snobs that this stopped being important? The Mother of Exiles. We are the place where anybody should be able to come-- "the wretched refuse of your shores" --and find the ability to "breathe free". Everybody should be able to come here and find a chance for a life without ridicule and derision, racism and ethnocentrism. Yes, this post is overly dramatic and my own personal soap box, but damnit, that's what we're supposed to be. I don't understand why white-skinned English speakers became the norm, what everyone wants to strive for. I don't like our country most of the time and I hate what we've come to stand for. We're not supposed to be the world's policemen, we're not supposed to force every other country into our own mold, we're supposed to be the place where anything goes; freedom is our byword and liberty is our mantra. Has anybody noticed that everytime we try to take over another country in the name of democracy and human rights, it goes all to hell? That has never once worked out for us. Why can't we learn a goddamn thing?