Land of Liberty (?)

In the United States of America, where today we celebrate our independence from Great Britain, we have lost sight of what freedom truly means in our pursuit of rugged individualism.

The privileged think, if you try really hard, no matter where you started, you can pull yourself up by your own bootstraps to get where they are. Meanwhile, those same people still judge others by their natural hair and the color of their skin.

People no longer give a shit about other people, but they say things like, "thoughts and prayers" in times of tragedy, and "God saves" or "Have faith" in times of crisis. This, in a country founded on religious freedom and separation of church and State.

My state would rather pass a law forcing women to make two different doctor's appointments at least 24 hours apart in order to get an abortion than sign an executive order to give felons who have served their time the right to vote again.

What if I told you wearing a mask would protect others, not you? That you wearing a mask would go a long way toward giving everyone back some of our freedom, taken from us by COVID-19? No, you'd rather walk around breathing your germs on all of us, declaring your independence.

Until we all agree we're in this together and take responsibility for the greater good, none of us are truly free.