The Declaration of Independence is a truly inspirational document. It signified the birth of a young, confident, and optimistic nation at the time. My son and I watched and participated Independence Day parade organized by the local government and other organizations on July 4th.
On a personal level, I feel deeply, deeply grateful to America and the benefits and opportunities I found here. I am also very grateful to a lot of people who helped me over the years. I wouldn’t forget my brother who helped me to get here and provided financial support during my first year in 1995.
I am extremely fortunate, and, for the most part, enjoy the life I have here. Since I am a permanent resident in this country, I want to participate in our community life and make wherever I am at a better place to live, although I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of living and working in other parts of the world. In fact, that is one of my dreams.
America, at its best, is fun-loving, free, optimistic, innovative, confident, and entrepreneurial. Having said that, I am absolutely disgusted by the current Bush administration. Its manipulation of public fear is appalling. Its blatant attack on the Constitution and civil liberties is scary. Its shallowness, smartassness, arrogance, self-centeredness, non-cooperativeness, self-righteousness, hypocrisy is on display in many parts of the world. I couldn’t believe a lot of things this administration did could be happening in a free country. It feels surreal at times.
But I digress. I struggled quite a bit with whether or not I should post this, for fearing of offending people, but this is my medium, and I shall treat it that way.
Here are some pictures from the parade.
5 responses to “Thoughts on 20060704”
Haidong Ji…
Haidong Ji, co-author of Professional SQL Server 2005 Integration Services, blogged on Learning Perl……
I appreciate you writing what you believe. If people are afraid to freely express their legitimate, heartfelt concerns, then the great experiment of America is a wash. The right to speak out against the government is the hallmark of a free people, and I agree with you that in many ways we’re headed in a dangerous direction.
I’m always amazed at how strong the allure of America remains to immigrants like yourself, and am grateful that an intelligent, industrious and committed person like you will contribute something to our nation. I hope your zeal to speak your mind never fades. Just remember to vote!
Thanks PR. Your comments meant a lot to me.
Actually permanent residents do not have the right to vote, although most of them have been tax-paying, law-binding residents for decades, given how long it usually takes to get the status. In some sense, I guess one can say that is taxation without representation. There are perhaps millions of people in America who are permanent residents but not citizens, I think it is important that this group’s voice is heard.
Citizenship will take care of voting, but getting naturalized can be a complicated and emotional issue. Sure, there are a lot of conveniences and practical benefits of being a citizen, such as applying for certain jobs and less travel restrictions, but one’s sense of belonging and allegiance is usually connected to where the person was born and grown up. For a lot of people, race and bloodline can also be equally important.
I really wish that the Chinese government will modify laws that allows dual citizenship. There are some discussions and chatters on this subject recently. I think it was brought up by some Chinese legislator in Beijing during last year’s People’s Congress session.
I guess it is a complicated issue. Your recent post about your experience at AIT summed it up pretty nicely 🙂
Your thoughts just remind me of a friend of mine in China.
We have been good friends since 5th grade. He later became a successful writer. His blog is one of the most popular ones. It worries me a lot recently that his posts came so close to what many people would believe the bottom line of “free speech”. I feel blessed…
What’s your friend’s blog URL?
Yes, I’ve read a number of mainland based bloggers who are pretty open and daring. I hope this trend continues. Blogging is a powerful medium, where real, authentic voices can be heard. On the other hand, it can also suck away a lot of time.