You Had One Job — United States of America — One F*cking Job!

Two Centuries In: Has America Lived Up to Its Preamble?

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

In the grand narrative of America, the nation was handed a singular job description, etched not on paper, but on the tapestry of hope and the spirit of revolution.

This job was concisely laid out in the Preamble to its Constitution: to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

Remember those foundational narratives instilled in us during our formative years? That America was a land with a purpose, anointed with a “Manifest Destiny” and rooted in the conviction that “anything is possible”. Our ethos resonated with “yes, we can” and embodied the grit of “pulling oneself up by the bootstraps”. After all, wasn’t the U.S. heralded as the “Land of Opportunity”, promising us the allure of the “American Dream”?

Yet, with such boundless promise and the capacity to surmount any challenge, how have two centuries passed with our current state as testament? Media’s portrayal of progress seems to hinge on comparing our status to the worst situations globally or in politics, with the prevailing sentiment being, “at least we’re not at rock bottom”.

Apparently, all those convictions and promises were bullshit.

The United States was never about skyscrapers, Hollywood, or even moon landings. It was about an ideal, a vision, a collective dream. But as skyscrapers rose and Hollywood glittered, the nation lost its way, prioritizing profits over its people.

America, you had one job!

To form a more perfect union: The nation remains deeply divided along racial, economic, and political lines, with polarization exacerbated by modern media.

We’ve lost our union, let alone a ‘perfect’ one.

Establish justice: Systemic racism and inequality persist in the criminal justice system. The emergence of a perceived police state, driven by unrestrained police behaviors bolstered by qualified immunity, further challenges the ideal of true justice for all.