On Monday, we recognized a day of legendary bravery in an onerous battle for life, liberty and happiness. We put aside our political persuasions and forgot our delusions of enmity. For a brief moment, we all had long hair, figuratively sang "Imagine" by John Lennon and did indeed "live as one."
This is the moment to cue the "facepalm."
On Tuesday, the word "American" was no longer sufficient to describe us. Rather, "American" needed to be appended with adjectives to ensure our accurate judgment of each other. Of course, they must be simple terms as the world is black and white. And so, following standard, "Republican" and "Democrat" would suffice.
As much as I'd like to write an angst-filled lamentation on the ills of our government and political system, I can't help but feel it would be unfair at this time. Yes, we are fighting an unjust war. Yes, our political system is corrupted with special interests and yes, Barack Obama wears tighty-whities and not boxer shorts.
Despite these troubles, America is great, blah blah. We are a global leader, blah blah. Please don't misunderstand me - I mean this wholeheartedly. America is an incredible, prosperous nation with the most promising citizens. We know this, but for the purpose of this column, it needs not my mindless repeating.
During this Independence Day weekend, I felt deeply disturbed as I watched news stations.
The bipartisanship of the political system has manifested into the sort of joke you would expect from a 1990s indie-conspiracy theory movie: Constipated old men blindly attack entire political parties in national publications; candidates pledge allegiance to narrow, contradictory positions; citizens pick news stations that will feed their hunger for validation.
The divide and injustice is not just on the national level.
Just this week I was reading a column on someone's perceived corruption within the UF Student Government. It painted a picture of SG much like I imagined: a group of rich brats seeking resume-fillers while serving few and working to ensure future victories. Yet somehow, they are supported and voted in by their constituency.
Indeed, it doesn't sound much different from the American political system.
To add a slap to the face, we are fed by a media system that manufactures a sense of divide and extremism. We're told to choose a political party like a sports team and deal with it.
And so, to quote every political victory and concession speech in American history, it is time for sharing thoughts, it is time for healing and it is time for unity.
We have a rough time ahead as Americans, but we're fighters. We were born fighting, we're still fighting and we're going to the grave fighting.
In our frenzy to cling to political ideologies, we forget that we all want are a better nation and better opportunities.
The choice to accept or reject the manufactured evils of fellow Americans is our own.
Abdul Zalikha is a microbiology junior at UF. His column appears on Thursdays.
