Becoming A Man

A Country Silenced

Living in the United States of America brings about different thoughts. Many will look at the viewpoints such as, freedom, equality, education, and a better way of life. There is one thing that everyone wanting to relocate to the U.S. must think about. What happens to the U.S. during a time of panic or turmoil. Yes we live in a society were we are given freedoms and a decent education, but the one thing that we do not have is a freedom of speech. We have been a powerhouse country and yet in still what you can say we have been sheltered or subdued to believe that. With the focus now on the war, we have lost the sense of free speech.

Never in my lifetime have I seen such terror and shock as I have on September 11th. As the airplanes continue to crash and set the sky on fire. I remember this day like it was 2 hours ago. I was at work and as the news broadcast came on, shock looks spread across the face of everyone watching. If facial expressions could talk they would have said, "What the hell are we going to do." For the first couple of days there were talks from all different angles. We are going to war; we should not go to war, and so on. We were still a country that stood for a common cause. And our freedom of speech as not dissipated as of yet. Tim Robbins wrote an essay entitled "A Chill Wind is Blowing in the Nation". Just by the meaning of the essay you would be lead to believe that we have experienced a scare in the United States. Well you're right. Robbins gave accounts of his personal life experiences and the effects 9-11 brought to his world. He wrote about the feelings he had when the tragedy occurred. He hoped that this would be the event that our country so dearly needed to unite together as one. But to no avail, Robbins spoke of the speech that was made after 9-11. Robbins remembers the speech the president gave, "You are with us or against us"(246). When I first heard the speech my heart dropped and thoughts of World War 3 were so to follow. This gets me back to the point of how to silence a country of many. Those few words that the President said went a long way. In saying that you're with us or against us (the ones who run this country). Means that if you do not feel the same way they fell then you're the enemy. It does not matter if you're a U.S. citizen. This was no more apparent than when it was seen as ok to stop a Middle Eastern just because. There has been not a single person that has rose to the stage in a public view to oppose the President and his decision we have all sit in the comfort of our homes and had family discussions. But will that has all changed now as well. There is no such thing a freedom of