My
fellow Americans, have you ever questioned the power of the government? Have
you ever felt threatened, but too scared to speak up? I want to make it clear
that we all have rights, unalienable freedoms, located in the Bill of Rights under
The Constitution. “The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state,
but from the hand of God” (Kennedy 197). Life, liberty, and property are the
main God-given rights that should never, can never, and will never be taken
away from us, the people. If they, somehow, ever get threatened or overlooked,
we must stand in unison and peacefully challenge the legality of the situation
in order to fully win back our privacy and rights. We deserve to live in peace
and not in fear the government at all times. In a small town in New Jersey, the rights of the American
citizen have diminished. An
outrageous law is currently being enforced which violates two of our main
unalienable rights. If we ignore this opportunity to unite as one for a cause
as important as this one, then we will continue to lose those rights for which
we, as a nation, have fought so long to perpetuate. “We dare not forget that we
are the heirs of that first revolution” (Kennedy 197).
Have
you ever felt as if your some of your rights are being eradicated by a certain ruling in your city, or
even your country? Last week something unbelievable and unreal happened to me.
It has kept my head spinning endlessly for the past weeks. You would not
believe how some of my rights were taken as lightly as a joke and, suddenly, ceased
to exist. As I was driving through Green Brook, New Jersey, I was starving, so I went to the closest drive-through. After
ordering my food, I hit the road again. There I was, taking a bite of my meal,
when, all of a sudden, I hear the alarming sound of police sirens, accompanied
by those dreaded red and blue
lights. The police was obviously after me, so I pulled over. As to what I had
done wrong, I had not even a minuscule idea. "Hello officer, may I help
you?" "Ma’am, you are in strict violation of the law. Are you aware
of what you have done wrong?” he asked. I told him I had no idea because I was driving
at speed limit, no traffic rules had been broken, and my car was in perfect
shape; I did not know what this guy's problem was. Finally, he spoke up. "Ma’am,
I am going to have to fine you for consuming aliment within the confines of
your automobile.” I stared at him in disbelief for a second or two. "You
mean for eating in my car?"
Ladies
and gentlemen, this happened to me last Monday, and to say the least, I was
shocked. I am going to court next week, and I am going to stand up for my
rights, the rights that our founding fathers established upon this great
nation. John Locke, an English philosopher and firm believer in natural rights,
wrote in Sec. 138 of his book, Two
Treatises of Government, “Men therefore in society having property, they have such right to the goods…that nobody hath a right to take their substance or any part of it from them, without their own consent” (1690). Locke’s beliefs had a great influence
over the contents included in the Bill of Rights during its creation process.
The law has gone too far this time. If we let them take away our right to do
something as simple as eat in our own car, property which we have purchased,
property which is protected under the Fifth Amendment (part of the
Bill of Rights) to the United States Constitution, just imagine what is
awaiting not only us, but our posterity as well. I do not know about you, but to me that is
a pretty scary thought. In the words of Thomas Paine, “If there must be
trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace” (161). Let us rise
as one and nonviolently protest this
so-called law for the sake of our children and our grandchildren. The
government shall hear what we have to say, and they most certainly will, so God
help us. Tyranny ends today.
Comments and criticism are appreciated in this format:
1)Was my thesis clear/strong?2)Did the body of my paper strongly support my thesis?
3)Did I wrap up my paper well?
4)What are my strengths and/or weaknesses as a writer?
5)Do you agree or disagree with my stance on this topic? Why?
Works Cited
Locke, John. "Chap. XI. Who Heir?" Two Treatises of
Government. N.p.: n.p., 1690. N. pag. The Online Library of Liberty.
Web. 14 Nov. 2012. <http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=222&chapter=16175&layout=html&Itemid=27>.
Paine, Thomas. "From The Crisis Number 1." Prentice
Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2002. 160-62. Print.
Kennedy, John F. "Connections: Inaugural Address." Prentice
Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2002. 197-200. Print.
