Megan Lee Voice of Democracy

“Where would we be if Christopher  Columbus had been born blind?”

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue; but not originally to find America. A place that would one day be a major international melting pot, with infinite opportunities. A wealthy, prosperous and strong nation that gives us the freedom our forefathers fought so hard for. There is no way that Christopher Columbus could have imagined this when he discovered America. He was simply trying to find a faster route to India and China, to more efficiently transport and trade spices. But that dream, that journey, that goal, that was what urged him to act. And his actions changed the course of history.

In the Preamble of the Constitution, our founding fathers wrote, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”This is the framework of their vision; this is what they were hoping to achieve then, now and in the future. And when I first considered, “Is America our forefathers’ vision,” my first thought was, ‘No way. Politics are so argumentative, No one seems to be able to agree. How can we be a perfect union when racism and LGBTQ hate groups seem to overwhelm everything?” At first, I was firmly standing on the negative side of this topic, but the more and more I thought about it, the more I wondered if I was wrong?

In the Preamble it doesn’t say that they were trying to create a perfect Union. I say a “[MORE] perfect Union.” They never expected us to be completely perfect! They only wanted us to continually strive for improvement. Once I got this idea right in my brain, my negativity slipped away. Of course our nation isn’t what our founding fathers first envisioned, but it’s on the road of progress. Success is a dish we are constantly feasting on. Innovation is a book we read…and read…and read again. No, we aren’t perfect, but we are perfecting.

Not only did they not expect perfection from us, but they also neglected to give us a due date on when to turn in the project of ‘Creating America.’ This sounds odd, but it’s true. They didn’t say we had to have all our crap together in the next hundred, thousand or even million years. They didn’t set a date to have finally finished creating a ‘perfect’ nation, because they knew we would never be finished. There will always be something that we can fix, change or replace with a better design or model. First the Wright Brothers wanted a man to fly in the air, then we’re racing Russia to put a man in space, and now we’re creating telescopes that can see millions of miles farther than your eyes or mine. If anything was to define America, it wouldn’t be fast food or Friday night football games; it would be innovation! Inventions and creations. Nothing can stop the brain-child of our founding fathers. They wanted a more perfect union, and they are starting to get one.

Protection, economics, religion, justice, peace and equality are all astronomically better and improved than they were when our founding fathers sighed the Constitution. While no, America isn’t quite what our forefathers envisioned it would be, I would hope in the grand scheme of things they wouldn’t be disappointed. We are better, bigger, stronger and we are not finished.

America isn’t the dream-yet, America isn’t perfect-yet. Because America isn’t done yet.

When Christopher Columbus set out with the Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria, he wasn’t planning on discovering a new continent. And he definitely didn’t envision what we are blessed to have today. When I first considered this question, my intentions began negative. But now I’ve shifted to a patch of mixed, middle ground.

America is very different, and hopefully much better than it was when we began. Maybe, when and if it ends, it will be the vest it can be. Greater than any of our dreams and greater than our forefathers’ visions.