U.S. Constitution remains relevant

By Deanna Lasley

Freedom. What does it mean? Is it just another word used in everyday life like it’s nothing? If you ask me, sure seems like it.

Freedom is what this country was founded on. Our founding fathers knew one day we would be a free nation and they knew that we were going to be moving forward and advancing in every way possible. There is a reason they wrote a document, a document to say there are things people have that the government can’t touch. Without this, we would have nothing.

Countries out there have nothing. They have rulers who are overbearing and believe the people should only know what that ruler wants them to see and hear. Our Constitution gives us the right to have a voice. It has worked tremendously well for us this long, so why should we stop it now?

People say the Constitution is out of date, that it is even no longer relevant. But these seem to be the people who enjoy having their First Amendment rights the most. They will not be allowed to say all these types of things, what our government is doing wrong, and will have no voice to share their opinions in the public without the First Amendment. If we give this government the power to change what is already in place, it will only get worse. They may not directly take the rights away but there will be a lot more fine print to what is now upfront writing of what we can and cannot do.

We take for granted what we have. You say the Second Amendment is out of date? Do you not think we should have the right to keep ourselves protected? Even if you take that right away, the people we don’t want to have these firearms will still find ways to get them. We have a right to protect ourselves. There are people in the country who shouldn’t be here, who want to hurt Americans because of the way we run our country, and they are able to smuggle weapons in here. We have the right to bear arms because you don’t want to be the one bringing a knife to a gunfight.

There is a way to add ideas to this prestigious document. It may seem hard, but it’s definitely not impossible. It will take the work of many different people and, if it doesn’t go through, that just means the nation didn’t find it in its best interest to change.

But if you look closely, changes to advance our nation are already amendments to our Constitution. We limited how long a single person could be in charge of our nation. We freed slaves and gave them the equal rights they deserve.

We tried banning liquor, but we see how well that went. We realized women had a voice so we gave them the right to use it.

Then, during a time of war, young men were paying the ultimate sacrifice fighting for our country but they could not vote. So what did we do? Changed the voting age from 21 to 18.

This nation seems to have forgotten how important the phrase “We the people” is. We argue over things not of a big concern to hide our fear of the big concerns. Our Constitution has lasted us this many years and can last us hundreds more. Do not focus on what our founding fathers may or may not have expected from the nation they started. As time goes by we tend to forget the little things in life that are the reason we are still standing together, not just a single person but a country, a nation bonded by our freedom. Together we can remember the patriotism our country was founded on. Remember the great men and women then and now who have fought and are fighting for our nation to remain free.

We can put the sparkle back in the eye of the nation. All we have to do is remember—and together we can. Never forget, never regret, always remember.

Deanna Lasley, a Ramona High School senior, reminds readers that Veterans Day is Sunday, Nov. 11.