Today's blog is dedicated to Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, a Russian partisan fighter of WWII. She left high school and joined a group that organized acts of sabotage against the German Army. Caught burning a barn, she was interrogated, tortured, and hung, her body left in the freezing Russian winter as an example to any who might be tempted to follow her path. Before she died on the gallows, she yelled to the Germans, "There are 200 million of us! You cannot hang us all!"  She was 18.
It makes you wonder, then, looking at American youth today. Or Americans in general. Would we die for our beliefs? Hell, would we even inconvenience ourselves for our beliefs? We have been made so complacent by our luxurious lifestyles that I doubt many of us really know what we believe at all. Our leaders are weak and ineffectual; why should we be otherwise? Congress cannot reign in extremist groups like the Tea Party, who twist the words and ideals of the Founding Fathers, to suit their own purposes. For that matter, the Founders of the United States weren't always perfect. Contrary to Michele Bachman, they held slaves, among other things that in today's world would be abhorrent. But, they knew what they believed, and they fought for it.
I try not to be a hypocrite, so I admit, I can be wishy washy with the best of them. I need  to learn to stand my ground, and not be swayed like the ewe I often am. I know right from wrong. I need to speak up without letting fear take over- fear of offending or shocking someone. I take some clear positions- I am for civil and human rights, I am against dismantling Social Security and Medicare. I don't think the disabled should be punished for their condition, with poverty being the norm for us. I believe I am a human being with the same value as everyone else. I just need to stand up and say so....