American spirit is alive and well

This has been one of the worst years for weather related incidents in our country in many, many years. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning. The hurricane season runs through November. On top of hurricanes, our country has been hit by earthquakes, tornados and draughts – causing billions of dollars in damages.

Is there a silver lining to these disasters? I think so! Out of disasters comes growth. It may be slow growth but it should end up being growth nonetheless. Take Vermont for example. There are places in Vermont that have been totally cut off from the rest of the world and can only be reached by helicopter. It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it?

Vermonters are a hardy bunch and they have come together – showing us all that the American spirit is still alive and well. Roads are already been carved out, streams are being re-routed and the clean-up and rebuilding is in progress. The communities have come together to help each other.

So, what does this mean? This means that supplies will be needed along with workers to get the jobs done. Granted, a lot of the cleaning up and rebuilding will be done on a volunteer basis but federal aid will gradually be deployed and people will be hired.

All I ever hear on the news is that we need immigrants to do the grunt work – to do the work that we, as Americans who are born and raised on American soil, do not want to do. I NEVER believed this to be true. I think that every American who is able to work wants to work and they don’t really care that it is what the news tends to project as “demeaning” work. Work is work is work.

Now is the time for us to take our country back. Now is the time to prove that we care about each other and our country. That we are willing to do whatever job is needed. Today we celebrate Labor Day… labor as in work. Our country was built on the backs of those laborers and now is the time for those unemployed to step up.

If you need some inspiration to get out there and do this – to swallow your pride and help your country out – take a look at Joplin MO. One hundred days and counting since the tornado that killed 160 residents and injured a score of others, the city is bouncing back. Businesses are reopening, houses are being rebuilt and schools are open for the year. This truly is the American spirit – alive in well in Joplin. Now let’s see it in the rest of the country!

By: Nancy Anderson, Staff Writer, Nexxt