The Transcontinental Railroad is truly one of the biggest examples of America progressing as a country. The sense of curiosity and wonder to advance as a unit was ground breaking. The amount of development that happened as we progress to the west was amazing. With new technology and new dreams being born with slaves being free from their ownership, it felt like what America was leading up to. America is suppose to be a place where you can be and do whatever you put your mind to and for a first time in a long time it was starting to become a reality. So why are we moving backwards?
Now you can argue we have been moving backwards for some time now. America in recent years has been a scary roller coaster of changes. We think we are starting to move into a new era with the election of Barrack Obama as our first African American president, but then end up in our current year with Donald Trump is our president and where we see hate and discrimination at an all time high. It seems to me that it has sense of moving backwards in time and not progressing as a country like what was happening during the time of the Transcontinental Railroad. It does seem like we are not progressing as a country, but it's not like we aren't trying to change this. That is where I want to bring in the story/short film of John Henry.
John Henry is an American Myth of an all around strong man who takes on a steam drill in a challenge of who can build a railroad the fastest, whoever wins claims the land that was promised to the men who were currently working on the railroad. This simple David and Goliath tale can be brought to our current times with the two sides of our current America. If we switch John Henry with progressive Liberals and we switch the Steam Drill with oppressive Conservatives, the story doesn't change at all really. John Henry thought he won the battle, but had not realized the fight was not over and seemed like it was over, but with the beilf of all the people backing him, he mustarded up the energy to beat the Steam Drill by a long shot. Flipping the Script, Liberal America thought they had won with the battle with Obama being elected and the right for the LGBTQ community to be married in past years, but with the rise of extreme police brutality and the election of Donald Trump as our next President, it felt like all that work was for nothing. That was until more people starting to speak up and create my fuel to fight against the hate and discrimination with the overwhelming amount of people that were at this years Woman's March and the amount of young people having their political views be more open to change with the majority vote in this past election being overwhelmingly liberal.
Now here's the thing, it's not a clear victory yet for Liberal America. They don't completely mirror the acts of John Henry, but with them being so close to begin with, it's hard not to see an outcome that has America going backwards. As our views progress, so will our country. It will be like picking up where we left off with the progression of our country.
I have never heard the story of John Henry, but I understand that it is a new version of the David and Goliath story and I like the connection you make to America today. I wouldn't have thought of it that way but I agree that the similarities are there!
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