Summary:

Our nation began as an unlikely dream of frustrated men. We conquered all odds and became a thriving country with some of the greatest economic, political, and cultural influence in the world. We have had over 300 years of government without public uprising, 44 presidents under the same government format, and peaceful transitions of power all the while. We have fulfilled a dream and taken it farther than anyone predicted in the 1700s, growing from 13 colonies to 50 states, from slavery to an African American president. We cannot settle now on the feeling of fear and numbness after a few years of discouraging events. We must keep the fight: the feeling the founding fathers had in 1776, and the feeling we had at midnight on the turn of the millennium.
We seem to be living in such fear in recent years. Everyone says these are hard times, which I can relate to; with a father out of work and a mom battling cancer, my already tense preteen and teenage years have had the extra burdens that these times have presented.
Let's go back to that exciting, hopeful night on January 1st, 2000, and review what has happened since then.

What are we afraid of, anyway?