Letters: ‘Our country ’tis of me?’ It doesn’t work that way

Carl Sandburg said the worst word in the English language is “exclusive.” Maybe so, but my vote is for “mine.” That word is deep in our bones. It’s one of the first words a baby learns. It isn’t always bad. If we agree about what’s yours and what’s mine and what’s ours, we don’t have a problem. It becomes bad when we let “mine” become a power word.

Take the Legislature for an example. Whose Legislature is it? Is it mine, or is it ours?

If it’s “mine,” I can do whatever I like, and what you think doesn’t matter. If it’s mine, I have power.

We all know what can happen when power is too closely held. We have this “It’s mine” problem with prayer at school board meetings and the nation’s wealth. We have it in our race relationships, in our political perspective and in our attitude toward the environment.

Let’s bring back “our.” Our government, our political perspective, our nation’s religions, our nation’s human races and our nation’s wealth. It is our nation, after all.