Traditionally, the age of eighteen marks the threshold of adulthood. It’s a time when the reins of childhood are loosened, and responsibility shifts entirely, giving young adults the freedom to carve their own paths. It’s when we stand and face the weight of our choices–when we realize that every action and every decision can become a burden we alone bear.

Accountability is a powerful force that humbles us, demanding responsibility for all we say and do. But all too often, accountability loses its strength when consequences become distant, untouchable, and far from our hearts.

Failure to hold ourselves accountable creates fertile ground for immaturity and recklessness to take root. It cultivates ignorance, spreads hatred, and leaves a trail of destruction in its wake. The repercussions can be seen from our front doors, where the chaos and division, bred from arrogance and denial, are laid bare for all to see.

As Americans, we were entrusted with a priceless gift, one paid for in the blood and sacrifice of our forefathers. Freedoms fiercely guarded by generations that came before us are now unraveling before our eyes. This is the price of ignorance and indifference, the ramifications of our apathy and careless disregard.

America’s childhood has come to an end, and now we stand at the crossroads of our own making, a place where every soul must take responsibility for the next step they choose. There is no room for excuses, no tolerance for ignorance, and no place for silence, for it is complicity in its purest form.

We are at a turning point. One path leads us back to the heart of Democracy, while the other descends into the darkness of fascism. Every citizen is accountable for the road they choose, and  each must carry the magnitude of their actions or apathy. Excuses are no longer acceptable. Fallacies no longer tolerated. This is the moment to decide.

Will we fight to remain a land of the free and the home of the brave?