To Complain is American

In Amy Tan's article, "To Complain is American" she opens by stating that she "finds it disconcerting to gripe in public. It goes against the tenets of how I was raised." Although it would be blissfully ironic to me if Tan went on to aimlessly complain in her published article; she does not. She instead expounds on her ability as an American writer to exercise her freedom of speech, and how her ability to do so can vary depending on where in the world she is. This emphasis on the freedoms the First Amendment grants Americans reminded me of a quote by one of my favorite historians, Howard Zinn. In an interview Zinn said, "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." It is through the use of the freedoms granted to us in the Constitution that we are able to best honor this important document and all that it embodies. This is why I had such a problem with the dissenting opinions that were voiced to Terry Tempest Williams commencement address at the University of Utah. Essentially what she was saying to the graduates was "Question. Stand. Speak. Act." Regardless of political ideology, I think it is important that an individual questions what they are being told to blindly accept and arrive at their own conclusion. Whether someone decides that they fit with the Democrats, the Republicans, the anarchists, the communists, or somewhere else on the broad political spectrum should be a choice they discern after much personal contemplation and meditation. That process will require asking a lot of questioning, but it is important that those questions are asked. Although Amy Tan says that to complain is American, T.T. Williams asks her audience to go a step further. Act.