The great heroes of our democracy fought for their beliefs. Martin Luther King Jr. led the civil rights movement of the ’60s effectively because he saw the inequality in this nation, spoke out and held firm.

Democracy only works when its citizens are informed and vocal. The civil rights victory is proof.

Now, I have been told that staying informed and active is pointless between elections. What are these people advocating? Waking up the day of the election and scrambling to find enough information to make an informed choice?

Maybe something less dramatic, like looking at the candidates once the primary season begins.

However, this system limits discussion to what the candidates feel resonates with the American public. No meaningful debate can exist about issues that are not discussed. Additionally, there has to be a side to balance out that of the status quo in the debates.

No great leaps forward have ever been made by maintaining the status quo. Our forefathers broke the status quo when they declared our independence from Great Britain. The right of women and African Americans to vote and desegregation are more examples of breaking the status quo.

Without dissent to fuel debate, our ideas and, ultimately our country, will stagnate. We have been made to think that only traitors dissent with policy when we are at war. Quite the opposite is true; dissent is the highest form of patriotism. Dissent shows that people care enough to question whether this country’s actions are the best for us.

This lack of dissent stems from our lack of a dream to espouse to, a new frontier to reach for. We live in an age of marvels that deceives us into believing that there is nothing left to strive for or to discover. We see our nation as having reached the pinnacle of civilization and do not recognize the inequalities and injustices that still exist today.

When our national debt goes up and our funding of education takes a dive, we should stand up and be heard. We want our tax money to be spent in ways that will promote the growth of opportunities for everyone. This is the message we should be sending to Washington right now.

No one should be denied an opportunity to better themselves and society. America is the land of opportunity. As a society, we have an obligation to help all individuals reach their aspirations.

Instead of reaching for this ideal, our great nation is going in the other direction: helping business to make as much money as possible while ignoring the effects on its citizens. We are the wealthiest nation in the world and have unemployment and poverty rates. When we have so much, what is wrong with helping those who have so little?

When people have been beaten down all of their lives trying to reach for something better, they become hopeless. Some turn to extreme measures to try to recapture the hope that has been extinguished. It is this hopelessness that we need to defeat to have a better tomorrow.

The American dream needs to become a dream once again to give hope of a better life back to the people. This is the land of opportunity; we should fight for it to remain that way.

Ryan Lee is a psychology pre-med junior from New Orleans.