Nationalism by Charlotte Perkins Gilman — Read

The nation is a unit. That which makes / You an American of our to-day / Requires the nation and its history, / Requires the sum of all our citizens, / Requires the product of our common toil, / Requires the freedom of our common laws, / The common heart of our humanity. / Decrease our population, check our growth, / Deprive us of our wealth, our liberty, / Lower the nation's conscience by a hair, / And you are less than that you were before! / You stand here in the world the man you are / Because your country is America. / Our liberty belongs to each of us; / The nation guarantees it; in return / We serve the nation, serving so ourselves. / Our education is a common right; / The state provides it, equally to all, / Each taking what he can, and in return / We serve the state, so serving best ourselves. / Food, clothing, all necessities of life,- / These are a right as much as liberty! / The nation feeds its children. In return / We serve the nation, serving still ourselves- / Nay, not ourselves-ourself! We are but parts, / The unit is the state,-America.