(An op-ed piece written by this avatar's RL counterpart.)
We were born of a desire to exercise freedom over our own lives, in a struggle that sent repercussions around the world. We threw off the dual yokes of oppressive government by those who inherited power, not earned it, and of "one size fits all" religion, in order to establish a new nation, based on the radical, egalitarian principles that "ALL men were created equal", and that all people had the rights of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". Being a novel concept, this was challenged mightily by the powers that were, those that wanted to maintain their stanglehold on the past, and future.
We fought many a bloody battle to achieve those lofty goals, at times even facing off against our own kindred who supported the regime ancien, either because they profitted from it, or for ideological reasons. We fought the bloodiest war in our history over the issue of national sovereignty vs. the right to dissolve this Union, and over the question of whether, indeed, ALL persons were in fact persons, and entitled to share in this dream. I personally think the good guys won, though my family was split down the middle at the time over this issue, as were many, being originally from the Deep South.
We committed atrocities and genocides in our period of Western Expansion, that rivaled the worst that our European ancestors had done, and also brought a new form of civilization to a new world. That period is both a stain, and a shining star, upon our national history, establishing us "from sea to shining sea" as a world class country. Many claimed it was a "Divine Manifestation" from "God", others used this as an excuse, while many were just trying to feed their families, and find a better life in parts unknown, using that famous, and infamous "pioneer spirit".
We became a diverse nation in the late 19th century, welcoming famine refugees, war refugees, and those seeking better lives. We welcomed those that came seeking asylum from the same overlords we had broken from, and from many other locations. Yes, we abused their labor, and yes, there was deep prejudice between the clans, but something else was growing, too. Irish immigrants became Irish-Americans, Italian immigrants became Italian-Americans, and so on. This "national identity" coalesced finally, when we went to the aid of our "parents" in Europe, when their newly found freedoms were being tested during World War I.
We became, primarily for the first time, one nation, and not disparate little cliques of immigrants, though those past identities were still claimed and cherished. Women became legally full citizens, and not property to their male relatives. We established ourselves as a "World Power", by pulling those of opposing views together. We then took in the refugees from that painful foreign war, and came home to stoke our pride, and lick our wounds. A few years later, the second "War to end all wars" began, and we sat it out. We watched.
There were many in this country that supported what the madman Hitler was doing, whether for profit, or out of ideological principle. We clandestinely helped our friends in Europe, until Pearl Harbor occurred. At that point it became personal.
Every American citizen that grew up in a time before they started rewriting the history books knows that at that time, we established ourselves as THE dominant world power, politically, financially and militarily, earning the love of our allies, and, at the least, a grudging respect from our foes. We didn't win WWII by ourselves, but without us, and the pure might and will of the American people to see justice done, it wouldn't have been won at all. Again, we welcomed many hundreds of thousands of immigrants, while placing third and fourth generation Asian Americans in what were basically concentration camps. Again, the prejudice of our nation reared its ugly head, as we didn't do that with German Americans, who "looked like the rest of us".
Post WWII, we were the bastion, along with our allies, against the "Evil Empire" that was the Soviet Union. Ideologically a direct opposite of us, supressing individual freedoms to support the ruling few at the top, ruthlessly putting down all opposition, real or imagined, the Soviet regime was everything we, as Americans, hated. Along with our military might, our influence extended to far corners of the globe that we'd not been involved with before. We armed those that would fight the "evil ones", only to have them turn on us in the end in many cases.
During this time, we also, finally, at least legally, laid to rest the fallacy that the "will of the majority" should rule over the "rights of the minority". The Jim Crow laws of the Deep South, and the extreme prejudice of many Northerners, was at last laid to rest, at least on paper. In fact, though, this is sadly, still a stain on many parts of our nation.
After the Soviet system collapsed from its own weight, and not an inconsiderable amount of pressure from America and her allies, we stood alone, as the mightiest empire the world had ever known. Along with our pride, so did our hubris grow, and we thought we could do no wrong. We became nation builders, and lost sight of many of our core principles, and those that had shaped our own wonderful history..... that everyone has the right to practice their own personal beliefs and self-governance, as long as they respect the fact that others might have different goals and interests. We forgot that personal rights end at the door step of the next person, and we became a country divided.
Post 9-11, we became "One Nation" again, if only briefly. We established goals to punish those that had hurt us, .....no, those that had wounded us to the core. Yes, 9-11 wounded our pride, but it was much deeper. On that one day, most of the world was America, because America had become most of the world. There were people of every ethnic, religious, political, regional, national and racial background that died that day. New York City, the capitol of the free market modern world, had been devastated. After the brief solidarity of that time following the attack, we and the rest of the world became sharply divided again, for many reasons.
Regardless of ones personal views on that past decade of wars, we have become emotionally exhausted. We have become divided, perhaps more so as a nation than at any time since the Civil War, from economic pressures, from philosophical pressures, from political bickering, and from ideologues of every stripe preaching their own version of, well, damned near everything, on the 24/7 "information highway" that is cable television and the internet. I've been guilty of that myself, on many an occassion, both preaching AND listening.
I guess the point of this rambling rant is that:
We are the United States of America.
We are Christian, Pagan, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Taoist, and a host of other religions.
We are Atheists and Agnostics.
We are Republicans and Democrats. We are Libertarians, and Socialists, and Communists, and all political stripes in between.
We are Conservative and Progressive, with a vast silent "middle", that watches every move now, from both sides.
We are black, white, yellow, brown, and a rainbow mix of every color in between.
We are male, female, straight, gay, bisexual, and every conceivable combination there of.
We are Rich, and we are Poor, and a few have managed to remain Middle Class, the former backbone of our economy, and what originally made us unique and ultimately powerful.
In many ways, we have accomplished more in our first two hundred years, than many nations did with 1000 year histories, in many other ways, we have lost sight of some of our goals and history. We are the United States of America, and we are the world, because we were made from the entire world, in all of its beautiful diversity.
We are exactly what our Founding Fathers, the most progressive thinkers of their day, envisioned us to be, and oh! so much more. We are one nation, INDIVISIBLE, under that beautiful, beloved flag, still holding onto those aspirations of Liberty and Justice FOR ALL.
I think it's about damned time we remembered that, and started working together, before we lose everything, for there is still much to be accomplished.
Happy Birthday,
United States of America,
My beloved homeland!
