What Makes America America

Early in Ken Burns' documentary on baseball, author Gerald Early says,
"The three things the historians will remember America for a thousand
years from now are the Constitution, jazz music, and baseball." I
would be inclined to agree with him, and if you think about, all three
get at what America is. The Constitution has survived over two
centuries, at once rigid and fluid. Jazz is beautiful because it is
wild and improvisational and yet rhythmic and basic. Baseball is a
kid's game, and yet fans appreciate that there are infinite nuances
and permutations to enjoy.

America, after all, was instituted as a place where the pursuit of
happiness, not the happiness itself, was perceived to be a God-given
right. In other words, we are a country in journey, never arriving,
ever debating and innovating. At our best, you see this in our
government and our economy and our art forms. At our best, immigrants
stream onto our shores and add to the flavor, businesses are birthed
daily, and political discourse yields not a once-and-for-all solution
but an ongoing dialogue with new players and new angles adding every
cycle.

At our worst, we stifle these things, discourage them, forget that
they are what is at our core as a nation. We become xenophobic and
arrogant and cautious and close-minded. But while I worry when I see
our country at its worst, I still hope for the best.