America Is

 

 

 

I think two seemingly contradictory things can be true at the same time. In fact, many great ideas are just like that.

America is more than an idea, of course, although it is common for people to describe our country as that. America is a real place with a real historical arc, with real strengths and weaknesses, and not just some abstract concept.

And so here's two things I think about our country. One is that it is the greatest country in the world and the greatest country in history. The other is that it is deeply flawed from its origins, flaws which continue to work themselves out to the present day.

Perhaps it's not hard to hold these two statements together. But I would argue most people tend to highlight one and dismiss the other, or hold fast to one and downplay the other. I think it's important to accept both. Indeed, though they appear opposite they are actually quite related.

Start with the first statement. We in America take for granted so much that is actually quite rare in the world and in history. I could write a whole (and very long) post about any of the following: freedom, acceptance, health, technology, wealth, power. You may quibble with what you see here or find a glimmer of something better elsewhere. But I believe we are an outlier in all of these things, in largely positive ways.

Let's now proceed to the second statement. If there is a core value to our country, it is liberty. After all, the birth of our country was a declaration of independence, not just from another nation but from one ruled by a king. And there is a group of early leaders who took us through the articulation of that thesis statement and the struggle required to grow into a nation built on that. And yet simultaneously our nation and those hallowed leaders did despicable things, like own and abuse other humans, and not just as an unfortunate side foible but at the core of how they were successful and influential.

Over this past holiday weekend, I encountered many for whom the Fourth is an occasion to pull out all the stops in the spirit of patriotism. Which is appropriate, particularly given that this year was such a milestone celebration. But I empathize with those for whom such brazen displays of patriotism strike a negative chord, because it feels like such sentiments are felt without regard to the abhorrent contradiction our country and its earliest leaders allowed to exist, and thus without regard to the downstream consequences being played out to this present day.

The 250th anniversary of the signing of Declaration of Independence was also occasion for others to air out all of their grievances against this nation and its sins past and present. Which I consider appropriate as well, for it is truer to speak of these wrongful deeds than to paper over them in a desire for a sanitized version of history that makes us feel good. But if those sentiments are expressed without regard to the many positive traits this country exhibits, that too feels incomplete and unfair. Indeed, one of the great ways we are exceptional is that we have created a nation in which both the lowest and highest among us can speak freely, including the airing out of unpopular opinions and harsh truths.

If you go whole hog on the patriotism, keep doing so with gusto. But be mindful to acknowledge that for as great a nation as we are, we are also flawed, and it is wrong to look the other way or grow mad when others point that out. And if you are quick to criticize America, please continue, for part of what makes us great is the room and power we give to express such sentiments. But, allow yourself to feel pride for the good in our past and present, for to not think or say so is not correct.

We can love this nation and also call out its sins. In fact, I would argue that we must love this nation and call out its sins. That, ultimately, is the great American idea, that we are ever striving for something that we have not yet achieved, that we have created something truly grand and must work hard to keep it, and that there is quite a lot that we have built that sits on a rotting foundation that must be identified and addressed for us to last. We are in uncharted territory, as we enter our next 250 years. Where do we go from here?