HUMAN RIGHTS
Robert Reich: The Meaning of America
We are forgetting the ideals on which our nation was built.
By Robert Reich / Robert Reich’s Blog February 18, 2018, 2:33 PM GMT
When Trump and his followers refer to “America,” what do they mean?
Some see a country of white English-speaking Christians.
Others want a land inhabited by self-seeking individuals free to accumulate as much money and power as possible, who pay taxes only to protect their assets from criminals and foreign aggressors.
Photo Credit: Celso FLORES / Flickr CC
Others think mainly about flags, national anthems, pledges of allegiance, military parades, and secure borders.
Trump encourages a combination of all three – tribalism, libertarianism, and loyalty.
But the core of our national identity has not been any of this. It has been found in the ideals we share – political equality, equal opportunity, freedom of speech and of the press, a dedication to open inquiry and truth, and to democracy and the rule of law.
We are not a race. We are not a creed. We are a conviction – that all people are created equal, that people should be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, and that government should be of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Political scientist Carl Friedrich, comparing Americans to Gallic people, noted that “to be an American is an ideal, while to be a Frenchman is a fact.”
That idealism led Lincoln to proclaim that America might yet be the “last best hope” for humankind. It prompted Emma Lazarus, some two decades later, to welcome to American the world’s “tired, your poor/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
It inspired the poems of Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes, and the songs of Woody Guthrie. All turned their love for America into demands that we live up to our ideals. “This land is your land, this land is my land,” sang Guthrie. “Let America be America again,” pleaded Hughes: “The land that never has been yet – /And yet must be – the land where every man is free. / The land that’s mind – the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME –.”
That idealism sought to preserve and protect our democracy – not inundate it with big money, or allow one party or candidate to suppress votes from rivals, or permit a foreign power to intrude on our elections.
It spawned a patriotism that once required all of us take on a fair share of the burdens of keeping America going – paying taxes in full rather than seeking loopholes or squirreling money away in foreign tax shelters, serving in the armed forces or volunteering in our communities rather than relying on others to do the work.
Robert Reich is the nation’s 22nd Secretary of Labor and a professor at the University of California at Berkeley.
Source for complete post: http://robertreich.org/
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Categories: #American-history, Government, political parties, Politics, POTUS, President, reblog
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I’ve learned so much listeting to Robert Reich on NPR! He remains an important voice in the current state of our country.
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And a brilliant writer. There aren’t many who are as good as he is.
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I like Robert Reich very much and it’s true. European cultures had identities before they had their current political systems. Our political system defines our culture and that leaves so much room for negotiating, interpreting, our cultural identity.
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Martha, my “Baby” Brother, Anton, is now in Seoul. South Korea with his St. Olaf’s Choir. I’ve just emailed him to find out what it’s like over there right now.
Martha, I’ve also posted on Facebook, a suggestion Anton throw his name in the Presidential race for 2020. I’m getting LOTS of hits from around the country. We’ll see.
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