Maybe we should fail.

I love my country. I want to say that upfront. But more than that, I love what my country is supposed to be. I'm an idealist and I believe that the principles behind America's design to be the best foundations for a nation in the history of man.

But given the past decade, I'm not sure that we deserve to continue.

The guiding concept behind this great experiment we call the United States is embodied in the statement "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Sure, some of those guys didn't believe in a personal Creator they way that many do today. Some of them also believed that those freedoms most applied to males of European descent. But the core is clear: no man is better than any other and each person should be able to live their lives as they see fit.

When I was being raised in the 1970's in South Carolina, these principles were never presented to me as quaint notions or antiquated concepts. They were the bedrock upon which we built the greatest nation in the world. It was what made it possible for people of low standing to work their way up. It was what allowed for a person to speak their mind, even when it differed from the majority opinion. These unalienable rights were beyond question and because of that I could grow up never fearing I would be trod down by men of power without discussion, that I could be any damn thing I wanted to be and it would be alright.

I know now that this may have never been true, but it is what I understood America to be.

In the 80's I was promised that even if I was the underdog, I would win. I was promised that I lived in a nation of the just, the defenders of freedom, the envy of every nation in the world and the hope for every person still living under oppression. With our missiles and our virtue, we would lead the world to a better tomorrow and defend the whole planet from men who would destroy everything on the face of the it if it meant at the end of the day that they ruled what was left.

I wasn't told I'd have to work for it. I wasn't told that I'd have to constantly examine and re-examine my choices to make sure that I wasn't abusing my status as an American. I was told that we were right just because of where we were born and because our way of life was the best one.

And now, I look at my nation and I fear for it. Not because of some aggressor from outside but because we rot from within. Extreme views on the left and the right get the headlines. People back into partisan corners and demand that the everyone must adopt their way of life or it will all fall down around us. Every boon presented is torn apart and squirreled away, lest one person get what another believes to be theirs.

We squandered the world's sympathies after 9/11. We feigned prosperity and watched our conceits bring ruin to the finances of the world. We asserted our moral superiority over our brothers and sisters while in the mean time forgetting that they were our brothers and sisters.

Greed is why we're broke. Arrogance is why we have to rebuild our reputation. Pride is why we squabble over who's picture of the American way, conservative or liberal, is the one that everybody has to adhere to.

We've lost our way.

When the 2008 presidential elections were over, I had hope that it would turn around. Not because a Democrat won. Not because a black man won. But because the America had hope. We had lived too long under the cloud of despair and we were ready to throw it off and get back to being awesome again.

Less than six months later, I see conservatives doing everything they can to tear down that hope. I see liberals using the hard won victory to lobby that everything they've wanted was justified. Every triumph and every setback gets co-opted as a support for whatever existing argument is raging. No one is trying to help the nation. They're just trying to prove their point.

If we can't do any better than this, if we can't be more than a bunch of bullies and children in stars and stripes costumes, then we should fail. We will have proven that when men are free, they use that freedom to be petty and self interested. We will have proven that we don't have the strength to bear the burden of responsibility that comes with the mantle of self determination. We will have shown every ideological enemy of America, from Khrushchev 's U.S.S.R. to Al-Qaeda, that they were correct.

I do not deny that we have done great things. I do not deny we could do great things again. For all I know, we're doing great things now. But if we don't do it with compassion, maturity, reason and humility then whatever we accomplish will be for nothing, just a vainglorious footnote in the history of the world, a world in which wicked nations do great things too.

To be the nation that will lead the world, we must remember why we were founded. We must remember that each person is free to practice religion but no one may be compelled to worship or be forced to adopt an ideology. We must remember that we have no right to harm another or deprive them of property without cause and that each citizen has the right to defend what is theirs. We have to remember that our freedom of expression is never more apparent than when we listen to those who disagree with us. We must treat even those who have wronged us with mercy, justice and fairness. We must remember that being free means not only being content with living as we wish but accepting that our neighbor will as well, that their choices might be different and that's okay. We need to be the land of the free, the home of the brave.

If you've read this rant this far, you may disagree with me. I respect that. You may tell me that you think I'm wrong. That is your right and I would have it no other way. If you think I've got no place to speak unless I'm trying to change things, I'll listen and tell you what I do, have done and will do. I'll even listen to suggestions how to do it better.

But if you read this and your first reaction is to say I have no right to have expressed this opinion, if you think that I should be kicked out of the country for saying we are anything less than the best we can be, then know that you are part of the problem. You are the reason why if we can do no better than this, maybe we should fail.

Peace.

Epilogue:

I wrote this article about two weeks ago, inspired by the bickering I saw between the right and left. I left it to the side because I felt it was too much complaint and not enough solution. While discovering no magic bullet to heal the ills of the nation between then and now, I revisited the article after hearing that the agents who committed torture in the name of the US will not be prosecuted. I read it in light of the "tea bag" movement and seeing people who could form no better argument than to hold of signs of President Obama dressed as Hitler.

Thanks again for reading.

Back To Top