The other morning a couple of talking heads on a television program were discussing the current state of affairs in the country, and one of them said that she still believed America was an exceptional country. The other, a bit like a professional wrestler, retorted that America was definitely not exceptional and started listing all of the things that were wrong here. A few minutes of that, and they went to a protracted commercial break. By the time they were back on camera, the two pundits were playing nicely again.
That idea that America is not an exceptional nation always rankles me. My reason is simple: If we were not a great country, why in the world are hundreds of thousands people risking their lives to come here? They must know something we don’t, or perhaps have forgotten. With the exception of the Native Americans who were already here and the Africans brought in chains as slaves, most of us have ancestors who came because they chose to do so. They came to get away from something bad, or they came because life here would be better.
My great-grandfather was one who risked a month-long voyage across the Atlantic and then took more risks on the frontier when Minnesota was still a territory. He left home because he was tired of being told what he had to believe and do by the “black robes” as he called the clergy. His brother came because, like others, he saw the United States as the land of economic opportunities and advancement that he could never experience in the old country.
That was the way it was for most of our immigrant ancestors. In turn it means we would be better off if we followed the advice of Red Green: “Keep your stick on the ice; we’re all in this together; I’m pulling for you.” In other words, follow the rules, help the other person, and work together.
We have known right from the starting gate that not everything was perfect. In the late 1700s, four young seminarians at Yale made a mutual promise that they would spend their summer break encouraging and inviting people to put into the principles of Jesus. A couple of decades ago that tradition was revived with the letters WWJD or What Would Jesus Do. The fellows made good on their promise, and it led to the century-long Second Great Awakening.
The age of reform began. Someone said that youngsters needed better education, and the concept of public school for all children, and not just the wealthy, became an important part of our common life. Someone noted that children were working instead of attending school, so they adopted the English tradition of Sunday School, using the Bible to teach about Jesus and learn how to read. Others lobbied for child labor laws. After Burr and Hamilton had their duel, the reformers said that dueling was a tradition that needed to come to an immediate end. It did. Others thought that mental hospitals and prisons were a disgrace, and they set about to reform them. The big one was the abolition movement when people believed that slavery was immoral, wrong, and needed to be outlawed. Now, we continue to work for an end to all forms of racism and discrimination for all people.
We became a reforming nation: we are still that way now. You or I see something we think is just not right because others are getting hurt by it, and we work together to make things right. Not that everyone always agrees with us, but we are not going to be silenced by them. A good example of that are the Letters to the Editor in this newspaper.
There you have it. We really are an exceptional nation because we can express different ideas and it leads to growth. Nations that want to control people rather than grow silence conversations. People still want to come here and make this their home, and when there is a wrong we set out to right it.
Try that in some other countries and see how far it gets you. Object to something wrong the government or a dictator is doing and you either get a one-way ticket to Siberia or stood up against a wall. And just how long is the immigration waiting list in places like Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, or North Korea?
We’re an exceptional nation, and we still have reforms to make. Again, the fact that we can see things that are wrong and do something about them is exactly what makes us exceptional.
And we’d better get on with doing it. Time is wasting and we’re burning daylight when we don’t do the right thing. For one thing, our time on this side of the sod is limited. We don’t like to think or talk about it too much, but we aren’t going to be around forever. Let’s get on with doing the work so we leave the world a better place for those coming up after us.
Let’s keep in mind that one of these days’ humans are very likely going to become extinct. It could be that big asteroid like the one that took out the dinosaurs. The lucky ones will get vaporized; the rest of humanity will suffer through a nuclear winter and a new ice age. Or it could be some of those pathogens we’re releasing from the Arctic permafrost due to global warming. Maybe the next time someone sends a big weather balloon over the US they’ll release some of deadly disease.
Or, how about one big industrial strength solar flare or a shift in the earth’s magnetic polarity? That should fry and/or scramble our electric grid and all that important stuff we keep on the cloud’. No telecommunications, no computers, no banking, no lights or heat. Why, you won’t even get your weekly newspaper.
None of those things seem very appealing to you and me, and we would rather not waste our time getting scared over any of those “what ifs” that might not happen for a very long time, somewhere in the future. Instead, let’s get back to doing what we have always done best. Let’s get back to believing that this nation, even with all our foibles, blunders and mistakes, is still the best country in the world.
After that, let’s remember the 4-H motto about Making the Best Better.
We have some work to do.