America: More Than a Nation

In the inauguration speech marking his second term in office, President George W. Bush made clear his vision for the world:

America remains engaged in the world by history and by choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom. We will defend our allies and our interests. We will show purpose without arrogance. We will meet aggression and bad faith with resolve and strength. And to all nations, we will speak for the values that gave our nation birth.

The history and “the values that gave our nation birth” of which he spoke, lie in the circumstances and ideals that produced the nation we have come to know as America. America is an idea more than it is a place. It is a providential idea intrinsically and inextricably bound to the immutable worth of every human being. That idea inspired the declaration of independence and the constitution. It is the idea:

…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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its power in such form, as to them shall deem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

By virtue of its birth and ideals, America is an idea for all people. It is an idea that is synonymous with freedom for every human being. Freedom for all people is synonymous with democracy. To that extent, democracy is 'not a Western idea'; it is a good idea. It should not matter whose idea it was. What matters, is that it works. I am yet to see anyone who would personally refuse a procedure or medicine to cure a debilitating sickness just because it is a Western idea. The people who oppose democracy because it is “a Western idea,” are the same people who, without reservation or restraint, embrace every other good Western idea - telecommunication, transportation, medical technology, etc. An idea should be embraced or rejected on its own merit not on some sentimental hangovers.

When I hear people castigate the idea of freedom for every individual, regardless of place or position; I wonder what they would offer in its place. It has been said that hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue. Such is the notion of standing for something and yet not wanting it to come about. One cannot claim to want freedom for all people, yet hinder the acts that will bring it about.

Speaking of America’s providential purpose: combating tyranny and bringing freedom to the world, Benjamin Franklin said, “Tyranny is so generally established in the rest of the world that the prospect of an asylum in America for those who love liberty gives general joy, and our cause is esteemed the cause of all mankind…We are fighting for the dignity and happiness of human nature.”

In establishing democracy in places where hitherto there has been tyranny, America - the country, is essentially extending “the prospect of asylum” -- America -- the idea, to those who love freedom, in their home lands.

In the end, America -- the country, may very well not be the best or greatest democracy, but perhaps America -- the idea, would have been an inspiration for such a place.