When Europeans discovered America, some thought it might be a kind of Eden.
Explorers recounted their tales of naked savages, snakes, and low-hanging tropical fruit. Maybe it was Eden, but gone to seed. Whatever it was, many thought they could make a paradise out of it. Adventurers, entrepreneurs, religious zealots of every stripe – all made their way to the New World intent upon turning it into the Eden of their dreams. Five hundred years later, America is what they made of it – both a paradise, and a complete mess. But if Americans have a special gift, it is a talent for ignoring irony and ambiguity and going on with their special mission: getting rich. Most Americans look at the country as if it were an Enron financial statement. Sure, many of the assets are fictitious and the liabilities are understated. But like Merrill Lynch, we are all bullish on America. Swelling Patriotism “Proud to Be an American,” says one bumper sticker. “One Nation – Indivisible,” says another. America was, of course, founded on
strength – or its most serious weakness. After September 11, 2001, so many Americans bought flags that the shops ran short. Old Glory festooned nearly every porch and bridge. Patriotism swelled every heart. Europeans coming back to the Old Country reported they had never seen anything like it. A Frenchman takes his country for granted. He is born into it, just as he is born into his religion. He may be proud of La Belle France the way he is proud of French cheese. But he is not fool enough to claim credit for either one. He just feels lucky to have them for his own. Nation of Immigrants America, by contrast, is a nation of people who chose to become Americans. Even the oldest family tree in the New World has immigrants at its root. And where did its government, its courts, its businesses, and its saloons come from? They were all invented by us. Having chosen the country – and made it what it is – Americans feel more responsibility for what it has become than citizens of most other nations. They take more pride in it, too. But what is it? What has it become? What makes America different from any other nation? Why should we care more about it
the opposite principle – the idea that people were free to separate themselves from a parent government whenever they felt they had come of age. But no fraud, no matter how stupendous, is so obvious as to be detected by the average American. That is America’s great
American Liberty
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September 2019
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