What Makes America Great?

I am sick and tired of listening to all the negative rhetoric blasting America and Americans for being what they are. Everyone, at home and abroad, has been trying for the last 40 years to make us feel guilty for being born, being independent, for raising the standard of living for the world, in short, for becoming what they all wish they were.

Other countries complain, criticize, and  caterwaul, and yet, if given the chance, they would almost to a person, trade places with us at the drop of a hat.

The problems the world are feeling, stem not from our oppressive foreign policy, (which has had it’s moments of weakness), not from the fact that we have colonized the world and bled resources from defenseless territories, (even though the principle of Manifest Destiny did needlessly trample and destroy many people and places.) No, the real reason for the disdain, is jealousy; unadulterated, green-eyed jealousy.

And so, like adolescent children, instead of trying to beat us at our own game, they belittle, condemn, and conspire to pull us down rather than try to lift themselves up. They tear away at the fabric that make us what we are, never dreaming that if these threads were woven into themselves, they would realize their own dreams.

So, what is it that makes America great? What are the components of our success? Listen as a Son of the Revolution, a product of the culture, explains the spirit of success. 

My family came to America from the Germany to Philadelphia in the 1750’s and fought in the Revolution, the Civil War, and all the wars since. They also moved west from Pennsylvania and settled Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas, Texas, California, Oregon, and Idaho. But the spirit of success had never been limited to those who crossed the Appalachians or forded the Missouri. It lives in the hearts of the Irish, the English, the Russian, the Poles, the Asians, and Arabs who came to this country searching for opportunity. It is the spirit of responsibility. The responsibility for not only your actions, but more importantly, responsibility for your destiny. It is the force that pushes you out of bed each morning to try again. It is the motivation that compels you to do your best so your family and posterity may benefit.  It is the power that has made and keeps this country great.

We do not believe in the Divine Right of Kings nor the natural right of anyone else to lead. The right to leadership is based on your ability, not your lineage. It explains our passion for winners. We are drawn to those who accomplish although we too often worship those who succeed. We follow our leaders when they lead the direction we are going, and when they deviate, we replace them.

We believe that families are important, that they are the building blocks of any nation. But when families lie, steal, cheat, or expect us to do the same to protect them, it is imperative that the laws of the land are honored.All people, even our family members, must pay the consequences for their unlawful actions or the rule of law dissolves and anarchy ensues.

We make mistakes. But we try to learn from them. At times it seems we learn very slow, but it’s hard to turn 300 million people on a dime. Some changes have taken generations, and others will take several more. But we live in a country of people who not only chose to come here, but few ever choose to leave. We have border patrols to keep people out, not to keep our population in.  How many other countries can say that. Eldrege Cleaver, an outspoken critic and terrorist of the US in the 1960’s, left for twenty years to live abroad among the communistic countries he idolized, but chose to return to the land of his birth and face prison for his mistakes, because incarceration in this free land was better than citizenship in a dictatorship.

The voices of condemnation and dissent, whether at home or abroad, those who espouse Socialism, Communism, Maoism, or any other brand of Totalitarianism, have missed the mark. Those who want government or Big Brother to watch over and take care of us do not understand the nature of our success. The success and continued existence of the United States of America is based on the constant and vigilant maintenance of responsibility for self, for family, for country, and for those in need. Fortunately most of our citizens still harbor this flame of self-reliance as evidenced by the overwhelming outpouring of compassion, labor, and cash that poured into New York from across the country since the World Trade Center Collapse as well as in the aftermath of other recent calamities.

We have our failings, but we are blessed with greater strengths. Our faith in God and in ourselves will continue to preserve and sustain us. We are faced with a deadly, faceless foe bent on our annihilation. They not only want to topple us from our place of leadership in the world, but they want to destroy our way of life, convert us to their theology and enslave us for their prosperity. The threat is not new. It is the same challenge we faced from King George to Bismarck to Hitler to Kruchev. Their goal is to empower themselves by enslaving others. Abraham Lincoln stated, “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master”. We as free people, need to reach out, to teach, expound, and exhort others to accept that there is a reason for every man’s condition, but there is no excuse for them to remain that way.

Image courtesy: Joshua Hardin http://www.viewfindermedia.com/images/rockies/slides/rockies77.htm