What does it mean to be an American?
I heard someone recently put it succinctly by posing what he called “the gate test.” When the gates of a country are open, what happens? Do people leave or do they move in?
Of course, you and I know the answer to the ‘gate test’ for the United States. That is not the answer for many other countries.
That logically leads to the next question: Why?
People migrated to this land for the opportunity it held out to them and their families. To own their own land and to be responsible for themselves without being held back by governments, especially tyrannical ones, some which demanded belief in something ‘divine’ being imbued to the people who governed them. They left conditions that required them to be subservient to their governments and ideologies that limited people.
We all know, or should know, what happened here in the 1770’s. The prospect of being at the mercy of a government in which they had no say – controlling their present and future – became too much to bear. Rebellion resulted in the formation of a democracy – a republican form thereof – whereby States joined together to begin a new country.
Those seeds of independence took form in guaranteeing certain rights and responsibilities to individuals by a new Constitution. That first document was immediately amended 10 times and has been amended 17 more times since then. So, the first Constitution was not perfect and has been changed and/or expanded to fulfill the intent of it to all citizens. It’s been a work in progress, reflecting the changing times and attitudes toward a host of evolving issues and mores.
From the experience and experimentation represented by our Constitution, what developed was something called “the American dream.”
That ‘dream’ embodies the answer to the question posed as the title of this essay. We’ll try to define that answer in the words that follow. What does it mean to be an American?
Let’s start with this. In 1775 Patrick Henry captured the American spirit by saying “Give me liberty or give me death.” He didn’t say “Give me liberty or give me an entitlement.”
The American dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class or race they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society in which upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American dream is believed to be achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, education and hard work, rather than by chance or entitlement.
Because of that dream and the freedom it encompasses, the United States became an incubator of new ideas, of invention, of manufacturing, of electronics, of education, of science, of technology, of ingenuity, of entrepreneurship, of excellence. Those leaps of advancement in the human condition resulted in the country becoming an economic juggernaut – a powerhouse, a world leader. It became the richest country in the world with its entire society participating and benefitting – to the envy of the globe.
That happened because each of us is free to try to be the best person we can be. That freedom carries with it the responsibility of gumption and hard work. Working to be the best takes time and commitment. It’s not easy to accomplish but the opportunity to try is a major defining point of America – and being Americans is understandably desired by people outside our boundaries.
No wonder Americans ‘rebel’ against a government that over taxes its people. They rebel against the idea that the government knows better what they want than they themselves know and believe.
Part of the reason many Americans feel they haven’t achieved the American Dream and don’t have a chance to, is because our country has gotten so far from its ideals.
America was built on the idea that all men are created equal, and that there shall be liberty and justice and opportunity for all. However, today our country is split into multiple separately identified groups – our politics, races, genders and lifestyles. In the past, we still had close to the same diversity, but we were closer as a nation, and didn’t let disagreements split us apart, rather they brought us closer together. Compromise and respect settled differences, but those differences did not include our shared ideals.
In order for everyone to get access to the American Dream, America needs to go back to its ideals. That starts with the focus on the individual, not a group, not a political party and certainly not the government.
Most of us have grown tired of the growth of government involvement and impact on our daily lives. We don’t want ‘mandates or regulations or executive orders. We want the freedom to choose, to use our own heads, to decide our own fate, and live with it.
Our Constitution gives us certain freedoms and rights like freedom of speech, religion and assembly, the right to a fair trial and to own guns. Any activity that negates or threatens those rights and freedoms is what we have a government for – to squelch those actions which would limit or negate those rights and ensure a justice system that blindly follows the law.
Choices and the freedom to choose then is what the American dream is/was all about. But, for example, most people have little or no choice as to their children’s education. Government has eliminated that choice for most parents where children are educated in government run schools with public service unions.
Government has imposed regulations eliminating or limiting choices.
Bureaucrats control our lives in many ways. That in turn diminishes the prospect of the ‘dream’ for way too many citizens.
It follows, then, that the bigger the government the more regulated and controlled we become, the less the American dream means to us and the less unified we are.
Can we ever get back to a time when the “American dream” lives in the hearts and minds of all our citizens?
We still have that choice if we decide to choose it.
***************
Have a great and prosperous week.
Hug somebody.
SPIDER Bites
Finally, here comes the Federal Reserve, albeit a little late to the party the overpriced equity market has witnessed – and inflation. Liquidity will go down as interest rates increase soon. Meanwhile, The Jobs Report for December was anemic. Stagflation is here.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) found that there were over 10 million job vacancies last month. Few working age people have little excuse not to work. With so many openings, a record 4.5 million people quit their current jobs. It’s a workers’ market and government wanting to provide more entitlements in this circumstance makes no sense at all.
After backing off for a few weeks, oil topped $80 again last week. Brace yourself when you fill up.
As we hear about a snowstorm affecting highway traffic in Virginia, we hear little about the shortage of snowplows, more specifically drivers. It seems that even at offering $100/hour, private drivers and contractors can’t cover paying the now higher costs for vehicle insurance and fuel.
At the request of the Dept. of Transportation, AT&T and Verizon agreed to a second delay, this time two weeks, in rolling out full 5G services. The FAA and the airlines are concerned 5G will interfere will radar altimeters and other airplane cockpit safety systems around airports. The cell phone carriers make the point that other countries, including France, have handled the concerns without incidence or delays, and that all the US has to do is follow those models. Makes sense to me.
Senate Democrats are now discussing on how to eliminate the 60-vote rule and the filibuster in that chamber in order to pass the controversial, federal ‘voting rights’ bill whereby the feds would take over the voting for national elections. It’s crystal clear to me that the Constitution gives all the legal voting procedure rights to the States, but if they want to blow up the Senate over a bill that would most likely be found to be unconstitutional, I guess they can have at it. Much ado, as they say, and don’t ask what it does for the American people – you know, you and me.
Public school teachers’ unions in Chicago and elsewhere have decided they will only teach remotely again – throwing kids and parents into education and child supervision dilemmas. Isn’t school supposed to be about the kids? The ‘strike’ is purportedly about the spread of COVID – masks, vaccinations, boosters, distancing, etc. Enough already! Chances are we’re all going to get the omicron variant, whether we know we have/had it or not – and whether we’ve been vaccinated or not. Of the 835,000 deaths attributed to COVID through 2021, 655 occurred in the 17-and-under age group (that’s .08%) and we don’t know how many of those were otherwise health compromised. Kids are not at risk. It’s past time we get on with their schooling and living. The same goes for the rest of us.
A million cases of COVID in one day last week – a record. Don’t dwell on that number. And despite our President still saying it’s the unvaccinated, that statement is just not true. The good news is we’re closing in on herd immunity.
Last Monday Apple became the first company ever to hit $3 trillion in market capitalization. Microsoft is 2nd at $2.5T, followed by Google and Tesla at $2T, and Amazon at $1.7T. Oh how the world has changed.
Meat packers and their “monopoly” is what the administration is now blaming for increases in the price of meat. It apparently doesn’t have anything to do with labor shortages or increased transportation costs or anything else. Competent economists think otherwise and are likely banned on Twitter.
