Good morning and Happy Independence Day!
WORDS OF PURPOSE AND ASPIRATION
There is no better argument for celebration of America than through some of the most important words. It is hard not to be moved by these aspirational words over 200 years old, written during a time of monarchy, rampant slavery throughout the world, and near constant warfare :
We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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.
And these words that establish this nation as a bastion of protection of the individual in a government unlike any that preceded it:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The words in both of these simple sentences seem so clearly obvious, but were revolutionary when first written. In many ways, they define what it is America aspires to be and the protections it seeks to make universal. To some, these words are merely words to be bent to one’s own religious point of view or to further enrich themselves, without regard for our collective commitment to each other to ensure that these words have meaning for all our citizens.
WORDS OF CAUTION
In his book On Tyranny, Yale professor Timothy Snyder sets out twenty things he believes we must practice and demand of one another to avoid the tyranny that plagued the 20th century. One of these is “be a patriot,” which he distinguishes with the widespread nationalism gripping much of the world. Many of those lobbying to “make America great” fail to recall what exactly makes America great and the patriotism required to keep it great and make it greater:
“…A nationalist encourages us to be our worst, and then tells us that we are the best. A nationalist, ‘although endlessly brooding on power, victory, defeat, revenge,’ wrote Orwell, tends to be ‘uninterested in what happens in the real world.” Nationalism is relativist, since the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others. As the novelist Danilo Kis put it, nationalism ‘has no universal values, aesthetic or ethical.’”
“A patriot, by contrast, wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves. A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained. A patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well—and wishing that it would do better.”
A FINAL IMPORTANT THOUGHT
In these fraught times, our mission as citizens seems clear. In this moment, you and I are being called upon to do no less than save the American experiment. Snyder’s closing words are a call to action:
“A nationalist will say that ‘it can’t happen here,” which is the first step toward disaster. A patriot says that it could happen here, but that we will stop it.”
Our duty is clear—to not let a combination of election denial, lies, foreign actors and self-aggrandizing politicians tearing down trust in our institutions for political gain dissuade us from our duty. What we have learned is that American democracy is fragile. We hold its future in our collective hands.
Have a great day,
Glenn
perfect July 4 message. Thanks Glenn!