We’re an odd bunch, we Americans. We prize our individuality, our
liberty; we compete, we like to win. But when the situation demands, we
coalesce and pull together, then separate again as the crisis passes. World War
II was a great example – individual liberty was sacrificed to the greater good
of protecting and perpetuating our country, our values, our way of life. We
willingly bought War Bonds, submitted to rationing, hung blackout curtains, and
joined the services in droves. But after the war, sailors and soldiers and
Marines shed their uniforms and returned to the bustling, unruly competition of
civilian life.
The key to this collectivization is its voluntary and
temporary nature. When we recognize a threat to “us,” we willingly take up the
traces. But when subservience is tyrannically imposed, we bristle, resist, and
subvert. It's human nature. Note the Arab Spring, the French Revolution, and our own Revolutionary
War.
Societies vary in the degree of individualism permitted. For
instance, under Islamist rule, thou darest not be Christian. In China, you must
not speak your mind unless you are in alignment with the Party. Even in England
and Canada, you may be prosecuted for the offense of “offending” another. And many
countries on Earth demand that their citizens be disarmed (hint – subservient).
Much to the dismay of the United Nations, we in the United States come from a much different mindset. Our Founding Fathers, reacting to the strictures of the English sovereign, turned that paradigm on its head and declared that “all men are created equal.” Gasp – a concept unknown in the world at that time, and still unknown to vast reaches of the Earth today.
Much to the dismay of the United Nations, we in the United States come from a much different mindset. Our Founding Fathers, reacting to the strictures of the English sovereign, turned that paradigm on its head and declared that “all men are created equal.” Gasp – a concept unknown in the world at that time, and still unknown to vast reaches of the Earth today.
We have something special, folks. Think about it. You are
the boss of your life. If you want to be Christian, so be it. If you want to be
Muslim, that’s cool. “None of the above” is a perfectly acceptable alternative
as well. The government is subordinate to you – you are the sovereign!
So how does a nation of over 300 million individual sovereigns
accomplish anything? In spite of the protestations of those of the liberal
bent, our system rewards individual effort and risk taking, and the sum of those
parts is enormously powerful in giving us all the benefit of a brisk, growing,
and munificent engine of wealth. Oh, to be poor in America – the reason that our
borders are overrun.
Financial dislocations, depressions, recessions are wholly
due to foolish governmental interventions. There are no exceptions. If we were
free to each pursue our individual dreams, the sum of our efforts would provide
increasing wealth and employment and security. It is government policies,
distorting market forces, which cause us pain. Social engineering, the holy
grail of progressives, is our bane. With the exception of equal rights for all
humans (black, white, female, male, gay, or Episcopalian), they are wrong on
all other counts.
Leave us our individual dreams; have faith that the
collective result will be excellent. We are each, after all, sovereign.
