What does it mean to be an American?

What does it mean to be an American? I asked a question about what it means to be an American and got some very sarcastic, stilted answers. Like it was old fashioned, naive or ridiculous to ask that question. Later the same day I came across a forum on how our Consititution is outdated and antiquated. It made me start thinking about why this bothered me so much. What does it mean to be an American. What do we truly believe as a people? Is there any common ground we can come together on? Can we be proud say " I am an American" or talk about our forefathers, our constitution, our ideals, without being labeled with naivety, ignorance or arrogance? Or is it simply too late? Are we so preoccupied with being modern and global that it doesn't even matter anymore? I hear a lot of people who give lip service to our servicemen and women risking their lives, but if Americans don't know what it means to say "I'm an American" and don't care unless it pertains to them at that moment, then I'm afraid we may have a small problem here in these United States.

Do we know what freedom takes? Do we have what it takes anymore? - So I'm writing this hub, not because I think it will get much traffic, but because I need to write it. We are in the midst of probably the worst time we've been in as a country since America's birth as a new nation.. An election coming up, a decade of problems from war to recession have plagued us, yet we turn on the television to see rhetoric, drama, short sightedness, rudeness and contempt on every side, with almost every issue we face. And worst of all, Americans don't know who they are anymore. We had a brief glimpse of patriotism and America as one in the days after 9/11, but it was fleeting and sooned turned into anger at Bush for getting involved in Iraq and at a war that seemed to not have an end point. During those early days, we felt the fragility of our country, maybe for the first time. We felt insecure, afraid, sad, angry and wondered who would do this to America and why? But as soon as it began it was over and factions here and there began to pop up, more immediate problems like the economy became a priority, and what we really wanted to do was forget it, get our boys home and move on. Short sighted and naive? Yes. But then that is what has happened to us. We no longer equate freedom with sacrifice and courage. We equate it to doing , hearing, and seeing what we want to when we want to , money, self indulgence and the need to apologize for what we stand for. Or for standing for anything at all.

The past 20 years and the pummelling of America-What has happened? Maybe we're just too big for our problems. Maybe we are so striated as a people and nation that we don't have any common ground as Americans anymore. We have been inundated with 20 years of multi-culturism, and tolerance to any and all belief, sect, or offshoot there is- to the point of having no standards of right and wrong. I went to a very liberal university after the fall of the Soviet Union and saw the multi culturalism taking the place of the Communists in higher education. It was the new thing- Communism wasn't as viable anymore, so morphing into multicultural and global beliefs, standards and values was an obvious segway. I sat through 6 years of instructors hammering the W.A.S.P. for all the evils in the world. Christianity and the Bible for being antiquated, chauvanistic, and oppresive. Anyone who identified themselves with "the old guard"- Whites, Christians, "American", heterosexual, were expected to be apologetic, ashamed. If you did not, it was just assumed that you were an unsophisticated Nazi. Suddenly everything was up for grabs. Morality, sexuality, religion, culture, value and belief systems. No rights, no wrongs- just different people doing what they wanted with no truth and no consequence.

Extremism in both parties -We see fighting and increased extremism in both parties today stemming from this time. An attempt by one party to shame and subjugate anyone holding morals, values or beliefs tied up with Judeo-Christian religion. Meahwhile allowing and perpetuating any and all forms of evil, baseness and ignorance into our televisions, computers, and airwaves in the name of freedom of speech. Extremism has taken to the airwaves too, with the likes Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly screaming sarcasm and mean spiritedness that is suddenly okay with Conservatives because "We're not going to take it anymore!"

Fighting and getting nowhere fast- What the hell has happened to our country? Why can we not have civil discourse anymore where we solve problems instead of trying to one up or embarrass one another. Is it simply a lack of integrity? Intelligence? An inability or unwillingness to see beyond ones own ideas and reach out to other Americans? Or maybe just the cynicism that has eroded us from the inside out.

So I was reading the other day and came across an interesting document. More than 200 years old, speaking directly to the problems that we face in America 2012. It is George Wasington's farewell address, 1796.

George Washington's farewell address- 1796 In Washington's farewell address he speaks about what it means to be an American, the fact that it has been hard fought and hard won and requires from us more than a passing glance at what it means to have a free democracy where the people are the fulcrum, not the government, not money, not corporations or Wall Street. The people. And if we don't begin to teach the value of being an American, if we fail to understand some basic precepts of our founding fathers, if we don't learn from the mistakes of civilizations and men before us, we will cease to have a democracy.

"a sacredly maintained constitution" -that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained ; that, in time, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by recommending it to the applause, the affection, and the adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it."

George Washington, the father of our country, said that we should not only take care of this "blessing" of our new country, be prudent and preserve it, but also spread it around the world. He said our constitution is a "sacred" work to be maintained with wisdom and virtue. He should know. He turned down the opportunity to be king of this new nation, and he risked everything, his life, his future, his family, to make sure that it came to pass.

Read on, he has more to say about

being an American and why it matters- "The unity of government which constitutes you one people is dear to you and is a main pillar of the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly prize. "

- apparently George thought it important to be identified as one people - Americans - that it is our identity as Americans, as a whole, that gives us our freedom.

maintaining dignity and unification - "But you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it. Watching for it's preservation, discounting whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned."

It is almost frightening to read this, as we see exactly this happening 24/7 on practically every political show, debate, email, or radio program out there. There is no "American" anymore, you are either a liberal or leftist, a religious right conservative, or a tea party member, a pro- lifer or gay rights advocate. These are the precepts which identify us, not our "sacred constitution" , not our "unity which consititutes us as one people" . Most American citizens under the age of 30 would think this was a ridiculous concept. Their idea of America, which has been shaped by the last 30 years of tearing down our founding fathers, being taught to be ashamed of our country, being preoccupied with the sexual activity and misconduct of our leaders, sexual orientation in general, and the deconstruction of anything that smacks of morality or virtue or religion.

Well worth the experiment.... Washington continues: " Is there a doubt whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. We hope it will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. " We can't forget that this America was and continues to be an experiment- dependent on the people who govern it. Would it hurt us to look back at what this is truly all about? Not money, not power, not elitism. America is about the people. And the people, it seems to me, could use some brushing up.

I can't help but think of the health care crisis of the past few years, the infighting, the lack of respect for our country as a whole. I can't help but think of the posturing and rhetoric that fill every political news piece on both the right and left, claiming to be the true Americans, the true patriots, all the while tearing it to shreds in the name of greed, personal gain, and pseudo-celebrity.

Nancy Pelosi recently made a statement about Newt Gingrich claiming it was within her power to take him down and put him out of the race because she "knew something about him." I dislike and disagree with both of these individuals, but the arrogance, lack of integrity, and indifference to the idea that our country is one people, a democracy, not a monarchy- and the fact that this is coming from an elected official spokesperson of the United States of America, on national television, is not only unbelievably ignorant and short sighted, it is almost unfathomable that there isn't an outcry from the American people to get rid of someone who presumes themselves with that much power. And there have been other, equally as stupid things said from the other side. No side is without fault and both are to blame for the situation we find ourselves in.

But George Washington's writing also addresses this issue of parties and their rhetoric. More than 200 years ago, at the birth of our country, before radio, television, or the internet were even an idea, he says this about divisivness of party politics.

"Let me warn you against the baneful effects of the spirit of parties. This spirit is inseperable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, and is truly their worst enemy. Gradually minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; It is the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. "

What more is there to be said? Why haven't we learned this in 200 years? Why aren't we teaching our children to think critically and reasonable and act with integrity and why aren't we training them in honorable discourse and debate? I think it's because we have lost our direction as a country. We've lost these ideals, we've abandoned them for more unworthy pursuits- freedom to see what we want to see, to feed ourselves diets of lax morals and laziness and greed. To be able to do what we want, when we want, how we want, with no consequence and no sacrifice. To say the right things and look the right way all the while lacking a core system of beliefs and philosophy of life. We have taught our children shallowness and self -centeredness and indulgence while we concentrate on money and outward appearances. And we are reaping the rewards with a generation that lacks an identity. French Nationalists? Americans? Whatever. We don't know much about our country, or what it was founded on, or why, or who these individuals were who risked everything for the opportunity to create a great experiment; and our children know even less than we do.

Finally, Washington talks about the most important and ironic source of strength and security,

Our money and our morality. One method of preserving it is to use public credit sparingly, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, and by vigorous exertion in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not throwing to posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear."

and

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports ."

That must have been a typo. If anyone said this today they would be immediately labeled a religious right fanatic. What about separation of church and state? Aren't Deists and atheists one and the same? But he goes on...

"but who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness,? The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. Where is the security for property, reputation, and life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? "

"And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that a national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle"

I am a concerned citizen of the United States of America. I am an American. I believe in it's ideals and I love what it stands for. I don't think that it is perfect, I don't think man is perfect. I don't think there has ever been a perfect land as long as man has been involved.

But I'm afraid that we haven't taught our children the real truths behind freedom and what it took to create this country, and what it will take to maintain it. I don't think we've taught them to stand up for what they believe, or even that we've taught them to believe anything.

Look around and you see a people who can no longer communicate intelligently and with integrity. I see factions and extremism and very few authentic, moderate, self actualized or altruistic people anywhere in American politics. The motivations for our country seem to all stem from greed and self promotion and vindication, instead of out of genuine concern for our country.

I hope that we can listen and heed the advice of our founding fathers. I hope that we teach our children what they said and what they stood for, and why it matters more today than ever before. Because if we don't, I'm afraid we will soon be facing the very real possibility of deconstructing piece by piece our own wonderful experiment , our America.