A Plea To America: Remember Who You Are

Something I think we lose sight of.

America represented something different in the age of nation-states: a nation built, not on cultural unity or shared history, but on a set of aspirational values. A nation founded, not on the gradual accrual of historical rights granted to citizens, but on the inherent rights of men.

Modified from original: w:Second Continental Congress; reproduction: William Stone (numerous) [Public domain, Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The story of America is a story about challenging, fighting over, and extending that vision. Attempting to rectify inconsistencies that marred it and countering ideologies that denigrate or reject these foundational ideals.

America is large. America is wealthy. She won’t be brought low by bombs and guns. But she can be utterly destroyed by the abandonment of that founding vision. She might limp on for a while as a political arrangement, but she will not be a nation, and she won’t be worth fighting to preserve.

I am Canadian, to my bones. I love what Canada is. But the entire world has been shaped by who America was and the vision of liberty and opportunity she once represented, and we, your neighbours to the north, are no exception.

In all of your political and policy disputes, neighbours, I hope that you will remember this. The world need you to be something different; we need you to be better than your enemies. We need you to still be that scrappy idealist that challenges us all to be fearless and seek freedom for all.

Be generous, inspirational, aspirational. Be the light upon a hill.

Be America.

“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.”

A Plea to America: Remember Who You Are