American Exceptionalism by Robert E. Freer. Jr
“The position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one.” ~Alex de Tocqueville
The Citadel Charleston, South Carolina
As I sit here on a cloudy Saturday at The Citadel, Thousands of my fellow Sandlappers are exercising the ritual of our democracy going to the polls to select an individual they wish to be our leader for the next four years. There are many days to go before we know the outcome of this quadrennial act of devotion to self-government, but there is reason to believe that this is the most important election we have experienced in 100 years. Issues that have divided us have come to such a boil; The candidates selected will undoubtedly present a stark contrast in their vision, and the unhappiness with our governmental institutions’ gridlock has left the public so frustrated, that maybe, just maybe, we will get some clarity from this national election missing from our recent trips to the polls.
There seems to be a desire to blame Congress for our woes. Don’t do that; it merely reflects our national divisions. Don’t criticize my Representative. He is doing just what we told him to! There is much need for reform in the halls of our Capitol, but in its refusal to compromise, individuals in Congress are doing as the voters at home instructed. Just asking them to “play nice” doesn’t cut it.
Our society is being torn apart by those who no longer accept the notions on which this nation was founded. As a nation, there is a compelling need to look inside ourselves and decide are we still “AMERICANS” as that breed has been defined by our actions over more than two centuries, or are we some lesser breed not up to the courage and determination required to carry the responsibilities handed down to us by our ancestors.
In my column on The American Trinity, I cited Dennis Praeger who defines our cultural divide as being over abiding national beliefs in “In God we trust,” “Liberty” and “E Pluribus Unum.” Dennis states, “The left has successfully made war on all three — substituting secularism for God and religion in as much of American life as possible; substituting equality (of result) for liberty; and multiculturalism is the opposite of “E Pluribus Unum.”
There is reason to believe that we are, indeed, at war over these defining core beliefs. There is no way to compromise them, no comfortable ground in the middle. We either are or are not exceptional in our motivating spirit. We are either a free people embracing the challenges of the future or enslaved to mediocrity. I have nothing that I can give those who believe to the contrary. These beliefs are way too precious to yield an inch.
Where does this come from? I’ll tell you where it comes from. It comes from the following words of the Declaration of Independence, “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…..” You know how it continues. We are given the right to institute and change government that becomes burdensome to those liberties and Creator given rights.
Our Revolution was the first in centuries that deserved that name. We did something unprecedented. We overturned the established order. We insisted we were not subjects granted a few rights by a sovereign but citizens separately endowed by our Creator with full rights which we might agree to loan back to government in limited amounts on good behavior.
It is not possible to overstate the importance of that action. It made all of us at our birth exceptional and placed on our shoulders the responsibility of the care of the republic which evolved from that action. Starting with the election of Woodrow Wilson, the independent spirit that conquered the frontier has been asked to accommodate more and more in the way of services from the state and in exchange accept increasing restrictions on the exercise of our rights.
Following the second Great War in 20 years, Country Club Republicans defined a road of fiscal prudence and social liberalism as the loyal opposition to Democratic rule that was neither prudent nor any opposition whatsoever to the burgeoning federal bureaucracy sucking the vitality out of states’ rights and substituting a vassal like response to all-encompassing federal mandates.
All roads increasing led to Washington. As Jefferson foretold, “A government big enough to give you everything you need, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have….” As Billions in national indebtedness became Trillions, and then doubled upon themselves exceeding what our land produces in a year, it has become clear that we must reverse course to unleash the productive energy of our people while restraining the rapacious grasp of government consuming the very lifeblood of our people.
We must do this now. Time is short. The Sun I pictured in my last article is poised to rise or sink forever below the horizon. The choice between the free market candidates is nothing as between any one of them and the progressive forces eroding the very energy from what makes us special. We determine our collective future but as the sum of one citizen pursuing life liberty and happiness at a time. The damage done and even now oozing through our national arteries is serious, but it is not too late. As Ronald Reagan, told us “We are Americans” and our power to turn our dreams into reality is unlimited. Ask not for whom the Liberty Bell tolls, it tolls for you, and it depends on you to answer its call.
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Robert E. Freer, Jr., after an extensive career in government, law and business, serves as the first BB&T Visiting Professor in Ethics and Free Enterprise Leadership at The Citadel. Prof. Freer may be reached at robert.freer@citadel.edu. The opinions he expresses are solely his own.
The idea of American exceptionalism runs afoul of the Liberal/Progressive movement. In order for liberalism to suceed, the great unwashed must be willing to trust the elite to watch over them. You have to believe not in yourself but in the powers that be. Quite a turnaround for a group who railed against the “man” just 4 short decades ago.
They have permeated our society, laying down rules and policies, which do not nurture individualism but act to move the populace to the lowest common denominator. In sports, some states like Mass, no longer keep score in youth soccer games. Other leagues that do allow scorekeeping have a rule that if you go ahead by 12 or more points/runs you lose automatically. Strikingly similar to their taxation policies first explored under Wilson, that saw incomes at the upper end taxed at 73%.
Our schools, or at least many of them operate on a pass/fail basis. An A plus is the same as a D minus. And all of this done in the name of fairness. The goal is to kill the idea of working hard and raising yourself up. Successful companies are evil and only became rich by stealing from the poor. Conservatives take the opposite tack. WE believe that successful companies promote successful workers. Microsoft created 3 billionaires and over 12,000 millionaires.
It then becomes “necessary” to confiscate wages from the idle rich and redistributing it to the idle poor. Obama, himself in a radio interview bemoaned the fact that the Supreme Court did not address redistribution of wealth.
I think the thing that irratated the left the most about President Ronald Reagan was that he wholeheartedly believed in American Exceptionalism, and he made us believe too. We were the “shining city on the hill”, as opposed to the Great Satan the left sees when they look at America.
My father’s America was big. In fact it was huge. He had 8 children and never made much money. Hunting ginseng and trapping fur was necessary just to make it, but he never complained and took pride in his ability to rise to the challenge and to raise successful children. Liberal America is small, and it’s greedy. It’s mean and hateful.
Now America is at a crossroads. Do we move forward toward socialism or do we look back at the America of our forefathers? The America, the world envied and tried to emulate? The America people risked their lives to reach?
The governemnt cannot make the people exceptional, it takes the people to make the country exceptional. We have in our hands, the most powerful weapon in the world, our vote. If weilded with knowledge and honor, it can slice through the maze, the haze and the fog of the left and lead us anew to the leadership of the free world.
I once had a coach by the name of Hick Quinn. He once told me it was okay if you didn’t win the race as long as you made the winner set the record. So the pretenders to our throne, China, Canada, France, Canada and Japan, beware. This giant is roused and breaking the record may not be good enough. For our history of shattering records will soon be restored.
Yes, we are exceptional. Thanks for reminding us, Professor. And, it is up to us to maintain it…just as it will be up to our children and grandchildren to carry the torch. We must teach them well…in our homes, our churches, our community. Notice that I have omitted “our schools” and I think we all know why, however, that too may change for the better. Not one shot need be fired in today’s Revolution…thanks to our Founding Fathers with their foresight…ensuring that we can facilitate change through the power of the vote. It can and it will be a powerful force. I have heard so many references lately which I am sure are fueled by the mainstream media…one about the fallacy that the Tea Party is losing momentum. Oh, contraire…we’re still here and we continue to stand firm and steady….and as we do so, we continue to grow stronger. We are the hard-working citizens, who tend to our daily chores, we don’t yell and scream and shout profanities…we don’t sit idly with nothing better to do than trash our streets, our minds and our bodies…we silently continue to set personal goals and work for what we achieve…and as we do so, our hearts hold the truth. So, no, we don’t need to shout louder, we don’t need to sling obscenities in order to be heard. We are are patient, faithful, and passionately assured in our ability to turn the tide…back to American exceptionalism….because we are the backbone of America.