History is once again demanding that each of us, individually and collectively, ask ourselves “What is an American?” I do not believe that you are an “American” simply because you are a citizen of the United States of America. Citizenship has little to do with being an American. The term “American” is used to describe a person who has adopted a particular system of beliefs, with well defined principles, intended to regulate and give order to his or her relationship with the government and society. It is akin to a political religion.
I believe that there are certain core principles of Americanism which distinguish it from other ideologies. These principles are widely known and accepted to be the founding principles of this nation. But presently, there is a great movement to abandon Americanism. This movement is spearheaded by people who are “citizens” but not Americans.
I know it is rather unpopular in some circles to suggest that any citizen of the United States is “un-American”, or believes in “un-American” principles. I know that such arguments are condemned by many as “intolerant”. I reject that criticism as it is itself intolerant.
Americanism, as a system of beliefs, exists independently from a person’s citizenship. Thus, having the status as a “citizen” of the United States does not make someone an American to the extent that that person is free to reject, and in fact rejects, Americanism.
Indeed, not one of our Founding Fathers was a “citizen” of the United States of America during the most critical time of our Nation’s history. These Americans lived before our Declaration of Independence of 1776, the creation of the United States of America, and the ratification of our Constitution of 1787, which set forth the current parameters of “citizenship. Yet Madison, Jefferson, and Franklin were Americans while English subjects. Thus, it was not the government of the United States that made our founder’s Americans. Americans existed first. The nation and the government came later. Clearly, it was our founders’ adherence to a certain belief system that made them Americans, and distinguished them from others who rejected those core principles.
So when we ask, “What is an American?”, we are really asking what are the most basic and fundamental principles of the American belief system, without which the entire belief system collapses?
I believe that there are three such American principles. They are: (1) The equality of all people; (2) sovereignty of the people; and, (3) the liberty of a free people is best secured by placing and enforcing strict limitations on governmental power.
Each of these core beliefs are absolute truths under the American belief system. An American must maintain these core beliefs about Liberty and government, and strive to regulate his relationship with the government according to these core beliefs.
As our Forefathers recognized, each and every person is endowed by his or her creator with the inalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. In other words, all are created equal. This is an absolute truth in the American belief system. Americans reject other theories, such as those giving rise to India’s cast system, where equality is not the rule. A person simply cannot lay claim to being an American without believing in equality of all people. Should a citizen of the United States reject this proposition of equality (each of us, as citizens, is free to believe whatever we want), that citizen is un-American.
Similarly, our Forefathers also recognized that a government derives its power from the consent of the governed, or in other words, soveriegnty of the people. In other words, a government that claims its authority to govern from God, or by the threat of force, is not a legitimate government. This notion was so unique and novel at the time of our nation’s founding, it has been and forever shall be described as “revolutionary”. Since the American Revolution, this concept has been accepted by every free people on the planet as a universal truth. It has also been universally rejected by every tyrant. Should a citizen reject the proposition of the People’s sovereignty (each of us, as citizens, is free to believe whatever we want), that citizen is un-American.
The third core American principle recognizes the inherent threat to Liberty posed by every government. The Founders understood that Liberty and governmental power are at odds with each other. In addition to its propensity toward corruption, the Founders recognized that with every exercise of governmental power, there is a cost in the form of a loss of liberty to the People. In other words, borrowing from Newton’s Third Law, for every exercise of governmental authority and power, there is an equal and opposite reduction in the Liberty of the People. Knowing this, our Forefathers sought to order our society and government in a manner consistent with maximizing the Liberty of the People.
This strong distrust of government, and a desire to protect and preserve the People’s Liberty through limitations on governmental power, is the very foundation of the the American system of government. It is the context in which our Forefathers declared the independence of this nation, ratified the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution of 1787, and the Billof Rights. These documents sought to create a system rules whereby the Government would remain subservient to the People, and thus minimize its ability to threaten Liberty. Decentralized power shared between three branches of government, checks and balances, and the affirmative limitations on Governmental power set forth in the Bill of Rights, are all means to that end.
Thus, I conclude that in order to lay claim to being an “American” you must necessarily subscribe to the belief that in order to protect Liberty, strict constraints must be placed on and maintained against the government. Should a citizen reject the inherent danger of unrestrained and unlimited government, or that limitations on government are essential to the preservation of Liberty (each of us is free to believe whatever we want), that citizen is un-American.
Today, our nation is now populated with hundreds of millions of “citizens.” A large portion of these citizens, and indeed, many in government, openly reject the third core American principle by encouraging and supporting unrestrained government expansion and spending, and systematic confiscation of property through an oppressive income tax. The Liberty of the American taxpayer is rapidly eroding, as is the Liberty of those whose very subsistance depends upon government payouts.
Today’s federal government and a large part of our fellow “citizens”, have completely abandoned the core American principles. This is why I protest.
I am an American.
