The US was founded on some very noble ideals. We are all created equal. We all have inalienable rights. We are all free to pursue happiness. Of course, when these things were declared, they were aspirational goals, not realities. Women had much fewer rights than men. Most black people in the US were enslaved. Native Americans were considered 'hostile savages' just because they were defending their ancestral lands from invasion. And so on. There was a lot of work to do, and it was very bold and progressive of the Founding Fathers to lay out that kind of vision. Nothing like that really existed anywhere else on such a scale, which is why this country became such a beacon for the rest of the world.
Fast forward to present day. I find there is a dramatic gap between the ideals upon which this country was founded - those that make us most proud to be American - and the reality that results from the policies and actions of the US. Worse, we are increasingly comfortable explaining our many departures from these ideals whenever they are not convenient.
There are unfortunately so many examples to draw from lately. Here are a few:
- Torture is wrong and illegal, except when deemed necessary, then it's OK
- Everyone is entitled to due process, except if we don't have a case against them, then it's OK to hold them indefinitely without being charged with a crime or given access to an attorney
- Corruption is illegal, but it's perfectly OK to give millions to people in power and expect favors in return
- Free speech is protected, unless you publish embarrassing truths about the government, then you're deemed an enemy of the State
- Freedom of assembly is protected, unless you plan to assemble in order to use free speech to voice your disagreement with your government, then may be preventively detained or violently disbanded
- Interfering in other countries' elections and affairs is illegal and wrong, unless we think that country will elect someone who will put their own country's interests ahead of US interests, then we may interfere
- No one's above the law. Unless they have powerful friends and tons of money
- Human rights abuses are always wrong. Especially if committed by countries whose natural resources we covet, then we use that as a pretense for war. Unless they are committed by close allies like Israel or Saudi Arabia, then we look the other way
This is certainly not limited to government policy. This is evident everywhere, nowhere more so than in religion. Massive gaps exist between what religion teaches and what is done in the name of religion. I can sort of blame the abuses of the Spanish inquisition or the Crusades on complete ignorance and lack of information. But in today's day and age, I cannot stand those who advocate violence, intolerance or persecution in the name of religions that preach peace and tolerance. Be they Mullahs, Ayatollahs, priests, popes, ministers, or simply 'deeply religious' politicians.
Closer to my line of work, look at the hypocrisy with regards to climate change. All serious science proves it beyond doubt. All major political parties in the world except one recognize its existence and need to address it. Can you guess the one outlier? If you guessed the US Republican Party, you're right. In the list of Key Issues on their website, climate change is nowhere. Even if it's the most pressing and complex problem humanity faces...
Most large organizations are quite forthcoming about the need to address climate change. But some of them are talking out of both sides of their mouths: Exxon Mobil says clearly on their website: ''Rising greenhouse gas emissions pose significant risks to society and ecosystems'. Yet they are also spending millions to fabricate scientific doubt about climate change, and millions more lobbying against any attempt to regulate or lower emissions. The US Chamber of Commerce says on their website ‘The U.S. Chamber of Commerce believes climate change is an important issue for policymakers to address.’ Yet, they are spending tens of millions of dollars lobbying against any legislative effort to address the problem and are financially supporting the biggest climate deniers in Congress.
The main common thread among all these things, in my opinion, is money. Lots of it. We spend trillions of dollars to fund a military empire primarily designed to protect and further American interests in the world. Those interests generate many more trillions. The people and groups on the receiving end of most of that money are very rich, very powerful, and very determined to make sure the flow of money doesn't stop.
Another way to say that is that sending our sons and daughters to all corners of the globe has little if anything to do with 'protecting our freedom' as most people understand it. It is mostly about protecting our freedom to access natural resources as we please, to maintain privileged access for our products and services, and to export our ideology to the rest of the world. Nobody's really out to take our freedom away. Those who fight us are usually aiming to protect or regain their own...
On this 4th of July, let's celebrate the vision the Founding Fathers had for our nation and our world, and let's commit to reforming our institutions so that this vision can one day become reality.
