Samir Shukla
“We must make America great again.” “America is declining.” “We are headed toward an America we will not recognize.” These are just some of the bogus arguments posited by contemporary politicians. Is America in the danger of dying? I think not. This doomsday prophesying serves only to further dishevel our political discourse. Generally this argument is made by conservatives and Republicans, but the doomsday bravado doesn’t escape some Democrats’ pontificating, either. America won’t be the same country a couple of decades from now, they warn. Yeah. No kidding.
I, you, the guy across the street, the woman jogging down the boulevard, the negativity-spewing politician, even the chest-beating nationalist won’t be the same a couple of decades from now. Change is inevitable. Social and economic evolution, unraveling of status quo, disintegrating religious, ethnic, and racial boundaries – these are all a part of natural progression.
Some may think the country is heading in the wrong direction because it is becoming too socially progressive, while others think the government is taking over their lives, and some blame all the problems on the rich and the corporations. America will not be tomorrow what it was yesterday. What it was is a manifestation of personal, regional, economic, environmental, religious, and social interpretations. Where the country is headed is also a meld of similar convergence of personal ethos.
America was a decidedly different country in the 1960’s than it was in the 1950’s. It was different in the 70’s than in the 60’s. It was different at the beginning of this century than it is now, fifteen years later. Each decade is unique in accommodating change.
The idea of America remains the same. The Constitution is among the most brilliant documents ever conceived. It’s the citizens who grow and evolve. Economies evolve and devolve. America is an idea that has inspired countless people around the world. It is full of promise and possibilities.
I’m not naïve to think that the inequities and inequalities, racisms and sexism don’t exist. After all, it took a civil war to rid slavery. It took 144 years after independence before women were allowed to vote. It took an inspired civil rights movement to begin to unshackle institutional racism and segregation.
America is inviting, but can also be weary. Over the decades specific immigrant groups have been stigmatized by others, but these groups have dissolved into the greater American citizenry, bringing their own uniqueness into the whole. We are a nation of immigrants and the country is better for it. It is unique in the collection of nations.
American Exceptionalism has always been an abstraction. Purveyors of the concept are bold and uncompromising in their projection of America as the leader of the world. America is an inspirer, to be sure, but a perfect American era has never existed. We have brought the world forward in many ways, but we have also stumbled. We have liberated masses from tyranny, but we have also jumped into wars that have become seemingly intractable, creating unforeseen problems.
Progress has often come on the backs and labors of others – Native Americans, African Americans, and women. It’s interesting that many people making the “America is failing” arguments are generally the people that have prospered most in the past couple of decades.
Unfortunately these pronouncements have overtaken our contemporary political mores. Stakes are high, so negativity prevails. Social media, the blogosphere, and the 24-hour media cycle feed the beast further.
One group’s social progress is feared by another because it upsets their status quo. This invites further comments from the impending American “decline” crowd.
America is not economically declining; the rest of the world is rising and catching up. That’s a good thing. It’s what we strive for, to bring freedom, economic progress and democratic ideals to the rest of the world. Economically the world is changing. China began its rise when it adopted America’s free market ideas. India has opened the doors to a brighter future by opening and reforming its markets and bureaucracy, mimicking the U.S. in many ways.
That doesn’t mean capitalism and free markets don’t create inequities and economic segregation. But capitalism and free markets are the best way to alleviate poverty, spread opportunity, and lift the masses. They incentivize effort. Personal effort and a sense of personal responsibility in all actions and manners are essential.
The so-called “Greatest Generation” did their part in moving America forward. But they are not unique, all generations, prior and since, have toiled and persevered to help create a more balanced union, socially and economically. The current generation is the most diverse, and arguably, open-minded, in the country’s history.
It seems the arguments that America is in some type of economic, cultural and moral death spiral is mostly made by the self-moralists and those wearing economic blinders. They don’t have the guts to look into the mirror and examine their own frames of mind, their own shortcomings, biases, and prejudice. America will continue to become more diverse, economically fluid and globally interconnected.
Wage stagnation, violence, bubbling layers of racism, sexism, and other social ills still exist. But these are solvable dilemmas, if reasoned folks set aside differences and bogus negativity to set in motion possible solutions. A chorus of naysayers cannot despoil America. “America the naturally evolving” is the refrain I prefer. Ask any opportunity and freedom-seeking person around the world and America is the first word that comes to their mind. I’ll take America the Beautiful, America the inspiring, and, especially, America the Possible, any day.
