The American People have shirked their duty and squandered their power almost from the beginning. We are not speaking here of government officials or business leaders, but of the common man and woman on the street. For decades, the citizenry of other countries, being in love with the American Ideal, have given the American people a pass as being either too powerless or too innocent to be held accountable. This has been changing for the past few years, accelerating with the Islamic uprising(s), and this acceleration is accelerating. Soon, the American Citizen will be held accountable in fact for their government’s actions.
On my latest business trip to northern Italy I found myself were I often do, in a semi-heated, informal debate with a group of foreign peers concerning what is wrong with the world in general, and America in particular. My usual opening question to get things started is something like, “So what do regular Italians REALLY think of America?” This question is always met with a quite circumspection by those within hearing as they wonder if I’m serious, and whether I really want the answer(s). Regular Italians are a little more formal and a lot more polite than the average American, so their answers are metered and muted, initially. They usually put out a feeler question or two about where I’m from and what I do. Learning that I am a physician usually has a calming effect on the situation and they warily begin to open up.
The average American never hears what these Italians think about such questions. Mainstream media, pundits nor politicians seem to think it important to discuss what intelligent, caring citizens of other countries think about the goings-on in America. If we will but look, such discussions hold up a mirror, showing us a reflection that we might very well like to ignore, but had better scrutinize. Do not take me for an internationalist, or a one-worlder. I am a red-blooded American and think multi-country blending such as our Supreme Court justices taking foreign law into consideration while deciding domestic cases, noxious. However, the perception of logical adults from other nations is a barometer of the American condition; the pressure is rising and must be attended to.
In such conversations, one is often given a quick primer on the actual behavior of our federal government in places we do not often think about, like Germany, Cuba, and Iran. The arrogance and cruelty of OUR federal government’s foreign policies is quickly apparent to those of us who sit quietly and listen to the narrative as it grows louder and more animated. For decades, the beauty of the American Ideal has rightfully intoxicated the people of other countries (not the leaders, as much) and has thus far induced them not to blame the American citizen at large. This feeling was given voice after the tragedy of September 11th by the near-unanimous cry of the western world, “We are all Americans!” The world wanted to rally around us but was soon repelled by our Departments of State and Defense (Offense…) and their actions. The positive attitude of the world regarding the American people has been changing for a variety of reasons, and may soon fade altogether.
Many who have been awakened by the egregious actions of the current administration naively believe these are the actions and consequences of Bush/Cheney alone. Actually, America’s federal government has been violating human rights and human nature abroad for well over a hundred years, and citizens of other countries have been quite patient with us. Since there have been multi-national corporations and a profit to be made, there have been abuses and atrocities. Foreign policy has been more in line with the corporate charter than with the Constitution. Awareness of such events of late is more acute to some of us due to proximity and the possible consequences that are starting to accumulate. The internet and a budding new awareness of our government’s behavior make it more possible than ever to be aware of what is being done in our (your) name. The compound question is quickly becoming, “What must be done, and who must do it?” The answer is lots, and You. What is the take-home message from my acquaintances in Italy? The world has had about enough of an empire marauding in the deceptive robes of freedom and liberty; of promising one thing and doing a very different thing.
Many of us are aware of the either factual or mythical question and answer at the close of the constitutional convention between a woman and Founder Ben Franklin:
Woman: Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy? Franklin: A Republic, if you can keep it. (Yes, you personally)
This exchange makes plain either the explicit instruction or the implicit will of the Founders, that this Republic is ultimately policed by The People, and that they are ultimately responsible for its actions and its well-being. Again, buried deeper in the Declaration of Independence than most Americans ever read:
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government… (Again, that’s you)
Further down, and much more powerfully:
it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security… (And again, Your duty)
Rarely before in our history has this concept been more imperative. Never before has this medicine been more bitter, or more needed. What many are beginning to realize is that at some point the guns and deeds which used to be pointed outward, have been turned inward upon us. The surveillance that was once used against the enemy in Moscow is now being used against your neighbor; the propaganda that was once used against the Vietnamese is now being used in your neighborhood; and the subtle fear once felt only by the enemies of our country is now being experienced by you and yours.
The time for sarcasm, apathy and limp-wristedness is quickly lapsing. Our country and ideals which once were regarded so highly in the world that books were written and statues carved in dedication has seen its estimation in the eyes of the world plummet. Perhaps George Bush does not care about his approval rating, but the world’s opinion of the American people must be cared about. It is hard to love that which you do not know, but it is easy to lose it nonetheless. Either we will stand and speak loudly of reform, and alteration, and perhaps even of throwing off, or we will not. The taste of vigorous action may be more palatable than the consequences of doing nothing.
If you do not know enough yet to love the American ideal, then learn; if you do not hear our reputation being besmirched beyond repair, then listen; if you do not want to be complicit in snuffing the world’s Light of Liberty, then act.
Ken D Berry, MD
Brave post - with that said: I find you embrace of idea that American government is the responcibility of "American People" to both naive and wrong for the "American People" cannot directly set the policies of "their" government nor is the politician that each American votes for necessarily going to be elected (in the latter, I assume here that voting for a politican entails responcibility for the poicies they enact). By doing this, you tacitly assume that the "American People", as a collective social institution, consent to the rule of their government a notion that is wrong in that such a collective, as stated in the action axiom, cannot act and ergo cannot give consent, leaving this notion in pieces. Also, I don't comprehend what you mean by an "American ideal" and I find a very blunt definition of it to be a piece of this essay that I find to be seriously lacking.
Abstract liberty, like other mere abstractions, is not to be found.
- Edmund Burke
You're preaching to a chior of radical libertarians and anarchists, Ken. No apathy here. Most of us already have well-formed ideas about how to throw off the state (and in many cases, such as my own, action as well as ideas). But what do you propose we should do?
Pro Christo et Libertate integre!
First of all, I could care less what people in Italy think of the U.S.
Second of all, I can do nothing, really, to change anything. There is no "enemy" to fight, unless I am willing to wage war on about 99% of the population, because really, about 99% of the population thinks the government is doing the right thing, just not enough.
Lastly, if these Italians are so smart, and think it is so easy, why do they not do it in their own country?
At most, I think only 5% of the adult population would need to stop cooperating to have real change.
Ken Berry:This exchange makes plain either the explicit instruction or the implicit will of the Founders, that this Republic is ultimately policed by The People, and that they are ultimately responsible for its actions and its well-being. Again, buried deeper in the Declaration of Independence than most Americans ever read:
That pretty much went out with the civil war.
"As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable."
The Declaration was buried with the mercantilist Constitution.
scineram: The Declaration was buried with the mercantilist Constitution.
It was more of a mercantilist perspective on the Constitution than such principes being blatantly written in. The necessary and proper clause destroys any meaning it has for controlling government, though.
I like you am much like the Farmer's Duck...
The opinion of my Italian collegues is important only as a a barometer. Even when we opposed each other in war, it seems the Italians lusted after our liberties.