America

Let me ask you a question.

What is America? And I mean, specifically, the United States of America.

Is it a place?

I don't think so. I mean couldn't the USA be the USA if its lines were drawn to the north or even to the south? There were 13 states in the beginning, and 48 when destiny was made manifest. Yet, the USA was as much the USA at 13 as it was at 48. And, it was the same when its boarders bounded across the ocean and the arctic circle becoming 49, and then 50.

No, I think it is not so much a place.

Is it a people?

In the beginning, again, the people were English and Scottish, Irish and Welsh. There have been French and Spanish. Italian and Jew. African and Native and Chinese. There is no homogeneity in the cultural make up of America. "American" does not mean white. It does not mean Christian. Americans are Americans no matter what continent their parents came from. No matter what color their skin is. No matter what religion they practice if they practice any at all.

America is not, therefore, defined by its people.

Then what? What is America?

There are certain truths, Thomas Jefferson wrote, that are self-evident. We are all created equal. Contrary to Orwellian antagonists, no one is "More Equal" than anyone else.

We are all born, also, with certain rights, which cannot be taken away. These include, but are not limited to, Life, Liberty and the ability to seek personal happiness. There are natural rights, inherent in humanity, and the only reason to have government, the only reason we choose to imbue select individuals with power and authority is for the sole purpose of protecting those rights.

That is a powerful idea. Jefferson's words and the idea embodied in them toppled an empire, freed a nation, and reformed the entire world. America is the incorporation of that idea.

America is not a place or a people. It is an idea that continues to grow and continues to struggle against the oppressive darkness of power.

The ideas propelled 13 colonies toward independence and statehood. The ideas became law and took root in the second, and even more remarkable, document, The Constitution. It was remarkable in that it formed a government by limiting its powers. It defined governmental function and capped its scope, thus ensuring the rights of the people and the powers of the states.

It eschewed power in a world where power was horded.

And then, as a safeguard guarantee that the rights of the people would be held sacred, the first ten amendments were added in one bill, expressly protecting the rights of speech, assembly, religion, self armament, security in persons and affects, due process, justice and fair trials. It set up a barricade against the historic excesses and over-reaching of government. For once, setting the dignity and respect of the individual over that of the government.

It was a radical idea. It still is.

But we forget.

We think America is a land filled with shopping malls, sports teams and movie theaters. For most, it is a land of white people who speak English, beset on all sides by funny-sounding Chinese merchants, dirty illegal Mexicans and god-hating suicidal Arabs.

For some, America is a flag, because a flag is easier to understand than the idea it is supposed to represent.

For some it is an arrogant fictitious assumption of omnipotent military might, which has been sadly grounded in disastrous reality over the last 7 years.

And for those in power, or those with the wealth to control those in power, America is a machine, which mines wealth from the poor and hard working, which borrows unfathomable wealth from dangerous neighbors and funnels all into the hands of the very few at the very top. For them, America is the ultimate source of wealth and power.

And we let them get away with it.

Why?

Because we've forgotten what America is. We've forgotten what the idea was. We forgot what it is we're supposed to be doing.

We should be holding our leaders accountable, and holding their actions up to the brilliant glare of the law. But we don't.

We don't hold our leaders accountable. We don't hold our neighbors accountable. We don't hold ourselves accountable.

We sit, and mumble, if we care to pay attention at all. We have become complacent. We have become cynical. We have allowed our political discourse to become a circus spectacle, easy to swallow, filled with shiny baubles.

I was reminded recently by one friend that there are actually people in this country who will not vote for one particular presidential candidate, regardless of his views, simply because his skin is dark.

I was alerted by another friend this evening that political signs are being stolen and cars with political stickers are being vandalized, here in Oregon, with symbols of hate.

How?

How can we even begin to address the corruption, greed, and small-mindedness of our government when our own people debase themselves in such juvenile idiocy? How can we hold the government to the bill of rights when we have no respect for the rights ourselves?

Do we even deserve Jefferson's words anymore? Can America ever go back to them?

I don't know. Although, I hope we can.

But for now, I think, all I have is that Hope.