June 30, 2007
Americanism 101
Weekly Standard: We Are Americans By Choice, Not Birth
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This week, I am being honored by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as an "Outstanding American by Choice." This strikes me as an interesting name for an award. It is meant, of course, to recognize selected citizens who were not born in America. But the idea of being an American by choice points to an important, and perhaps unintended truth: being American is not simply reducible to the happy accident of birth. Americans, both natural and naturalized, must be trained — they must be made — and much of my time these days is devoted to making Americans out of people who just happened to have been born here.
Over fifty years ago, when I was just shy of my tenth birthday, my family fled Hungary during the failed revolution against the Russian Communists. Our family's story was like so many of the refugees from communism, complete with relatives arrested, property seized, and a nighttime dash to freedom. The decision to escape was an easy one to make (although not so easy to execute), but the question I had — the one I distinctly recall asking my father — was "Where are we going?" We could have stayed in Europe — and indeed, the Germans would have welcomed us as Volk deutsche because of our German surname — but this was not my father's plan. "We are going to America," he said. "Why America?" I prodded. "Because, son. We were born Americans, but in the wrong place."
Born Americans, but in the wrong place? I've spent the better part of the last fifty years working to more fully understand these words. Mind you, everyone understood America to be a free and good place where one might prosper unmolested. But in saying that we were "born Americans, but in the wrong place," Dad, in his way, was saying that he understood America to be both a place and an idea at the same time. Fundamentally, it is a place that would embrace us if we could prove that we shared in the idea. We meant to prove it.
Because America is more than just a place, being an American citizen is different than being the citizen of any other country on earth. We Americans do not look to the ties of common blood and history for connection as people the way the citizens of other countries do. Rather, our common bond is a shared principle. This is what Lincoln meant when he referred to the "electric cord" in the Declaration of Independence that links all of us together, as though we were "blood of the blood, and flesh of the flesh, of the men who wrote that Declaration."
Because ours is a bond of principle and not of blood, true American citizens are made and not born. This is why, odd as it may seem, we must all learn — those who are born here, and those who come here by choice — what it means to be an American. Regrettably, we are doing a poor job of passing this knowledge on to future generations. Looking to just one practical indicator, the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that 73 percent of twelfth-graders scored below the proficient level in civics, as did 78 percent of eighth-graders, and 76 percent of fourth-graders. To put this into perspective, 72 percent of eighth graders could not explain the historical purpose of the Declaration of Independence.
This ignorance is tragic not merely because it indicates a deficiency in our educational system, but because with it comes a loss of our national identity. And so, I find it somewhat ironic and yet very fitting that fifty years after coming to this great country, I spend my days at an institution where my job is to teach college students and high school teachers what it means to be an American.
In recent weeks, there has been much talk about immigration, but very little informed discussion about what it means to be an American — about what is necessary to make Americans. Yes, there needs to be a sensible policy for accepting new citizens, and for ensuring that those who come here do so legally. But what happens once they are here? I hear frequent conversations about failures in integration and assimilation, even among recent legal immigrants. This is not new. What is new is that America's own natural citizens increasingly have forgotten what it means to be American. Some do not know the basics principles of this country, and still others have embraced the ideology of multiculturalism and self-loathing to such a degree that they can no longer recognize, let alone proclaim, that ours is a great nation built on lasting principles. If we no longer understand or believe in that which makes us Americans, then there is nothing substantive to assimilate into. We become many and diverse people who share a common place, rather than E Pluribus Unum.
We cannot forget who we are. We are Americans. This is a great nation. We Americans insist on holding to the connection between freedom and justice, courage and moderation. We think that equality and liberty have ethical and political implications, and, as we have shown time-and-again throughout our history, we are willing to fight and to die to make men free. We need to impart these principles to succeeding generations.
We Americans correctly demand respect for our rights but, in getting that respect, we must continue to demonstrate that we continue to deserve it. We have to exercise our intelligence and develop our civic understanding so that we may preserve our liberty and pass it on, undiminished to the next generation. If government "of the people, by the people and for the people" is to endure, its endurance can only come from the devotion of Americans — born here and away — who have been so made.
By Peter W. Schramm
© Copyright 2007, News Corporation, Weekly Standard, All Rights Reserved.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 51 Comments***The*** ***more*** ***different*** ***the*** ***people***, ***the*** ***more*** ***suspicion*** ***that*** ***there*** ***is***. ***The*** ***easier*** ***it*** ***is*** ***to*** ***brand*** ***them*** ***as*** &***quot***;***not*** ***like*** ***us***&***quot***; ***and*** ***say*** ***that*** ***they*** ***should*** ***stay*** ***out***, ***that*** ***they*** ***are*** ***not*** ***wanted***.
***If*** ***is*** ***the*** ***content*** ***of*** ***their*** ***character*** ***and*** ***purity*** ***of*** ***their*** ***soul*** ***that*** ***I*** ***look*** ***for***. ***If*** ***they*** ***are*** ***good*** ***people*** ***that*** ***want*** ***to*** ***work*** ***hard*** ***and*** ***obey*** ***the*** ***laws***, ***then*** ***they*** ***can*** ***become*** ***Americans***. ***But*** ***ultimately*** ***WE*** ***decide*** ***who*** ***gets*** ***to*** ***become*** ***Americans***, ***it*** ***is*** ***OUR*** ***country***. ***This*** ***is*** ***not*** ***a*** ***given*** ***right*** ***to*** ***anyone***.
"he probably would have agreed with me, that America could learn much from these people."
Of course shortly after Dr. King might have said thusly, he would still have been assassinated...
You write, "What a joke to suggest that freedom of speech means bloodshed."
I'm sure the Iraqis, the Chechens, the victims of Bosnia, the victims of post Soeharto Indonesia's riots, Wiemar's Germany, and many others throughout history who paid for letting demagogues incite the worst instincts in man, all get your joke and are ROTFLTAO.
By the way, it didn't escape notice that you try to condemn Singapore's "embrace of Islam" as you incorrectly perceive it, then condemn them for what you see as a lack of religious freedom. "Doublethink", I think Orwell called it...
Still no real answer, so maybe you don't have one.
I'm pretty sure that Dr, King would have surveyed the place, and remarked at the fact that there are no homeless, violent crime per capita is microscopic compared to the US, that government has measures designed to aggressively combat racial and religious discrimination, that there are no slums and neglected neighborhoods of poor people, and the higher overall quality of life compared to the US, that all children have equal educational opportunities, the average test scores place Singapore at #1, while the US struggles to maintain 16th place, and he probably would have agreed with me, that America could learn much from these people.
Be sure to be looking in the mirror when you say those words.
This is all I'm going to answer of what you posted. What if everybody had freedom of speech and didn't need permission to speak first, well, gee, let's see, um why don't you ask that question of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? What do you think he would say? What a joke to suggest that freedom of speech means bloodshed.
You know what, you are apparently pleased with the restriction on conscience, freedom of speech, presumption of guilt until proven innocent, and other serious human rights violations in Singapore and you really, really belong there! Stay there, but don't be surprised if one day it doesn't come back to bite in your rear end. In the meantime, you have nothing to say about the US or any other country when you defend that kind of crapp. Have fun, you little Hitler you. Any dictator would proud of the likes of you, regardless of your color.
Did you know that the Muslim call to prayer, sung 5 times a day from the minarets through loudspeakers in most Muslim countries, is banned in Singapore, as it is not only proselytizing, but also a disturbance of the peace?
Like I said, you have been lied to, use your own eyes...
You also repeat the false assertion that Singapore "embraces Islam". Aside from the face that Buddhism Christianity, and Hinduism are also represented and supported equally by government bodies here, the majority of Singaporeans are Chinese Buddhists.
You apparently are a victim of the current propaganda that everything Islam is automatically evil, believing what you read, simply "because it is written" by someone who claims knowledge of the subject.
Your own eyes would tell you that what you read is mostly untrue, and then you would better understand the agenda of those who wrote it.
I find it ironic that you dismiss the fact that Dr. Chee had legal avenues to publicize his grievances, but chose to do so in a confrontational manner.
Singapore, simply because of the many cultures jammed into this small space, is like a tinderbox, all that is needed is a spark to set the whole thing ablaze. I asked, and you did not answer, what if everybody decided to do as Dr. Chee, would you rather the resulting bloodshed for the sake of unlimited freedom to protest the government?
In any American city where public nudity is illegal, for example, if someone who doesn't agree protests by walking nude down main street, would you consider their arrest improper?
Perhaps because it is not your blood that would be spilled, you won't see the lessons of the Soviet Union and Iraq, in a power vacuum, much blood will be shed by those who compete to become the new power.
Government is a necessary evil, ideally it should balance conflicting agendas between various groups for the good of the whole, Singapore does better at it than many who claim to do so.
By the way, there are no concentration camps here, your comparison to Nazi Germany is more apropos for the current American administration.
YOU WILL SEE MORE AND MORE ISRAELI SUPPORTS SPEWING THEIR STAY THE COURSE BUSHIT ON THE NEWS AND IN WASHINGTON AS THE SUPPORT FOR THEIR POLICIES HAVE FALTERED IN AMERICA!
AMERICANS ARE WAKING UP!
TELL OUR POLITICIANS AND THE MEDIA NO MORE MONEY TO THE MIDDLE EAST THEY HAVE NOTHING WE NEED
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
ISRAELIS HIDE BEHIND PROBLEMS THEY HAD IN EUROPE 70 YEARS AGO! AS SOON AS YOU QUESTION THE POLICY OF THESE SLUGS THEY SAY A PERSON IS ANTI SEMITIC! I AM AMERICAN NOT ISRAELI AND OUR TROOPS ARENT EITHER!
"Gen. William Odom discusses the %u201Cworst strategic disaster in American history,%u201D the war in Iraq: the view of most generals that the war is wrong, the failure of the politicians to see the consequences of their actions, the centrality of the neoconservatives and the Israel lobby in pushing for the Iraq invasion, the %u201Csurge,%u201D
www.antiwar.com/bl
og/2007/
05/10/gen-william-odom
READ AIPAC BRAG ABOUT THEIR INFLUENCE
ON AMERICAN POLITICIANS!
http://www.aipac.org/for
ms/join_aipacClubs.htm
IT IS NOT ALL THE REPUBLICANS FAULT EITHER AS CARL LEVIN, STENY HOYER AND JOE LIEBERMAN ARE SOME OF THE OTHERS WHO ARE BOUGHT BY AIPAC!
The fact that you even defend their human rights violations makes you in fact a hypocrit. You should be ashamed. You cannot possibly criticize one country for human rights violations, while you justify the violations of another. Man did you defend their violations, to the point of being disgusting. You have no room to criticize the US, or for that matter, any other. I suggest you not swallow that government's propaganda and do a little research on your own. You think it's okay to demand a permit so that you can speak your opinion? Unbelievable. They embrace Islam which not only proselytizes, but in fact demeans through violence every other faith, yet they persecute another faith that doesn't even believe in violence at all. There are so many countries that outshine your precious Singapore, it's not funny. Yes, you should stay there. You belong there.
Please don't misunderstand, Even Singapore is not perfect, there are downsides, it's small size makes certain aspects germane to my business a challenge, but still the overall average quality of life is far above the average quality of life for most Americans, and we could learn a great deal from them.
Like I said, come see for yourself, use your own eyes and ears, its nothing at all like the Singapore pictured in "Pirates of the Caribbean". Those trying to influence your opinion don't necessarily have your best interests at heart.
As for religious freedom, there is a line where one's freedom infringes on another's, when a leader interprets the doctrine to demean other religions, and encourages its' members go go out and convert the non believers.
As this practice has been the cause of much strife throughout history, some countries place limits on the practice, Singapore is one, however they do not tell you that you cannot practice your faith, they just say you cannot impose your version on others, or exercise a part of your faith involving illegal activities, like smoking marijuana, cannibalism, or human sacrifice.
There are certain sects that seek to publicly demonize other faiths, because they are antithetical to the sect's notions, they are rightly banned here.
5. Compulsive military service is seen as a major inconvenience to most, having to do two years of training, being called up two weeks every year to man posts until you are 45, and having to meet physical standards takes some work. There are medical exemptions and college deferments, but sooner or later all Singaporeans are compelled learn how to defend their land. At least their government doesn't send them off to war for the profits of its elite.
Dr. Chee has a legal way to publicly air any grievances, he chose to do it in a confrontational manner. It wasn't what he was saying, it was how he chose to say it. You have to apply for a public speech license, once granted, you can say whatever you want, in a Hyde park like public soapbox setting called the "speakers' corner", or you can write editorials for newspapers and TV. Dr. Chee did not. If everyone followed his example, there would soon be blood on the streets.
Like I said, come see for yourself, you are being lied to.
1. Singapore censors speech, advertising, and other activities if they advocate the overthrow of the government, tobacco advertising, any religious proselytizing (including Islam,) or demonstrations considered indecent, nudity, pornography and such.
2. Capital punishment is given in cases of drug trafficking (possession over a certain amount of cocaine, heroin, or marijuana is considered trafficking) murder, and treason, no exceptions. The executions of drug traffickers is written in bold red print on your embarkation card, they warn you before you go there. Nationals of other countries are also subject to the law. Amnesty international gets frustrated when other nationals get busted there and they can't beg off.
3. Monitoring is easy, come here. The control of civic organizations is what made the discovery of corruption in the National Kidney Foundation, and the arrest and trial of those involved, including the CEO, possible, and the Secret Societies Act prevents gangs and mafias from taking control of the country.
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