Defending America

by Duane N. Burghard
©2015

I was having lunch with a relatively new friend of mine today. She’s from a Pacific Island nation and spent most of her life in New Zealand and Australia before moving here to the United States about 11 years ago. Now right away I need to make a confession: immigrants impress the hell out of me. They make me think about my paternal great grandfather. Sadly, I never met the man, but I think of him often. About 110 years ago, he decided that he didn’t like what he saw going on in Europe (did he see World War 1 that far off? Who knows) … so he picked up his family (including my grandfather and great uncle) and moved thousands of miles away from his home in Germany, across an ocean, to a place he’d never been, a place where he didn’t even speak the language, and with nothing, he started over. If you don’t think that takes incredible courage, well, I disagree.

As the conversation went on, my friend got more comfortable sharing some of her experiences (both good and bad) here in the US, but it was clear that there was something else that she wasn’t saying. Finally, she felt comfortable sharing some of the questions and concerns she had about what she had been observing in our country lately (specifically our political discourse … or lack thereof), and she asked me what I thought. Today’s essay is largely what I said to her, but as I thought about it for the rest of the day, I realized that what I said to her included many things that I also what I want to say to everyone … so here it is.

First, I told her that I thought that all of her questions and concerns about America today were legitimate, and I further admitted that I shared many of them. I told her that, in fairness to us, it really didn’t used to be this way. I explained that, some time ago, a group of individuals came to power in Washington who believed (I think mistakenly) that government should be intentionally broken so that it literally can’t do anything, even the things that everyone agrees it should do. They accomplished their goals through an intentional, long term effort to manipulate a segment of the population (which, with the help of one sympathetic media corporation in particular, they did quite effectively). They glorified ignorance, vilified science and did everything they could to polarize as much of the population as possible (separate and divide … and once they’re divided, they’re easier to conquer). In short, they created a monster whose only ultimate use was the destruction of our Republic itself (which, and not to defend them in any way, I don’t actually think was their original intention … but when you seek power for its own sake and believe that the ends justify the means and you fail to begin with the end in mind … well, that’s what happens).

But then something odd happened: the monster broke free of its masters, and took on quite a life of its own. Elements of their own movement which they had once so effectively manipulated and controlled began acting unpredictably and, ultimately, uncontrollably.

My friend said to me, “aren’t you worried?” I told her that while I am watchful, attentive and certainly quite concerned, no, I’m not worried. And then I told her why.

I told her about a comedian I remembered from the mid-1980s. His name is Yakov Smirnoff, and he used to end his shows in that era with an observation that I have always really loved. He noted that you could go to Italy, but you’ll never be Italian. You can go to Russia, but you’ll never be Russian. And then with a smile he said that you can go to France, but you will never, ever be French. But you can come to America, and you can be an American.

We are a nation of immigrants, and in that rich diversity is our GREAT power. I grew up in Chicago. My Dad’s wholesale foods business was on North California Avenue, just a couple of blocks north of Devon Avenue. That section of Devon Avenue has frequently been highlighted as one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the United States (I promise you that the vast majority of you have never seen so many different languages in store windows in a 5 or 6 block section anywhere else in the country). I grew up watching Arabs and Jews, Greeks and Turks, Indians and Pakistanis, all with businesses right next to each other. Many of them were our customers, and they all interacted with each other in a peaceful, harmonious and productive way, every day. Do you know why? Because while they were still Jews, Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, Greeks, Turks and many other things, they were also something even more important: they were Americans.

Along the same lines, while it may disturb many of my friends to hear me say this, many of the people I disagree with on America’s radical right are correct about one thing: America IS a Christian nation. But it is also a Muslim nation, and a Jewish nation, and a Catholic nation, and a Protestant nation, and a Hindu nation, and a Buddhist nation AND an Atheist nation … and again, a BIG part of our greatness is in our ability to take all of those things and many more and pull them together into a unique whole that recognizes and respects everyone’s belief or non-belief. THAT is a big part of what makes us great.

Yes, there are politicians and media outlets that are literally selling fear, and an entire subculture of consumers who are buying that fear, but I refuse to believe that, when push comes to shove (and politically, and FAR too often actually, it is now), that we would choose to turn our backs on such a core principle of our nation. I believe that candidates for office who have nothing to offer but fear, who want to kick out immigrants, block others from coming, and worst yet force some to carry special identification to separate them … I believe that these ideas are so fundamentally far from the GREAT ideals of our nation, from the courageous and compassionate cry of

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

… people who preach against this message are SO far from who we are that, given the choice, we will NOT turn away from the values that are so central to our strength.

I still fundamentally believe in the nation that I wore a uniform for and swore an oath to support and defend, and I believe that we will find our way through this challenge. We can (and will) see through the fear salesmen and choose to “fear not”. We can (and will) choose liberty over a false sense of security. We can (and will) come to terms with the fact that we may not ever be 100% safe from another terrorist attack, but knowing that we can still choose to not “let the terrorists win” by giving up the very things that are so central to what makes America great. And more. We ARE capable of creating and maintaining a state that can effectively provide and work for the people AND peacefully co-exist side by side with a vibrant and productive private sector. We can simultaneously act sensibly towards our environment AND profitably towards our economy. We can rid ourselves of the cancer of fear and the leprosy of division and again be Americans FIRST.

But I’m also a pragmatist and I love spreadsheets and databases, and the good news is that, when I look at the numbers, I see these things already happening (and I see the demographics of younger and “minority” voters in particular pointing in this direction). I see positive change as inevitable. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but slowly, inevitably, inexorably, I see a better future coming.

It won’t be easy, of course, but nothing worth having ever is. I told my new friend that I hope she sticks around for it, because America needs her too.