Happy 250th Birthday America! 🇺🇸
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
Can you love what you don’t know?
It’s been fun to watch the World Cup Soccer visitors embrace so much of what makes the U.S. a unique and special place. Sometimes it takes an outsider’s perspective to point out what’s often taken for granted by those fortunate to live in America.
Is patriotism contagious?
As we prepare to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, we hope you will take some time this July 4th to start meaningful conversations with your family about the values, responsibilities, and freedoms that define our nation. For inspiration, read How to Raise an American by Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder, D.Ed.
Kerrigan Snyder writes: “There are certain elements to our culture that cannot be divorced from our founding documents—which themselves are rooted in Judeo-Christian traditions, and associated Enlightenment thought—or from the systems by which citizens must abide and by which our economy operates, and these include:”
OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM — Constitutional republic with transparent elections, confidential voting, majority rule and consent of the governed. Winston Churchill called democracy the worst form of government except for all the others.
Sayings: Of the People, By the People, For the People, One man, one vote, E Pluribus Unum, In God We Trust. Foundational Reading: Mayflower Compact, Selections from Cato’s Letters, Federalist and Anti-Federalist Letters. Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, The Constitution of Liberty, Washington’s Farewell Address. Magna Carta (1215), The Articles of Confederation (1777), The Treaty of Paris (1783), The Constitution of the United States (1787), Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms. Films: A More Perfect Union
OUR ECONOMIC SYSTEM — free markets, voluntary exchange, and competition (capitalism) backed up with protection of private (individual) property rights.
Sayings: A self-made man; He who won’t work, won’t eat; If it’s to be, it’s up to me. Foundational Reading: “The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs” by Aesop; traditional American fable “The Little Red Hen;” “The Parable of the Talents” in Matthew 25:14–30; Tragedy of the Commons by William Forster Lloyd; The History of Jamestown Colony (regarding the establishment of private property); The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith; The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber. Poor Richard’s Almanack by Benjamin Franklin. Biographies of famous American entrepreneurs and inventors (Elijah McCoy, Madam C.J. Walker, Ben Franklin, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison); The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek; Animal Farm by George Orwell; Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand; Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand; Seven Deadly Sins (Envy) by Pope Gregory I; The 10 Commandments (10th) in Exodus 20:2–17 and Deuteronomy 5:6–21. School Clubs: Future Business Leaders of America FBLA, Junior Achievement, and Future Farmers of America (FFA) Films: Titans (miniseries); Edison, the Man (1940)
OUR CULTURE — Enlightenment individualism, built on the foundation of Judeo-Christian values.
Sayings: Think for yourself; If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?; Whenever you find yourself in the majority, it’s time to reconsider your opinion (Mark Twain). Foundational Reading: On Liberty by John Stuart Mill; “Self-Reliance” by Emerson; All Minus One (Heterodox Academy); Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself.” Films: Braveheart, The Patriot, Sons of Liberty miniseries, John Adams miniseries
OUR LEGAL SYSTEM — Individual justice with presumption of innocence, due process and rules of evidence, built on the English legal tradition.
Sayings: You will have your day in court. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Foundational works: Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, Proverbs 18:17, Supreme Court decisions, The Trial (Kafka). The Crucible. Salem Witch Trial accounts, To Kill a Mockingbird. Films: 12 Angry Men, To Kill a Mockingbird.
OUR METHOD OF ADVANCEMENT — Protestant work ethic and meritocracy.
Sayings: An honest day’s work. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. The harder I work, the luckier I get. Play the hand life dealt you. Foundational reading: Aesop’s fables. Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Calvinism), Horatio Alger stories, The Book of Proverbs, Inspirational biographies of successful individuals. The Fountainhead. Up From Slavery. Films: Rocky, On the Waterfront, Sergeant York, Stand and Deliver
OUR METHOD OF COMMUNICATING AND FIGURING THINGS OUT — Free speech (open voluntary exchange of thoughts in the free marketplace of ideas), no compelled speech or censorship, logical reason.
Sayings: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me, the proof is in the pudding. Put your money where your mouth is. Foundational Reading: First Amendment. Jonathan Rauch, Kindly Inquisitors, Selections from Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato. Study of Logic. Biography of Galileo. Emperor’s New Clothes, A Plea for Free Speech in Boston by Frederick Douglass. Films: The Story of Louis Pasteur, Lorenzo’s Oil
OUR MODE OF INTERACTING WITH ONE ANOTHER — Equality, live and let live, agreeing to disagree, free to disagree (right to petition, peaceably assemble). As the Declaration of Independence confidently asserted on July 4, 1776: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Sayings: Treat others the way you want to be treated (Golden Rule); Mind your own business; With malice towards none; with charity for all. Good fences make good neighbors. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, Nobody’s perfect, Your rights end where my nose begins. Foundational reading: First Amendment, Genesis, The Gulag Archipelago, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Stasi mass surveillance accounts, 1984, Emily Post, Dear Abby, Merchant of Venice, George Washington’s Rules of civility. Gettysburg address, Yale Report of 1828, Chicago Statement, Mending Wall, Robert Frost. A Letter Concerning Toleration (John Locke), Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address, John Kennedy’s Civil Rights Speech, We Shall Overcome, Lyndon B. Johnson, Films: The Lives of Others ®
OUR OUTLOOK ON LIFE — Self-reliance, American spirit, progress, optimism, American Dream, pursuit of happiness (freedom, liberty), resistance to authoritarianism (defiance), assertion of rights (it’s a free country!).
Sayings: It’s a free country, the pursuit of happiness, One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind, Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. Necessity is the mother of invention. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. If it’s to be, it’s up to me. Foundational readings: The Little Engine That Could, Self-Reliance by Emerson, Little House on the Prairie series, Little Women, The Road Less Traveled, Robert Frost, Mark Twain, Will Rogers, Still I Rise (poem, Maya Angelou), I Have a Dream speech, MLK, Biography of A. Lincoln, Autobiography of Ben Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack, the Bible. Red, White, and Black, The Life of Frederick Douglass. Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Ben Franklin’s List of Virtues. Grant (miniseries), Walt Whitman, Song of the Open Road, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Bartleby the Scrivener, Melville. Learned Optimism, Martin Seligman, FDR’s fireside chats, Reagan’s Tear Down this Wall speech, Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, Eisenhower’s D-Day speech, Lincoln’s House Divided speech. Teddy Roosevelt’s Man in the Arena speech. History of Flight 93 (Let’s Roll.) Skywalkers: Mohawk Ironworkers Build the City. Films: Hamilton (play), Moon landing footage, Glory, Patton, Saving Private Ryan, Casablanca, classic Westerns, Rocky, Pursuit of Happyness, Apollo 13. Many American songwriters also embody this ethos
“These are the basic operating systems that are written into American life and that distinguish us from other systems in different countries. Much like a computer or cellphone operating system, you have to run on one or the other; it can’t be both at the same time. It is either MAC or DOS, iPhone or Android. These systems intertwine and cannot be separated from one another; they loop back to the Judeo-Christian worldview, which is inextricably embedded into our laws and founding documents. A proper understanding and appreciation of the American operating system is the key to unlocking the potential to thrive within our culture that continues to attract eager immigrants from around the globe. We are a great country, but not a perfect one; certainly more good than bad, with much that is worthy of vigorous defence and enthusiastic maintenance. By passing this knowledge on to our children, we ensure that many future generations will continue to enjoy the benefits and blessings of American liberty and prosperity.”
Summer Reading Suggestions
Common Sense by Thomas Paine (1776)
With much gratitude, we wish America a Happy 250th Birthday!
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