The first chapter and first premise that Phil Valentine discusses is that America is a good nation. One of the first sentences in the chapter is one of my favorites:
“A good nation is not measured by its military strength or its size. A good nation is, in short, a nation that is generally a positive force in the world.” America has given so much to the world; What we’ve given far outweighs our mistakes.
Liberal theory number one: Our Founding Fathers were racists.
One of the first liberal theories he debunks is: “Wasn’t our Founding Fathers a bunch of racists?” He touches on the fact that most of our Founding Fathers, right after the American Revolution, actually freed their slaves. It was necessary to break away from Great Britain in order to help end slavery. Slavery was actually abolished in eight states immediately after the Revolution.
Many liberals also believe the 3/5ths provision in the Constitution dehumanized blacks. Actually, it was an antislavery provision. It denied Southern states additional pro-slavery representation in Congress.
Capitalism was born of freedom.
Several prominent people were attracted to America because of our capitalistic society. People like Albert Einstein, Joseph Pulitzer, and Mikhail Baryshnikov came here so they could prosper under capitalism. America has given so many things to the world because of capitalism. Airplanes, refrigerators, artificial hearts, roller skates, rock ‘n roll, and Elisha Otis’s elevators are just a few of our contributions.
But capitalistic societies aren’t created by accident – they happen by design. The United States of America was founded as a capitalist nation. That’s why calls to end capitalism by people on the left aren’t just wild ramblings from “disgruntled socialist misfits”. Those people are anti-American. Capitalism and America are “inextricably intertwined.” That’s why I oppose the recent $700 billion bailout, and that’s why I’m upset with George Bush, Barack Obama, and John McCain. That’s why a lot of Americans are upset and angry. For the government to take equity in banks and be in the business of purchasing “toxic” mortgages is not only anti-capitalistic, it’s anti-American. It has the smell of Marxism, socialism, and communism.
Liberal theory number two: The rest of the world hates America.
The U.S. has had its ups and downs in the court of world opinion, and the Iraq War hasn’t helped. But international relationships are cultivated over a long period of time. For example, our relationship with the Brits has seen its ups and downs, but they are by far our strongest allies, as are the Canadians.
The United States does all it can to help those around the world that are less fortunate than us. Toronto television commentator Gordon Sinclair once said: “When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries to help.” In the past when the U.S. had a disaster, though, it seemed no one would offer to help. However, after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, this seemed to change as an outpouring of support from several allied countries were given. Over $854 million was pledged after Hurricane Katrina. But, the U.S. could only use $40 million of it because it could not handle the rest. So, it seems that the world doesn’t hate us nearly as much as liberals seem to think, or would want you to think.
Why Religious Extremists Hate America
There’s a few reasons why Muslim extremists, as well as some domestic extremist groups (such as the Westboro “Baptist” Church – I wish they’d change their name), hate our blessed country. If you look around Las Vegas and on the internet, you’ll begin to see why. However, while we may be the number one producer of pornography videos, we’re not the number one consumer. China, Japan, and South Korea consume more pornography than we do.
Muslim and liberal extremists see the turpitude and assume that’s what our military is fighting to protect. But we’re fighting to protect our freedom. This nation was founded on the principle that the citizens are free to make their own choices, even if the choices are bad.
The problem with Muslim extremists, or any liberal extremist, they only see the good vs. bad as black and white — no gradations. War is never good, but sometimes necessary. When we have had to choose our sides in conflicts in the past, whether that was to protect American interests or promote the path of freedom, we have sometimes had to make the choice between the lesser of two evils. Sometimes those decisions have come back to bite us in the butt.
For example, when we supported the mujahedeen in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union, we had no way to know that one of their prominent leaders, Osama bin Laden, would later wage jihad on us. Our goal was to liberate the Afghan people and stop Soviet colonialism and accelerate the downfall of the communist bloc. But no matter what we do in the world, the Muslim extremists will always see us as the Great Satan — as infidels that must be destroyed.
But no matter what, there are people out there –every creed, every color, every religion — that yearn to be free. As the “city on the hill”, it is incumbent on us to share what we’ve discovered for ourselves with the rest of the world. Not out of forcing our will on everyone else, but because it’s our obligation to try to free people from bondage, just as we freed our own. This is why America is good.
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