Public attitudes great threat to U.S. lifestyle

The greatest threat to freedom facing modern America is the concept of the American. The… The greatest threat to freedom facing modern America is the concept of the American. The threat lies in the belief that there is some sort of ideal America to which all good and loyal people must subscribe. There is not – there cannot be – a static vision of America, but if there is anything that we can use to unite the many visions of what it is to be American, it is a dedication to freedom.

We are proud and protective of our freedoms, and rightly so. We may choose how to earn and spend our money. We may choose where and in what way to worship. We may vote in anonymity and without risk of retaliation.

Dependent as our lifestyles are on such freedoms, the quintessence of freedom is deeper and less obvious, but still vital to preserving an appreciation for liberty.

We are free to choose a profession; we can compete against others, armed with only our abilities and efforts and equally at the mercy of fate. That choice guarantees us the opportunity to define ourselves as we wish. Our identity is not completely dependent on the choices of our parents or the wants of others. We are free to become whomever we wish to be.

That we can choose which mosque, synagogue, church or temple to belong to is comforting. It is important that we can choose how and whether or not to worship. What is actually precious, though, is the freedom to define the world around us by those beliefs; it is the liberty to live by those beliefs that grants them such power.

While some may question the value of a single vote, it is only one way to exercise our freedom to criticize, to improve, to guard and to redefine our government. All of that is undeniably necessary to protect all other freedoms, from the seemingly nebulous to the carnally solid.

The fixed definition of America and the corresponding image of a loyal American threaten our ability to protect freedoms of any kind. Liberty cannot exist without pluralism. In a truly pluralistic society, different definitions of the American would be appreciated equally. In a nation working toward such an end, a level of mutual respect should exist even among polar opposites. Pluralism depends on tolerance, which requires courage.

It’s not an easy thing to be confronted by something alien and accept that is has as much right to exist as something familiar. That forces people to question the absolute truth of their own beliefs. It’s a difficult task, but absolutely essential to preserving freedom.

Every day each U.S. citizen defines what it is to be American with his words and with his actions. There is no inherently patriotic way to do that. A person choosing to silence his own objections to support political unity, choosing to accept the image of America that has been painted in culture and framed by institutions and policy – he is as much a patriot as someone risking reputation and safety to protest that same image.

Every person who defines America by passively accepting a government-endorsed yardstick defines himself not as an adherent to that philosophy but as a person too distracted, too lazy and too ignorant to affect the world around him.

For all the current politicians’ declarations of faith in America and in Americans, it is precisely that humiliating definition of an American that they capitalize upon to further their own agendas.

Juxtaposing military decisions with appreciation for fallen soldiers and patriotism with policy proposals æ the success of these tactics rests on the assumption that we define ourselves as Americans by their terms.

Such rhetorical techniques have always been the tools of politicians, but today we live in a rapidly changing world where the line between enemy and victim has been blurred. We cannot afford to allow fear of danger, fear of financial loss or fear of being un-American to take from us our freedom to actively decide what is right, who should be making the decisions and what it means to be American.

Burn the puppets with Zak Sharif at rzs8@pitt.edu.