Take ‘America First’ back to its roots
Civility, generosity are ideals to fly the flag for
merica First” is a Trump trope loathed by lefties for whom nationalism is a dirty word. John Lennon sang “imagine there’s no countries ... nothing to kill or die for.” Some dream of “one world” uniting all humanity.
That dream should quickly pall if you imagine what a global nation’s politics and governance would be like. I sure wouldn’t want to become subject to the worldviews of today’s Russians, Chinese, Indians, and Turks.
But disagreement about nationalism is part of our own cultural divide. Some say Americans have nothing to be proud of; our history a litany of crimes, our present a cesspool of racism, inequality, exploitation, oppression, and corruption. That’s epitomized by Howard Zinn’s book, “A People’s History of the United States.” It should have been titled “A Cynic’s History.” Zinn condemned America because it was not a perfect egalitarian utopia from Day One, flaying every social ill that ever existed here. With nary a word of recognition that any progress was ever achieved on any of it.
Thus some friends questioned why my house flew the flag. But I was indeed proud to be an American — a supportive member of what, despite its flaws, is as good a society as human beings had yet succeeded in creating. I flew the flag to honor the principles, values, and ideals America at its best stood for.
The progress Zinn refused to acknowledge is this nation’s central story. We are imperfect beings in an imperfect world, but strove “to form a more perfect union.” A society that could and did rise toward its highest ideals.
That is what our nationalism should embody. Not blood-and-soil but good will, civility, generosity, courage.
Truth, reason, progress, and justice under rule of law. All people are created equal, endowed with inalienable rights: to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. E pluribus unum — out of many, one.
I once stood on a corner, passed by a Muslim woman in a headscarf, then a black man, a turbaned Sikh, an Hispanic, an Indian lady in a sari, a Chinese girl, and, yes, a Caucasian too. This was in Westchester. Nobody batted an eye. This is America. E pluribus unum. A place where all people can make homes, be welcomed, and thrive. This is humanity transcending its boundaries and limits.
Our Declaration of Independence was truly revolutionary when, as Rousseau put it, mankind was “everywhere in chains.” We lit a beacon light in the darkness, guiding countless millions of others to liberation. And as America grew more prosperous and powerful (thanks to its ideals), we took on an ever greater role as the vanguard of global efforts to expand freedom and prosperity and resist the forces that would hold people down. That U.S. world leadership has been noble. But also, it recognized that other countries being more democratic, and richer — and the resulting peace — are good for America itself.
These then are the values and ideals that make America great, and make for an American nationalism worth holding to. A nationalism not of ethnicity but of principles. Alas, the us-againstthem “America First” nationalism strutting today is the antithesis of those values and ideals. Their evil twin, throwing them under the bus.
That is why, on November 9, 2016, I furled my flag. I look forward to — I burn for — the day when I can fly it once more.
I once stood on a corner, passed by a Muslim woman in a headscarf, then a black man, a turbaned Sikh, an Hispanic, an Indian lady in a sari, a Chinese girl, and, yes, a Caucasian too. This was in Westchester. Nobody batted an eye. This is America. E pluribus unum. A place where all people can make homes, be welcomed, and thrive. This is humanity transcending its boundaries and limits.
Frank S. Robinson of Albany is author of “The Case for Rational Optimism.”