The United States of America isn’t perfect – especially in its current state of highly divisive politics, involvement in two wars, a struggling economy, and any number of other issues that have converged to make modern America a difficult place to live. The United States, however, is still a wonderful place full of liberties, for all its problems, and is often a far better place to live than most of the rest of the world.
If America has had any lasting effect on the world, which it very demonstrably has, the largest and most sweeping two would likely be democracy and capitalism. The implementation of both institutions within the country’s borders each have flaws and could be improved upon, but these were founded as part of the first generation of experiments in new government and society. Each of these ideals have been adopted by countless nations worldwide and has, on the whole, had a beneficial effect in response.
Democracy, at its core, is about the people of a given country. The United States has a democratic republic, which is a slightly different beast, but the central tenets remain the same – the American people have empowered themselves for over two centuries, and the world has taken notice. Whether the implementation of democracy occurs in the form of parliamentary democracy, a democratic republic, true democracy, or some other hybridized form, the important function is that the people take power from a central few and distribute it amongst themselves, even if there are a central few who still lead the country. It is no accident that nations in a post-revolutionary state, often without any outside influence, turn to democracy as the form of government they wish to have in their newly founded country.
Capitalism, too, has had a global effect that has opened markets and often been the lead-in for a more open society and government – as has been the case in China, where the mostly-free market is forcing the government’s hand with regard to internal politics and governance. Capitalism has had more drawbacks, both historically and presently, than democracy has, but it is a revolutionary force nonetheless. With the proper regulatory institutions, a free market can further empower an already empowered society, often allowing citizens to live more fulfilling lives.
Without the United States, an argument could be made that these two ideologies would either not exist or would have taken much longer to arrive, leaving the modern world in an entirely different state. Capitalism has its roots in England, but it was America that fully embraced its ideas, and it was also America that founded itself upon freedom through democracy, spurring change in European countries soon after. For all the internal strife that the U.S. may have, and all the vitriolic hatred thrown against it, America is a nation that contributed greatly to the birth of the modern world, even though many tend to forget. Even now, this relatively young nation is forging the way ahead with its various experiments in government, markets, and industry, that will, one way or another, see results in other countries.
On this holiday celebrating the Independence of a former enslaved cluster of colonies, both its citizens and foreign individuals would to well to remember a single fact: freedom, democracy, and individualism are the heart of the United States of America, and likely always will be. These are the principles for which wars are waged, no matter how misguided they may appear to be, because these are values held dear to every single American – values that they wish to share, hopefully peacefully, with the rest of the world.
This is the American Truth.
From Kyle Brady…
Kyle can be found on his blog, via email, or on Twitter.
From India Correspondent Divyaa Kummar…
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