“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.”
Those are the memorable first words of the document that gave birth to a new nation, the Declaration of Independence.
Yet to create that nation and thereby realize those rights, our founders set forth an equally important and, at the time, uniquely American principle. Our success as a country requires us to commit ourselves to our fellow citizens. Our founders explicitly rejected the idea that a monarchy or aristocracy should command our loyalty. They imagined a new kind of nation in which our first loyalty as citizens was to each other. Thus, the founders explicitly and deliberately bound themselves to one another in service of that new nation.
We all remember those first words of the Declaration of Independence, but we often forget the last sentence of our most hallowed national document: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
Let me repeat that last part for emphasis: We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
It’s difficult to overstate just how radical a concept that was at the time. Ordinary citizens working together to achieve a shared goal of their own choosing was simply not how progress was achieved in the “great” nations of that period.
The famous French political scientist, Alexis de Tocqueville, visited our nascent republic and wrote Democracy in America, the definitive work on early American political life.
“Wherever, at the head of some new undertaking, you see the government in France, or a man of rank in England, in the United States you will be sure to find an association,” wrote Tocqueville.
He marveled that “Americans of all ages, all conditions, all minds constantly unite.”
“Thus, the most democratic country on the face of the earth,” he continued, “is that in which men have, in our time, carried to the highest perfection the art of pursuing in common the object of their common desires, and have applied this science to the greatest number of purposes.”
This willingness of ordinary people to mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor in constantly shifting coalitions was the essential ingredient in our nation’s success and central to the concept of American Exceptionalism. Unfortunately, this once quintessentially American characteristic is beginning to wane. Instead of binding ourselves to one another in service of common goals, we are increasingly segregating ourselves by our differences. Even more problematic, rather than recognizing that we are all Americans who simply disagree on particular issues from time to time, we have begun to demonize anyone who dares hold a belief different from our own.
Consider the issue of access to guns. We regularly see both sides accusing each other of hating America and pursuing a secret agenda designed to dismantle democracy. Yet reflect upon the underlying motivation for those who hold these disparate policy positions.
One side of the debate believes that we need ready access to guns for our self-defense. The other side argues that the ubiquitousness of guns leads to more violence. When we talk with these passionate people, they have more in common than is readily apparent. What motivates most folks on either side of the gun divide is a shared desire to keep our communities safe. Where we differ is which specific set of policies we think will realize that shared goal.
I don’t mean to minimize the importance of policy differences. In fact, sometimes our options are mutually exclusive. But just because someone holds a policy position different from our own doesn’t make them evil. As with the gun debate, typically those on the other side of the issue share many of the same values as we do. Unfortunately, politicians have an incentive to convince us that the other side is dangerous because it earns them votes and money. Media companies demonize others because it earns them ratings and profit.
Rather than expend so much energy thinking about how we’re different, try talking with those with whom you disagree. Typically, you’ll find that what they fundamentally value isn’t all that different from what you do. We have far more in common as Americans that our politics would lead us to believe.
Bret Bicoy is President & CEO of the Door County Community Foundation. Contact him at [email protected].
