SPECTRUM: The reason why America is great

I’ve some good news and some bad news about America. First, the good news. We are not about to succumb to inevitability. This is America. The land that you and I love.

We are Americans. Not blacks nor whites. Not gay nor straight. Not Democrat nor Republican. Not Christian or non-Christian.

If you live here, even if you came from another country, then you are obligated to be an American. That means you have freedom. And with that freedom comes the bad news, responsibility. Simple as that.

Being an American is not just a gift. It’s an obligation to live up to what this country was created to be and what it allowed you to be: anything you want.

We know it as a land of opportunity. But I feel it is more a land of obligation. This land was formed to allow you to grow into your dreams. Thus, your responsibility is to keep the dreams afloat, to buoy this country, to contribute to it, to add to it, to enrich it.

Americans are not meant to just be entertained like princes and queens during one generation and ride out the waves of prosperity until they hit shore. Americans may have indulged themselves like momentary royalty. But even so, this American royalty – who I define as the common person, if you will – has an obligation.

Do we lack an understanding about true kingship? About how to make the most of ourselves and not rely upon government largess for one’s well-being? We have a lot of work to do to keep the greatness of America. First is understanding what or rather who makes it great.

Our greatness is not established by our gallant entertainment shows, nor by our indomitable sports teams; it does not express itself in our monstrous factory machinery, nor in our futuristic high-technology.

Neither can it be found in the stunning ideas, the cutting-edge innovations, the energy of entrepreneurial action, though I think we’re getting close.

It is not defined by the incredible cultural diversity, the inherited personal freedom, nor by our equitable legal system. All these things are a by-product of what makes America great not the source.

Americans make America great by the goodness inside their hearts. You decide. The goodness witnessed in your actions. The wholesomeness that is in your family. The faith that is rooted in our people’s belief in the Divine.

Many Americans have faith that is echoed in our national motto stamped on all of our coins, “In God We Trust.” That’s why I believe America is great.

America is not made great with by-products. Neither can any politician speak to you telling you that our government is the source of our greatness.

No. America is great because of her people, and yet despite her people at times. America is great, because we cherish each other’s freedom just as much as our own, and we appreciate each other’s opportunity – rather, obligation – to live up to that call of freedom. The bad news is that not everyone knows about it.

We who were born in America feel like we have had this freedom-gene imprinted on our outsides as children but not necessarily on our inner side, the flipside of freedom, the obligation side.

We know that freedom is each of ours to practice, however, it’s not only for ourselves to think and roam freely but for the person next to us, too, and for the people after us, and that’s where obligation starts.

We who live here have an obligation to know what makes America great, what that quality feels like, what it looks like, how it tastes. We need to know that we can keep America great through no one else than through ourselves.