I Do Not Take the Future of the ‘American Experiment’ for Granted
It has been tested throughout its history and been found wanting from time to time, yet it has survived.
Born in slavery and having committed a genocide on its native population, the constitution upon which it stood held firm. Perhaps its founders were more dedicated than we credit them for seeing the possibility of greatness in governance beyond its rather shabby garments.
There is a Jon Stewart quote of which I am quite fond:
“That is the American experiment. An ethnic group arriving on America's shores, to be reviled and hazed, living in squalor, or if they are lucky Squalor Heights, working hard to give their children or grandchildren the opportunity to shit on the next group landing on our shores.”
Or Ben Franklin when asked by a woman as he left the Continental Congress about what kind of government they had given us:
“A republic, madam, if you can keep it.”
Whatever the reasons, the American truth has held
All men are created equal was an expectation, rather than a fact. The uncomfort…