Preserving American Values

There are deep, fundamental differences between liberals and conservatives—and certainly MAGA adherents—on what are “American values.”

But before I go into that, “American values” must be distinguished from the values of the American people. For both liberals and conservatives, the term connotes something larger than us, grounding, permanent—of lasting meaning.  The values of people instead change as the times change, as the culture changes, as the political temperament changes.  And so, not surprisingly, there have been numerous articles reporting how American values have changed, citing polling data.  This is important information—it shows any disconnect between the people and American values—but it does not define “American values.”

This is instead the description of a ship adrift at sea, not a grounded fortress.  I would therefore argue that “American values” instead refers to the values inherent in the very existence of this country as stated in our founding documents … the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  Those values are our grounding; the source of America’s stability and greatness.  So far, liberals and conservatives are in agreement.

The Declaration of Independence states:

“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.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed . . .”

The Constitution’s Preamble states, “We the people … in order to Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves” do enact the Constitution.

But reading these words does not answer the question about what America’s values are, for depending on how you approach them, whether you are a conservative or a liberal, you can pretty much find what you want … up to a point.

One can read part of the Declaration and the Constitution’s Preamble as championing self-interest and the right to do whatever one wishes, as MAGA adherents do—isn’t that what liberty is all about?  But those words are tempered by the spiritual statement that we are all created equal and that we all were endowed by the Creator with unalienable rights.  That it is “we the people”—all of us—who seek to secure the blessings of liberty for each and every one of us.  

As an example of the far-right perspective, the Heritage Foundation scholar Matthew Spaulding wrote a book in 2009 titled We Still Hold These Truths: Rediscovering Our Principles, which sees our founding documents as decidedly conservative.  He finds that the Progressive (Republican) movement of the late 19th century, FDR’s New Deal, LBJ’s Great Society, and the new progressives have eroded the principles of our founding documents.  He finds that what many consider to be the maturation of the principles contained in those documents—the concept of a Living Constitution, our becoming truer to the aspirations of the Founders—to be instead examples of the perversion of our founding principles. 

As I just stated, there is no question that there is language in our founding documents to support a conservative interpretation.  In my 2004 book, We Still Hold These Truths: An American Manifesto, I stated that while the words of the Declaration of Independence were and remain revolutionary, and are profoundly liberal, “in their interpretation lies the core of both the Liberal and Conservative ideologies that have run through American political life and the tension between them.”

Perhaps never has the tension between the two been greater than now.  The difference stems from the conservative emphasis on the rights of individuals, especially as granted by the Bill of Rights, whereas liberals stress the concept of equality and the implications of each person having equal rights.

To talk about any of the founding principles divorced from the context of equality is to misrepresent, deceitfully, the scope of those principles.  The reason is that equality means that we all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  So, generally, our laws do not allow someone in the exercise of his right to disturb another person’s exercise of their right.  No right is absolute.  (See my post, “The Far-Right’s Biggest Lie.”

As Abraham Lincoln put it, “each individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases … so far as he in no wise interferes with any other man’s rights;”  Even Thomas Jefferson, who was focused on preserving rights, said, “a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement …”  Lest this quote be misread, injuring here does not mean physical injury but injury to rights that results from the pursuit of industry and improvement.

There thus can be no question that, in our legal system, no rights are absolute.  All of our laws and regulations, both civil and criminal, are examples of the government proscribing someone’s action, often in furtherance of his rights, when that action would harm an individual in the exercise of his rights or the general good.  That is the impact of our system of equal rights.  

Even the hallowed right of free speech is not absolute.  For example, not only can you not cry “Fire” in a crowded theater, but you cannot slander another person.  False advertising is illegal because someone depending on such claims could be harmed.

But MAGA adherents keep acting as though rights, at least those conferred in the Bill of Rights, are absolute—at least their rights—whether it’s freedom of religion, or free speech, or the right to bear arms. I italicized “their” because they seem to only be concerned with their rights; they have no appreciation of the rights of others.

So, given that “American values” means the values that are the essence of our founding documents and given the explanation above of the American legal perspective on rights, what are the core American values?

1. Equality:  We all know that the belief in equality was enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, although the Constitution originally greatly restricted its application.  (See my post, “What Exactly Does ‘All Men Are Created Equal’ Mean in the Declaration of Independence.”) It was thus aspirational, but the concept was there, and it was that light that guided us towards the ending of slavery, the emancipation of women, the civil rights movement, and same-sex marriage.  We still have far to go, but that light is still guiding us.

Indeed, it is this central aspiration of equality that drives the other key American values/elements of American democracy and provides the context within which they are to be understood. Whether it’s the “right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” or the right of free speech, religious freedom, or the right to bear arms … they are only able to be properly understood within the context of equality.  Taken out of that context, they are a prescription for anarchy not democracy.

2. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  What does that mean?  It means that each person has the right to try to make of his or her life what they will.

3. Secure These Rights: The other core value to be found in the Declaration and its implementation in the Constitution is the role of government.  As stated in the Declaration, the role is “to secure these rights,” meaning the right of all to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Again it is everyone’s right, not some subset of citizens.

What does it mean “to secure these rights?”  It means that government must do what is necessary to insure that all Americans—whether White or people of color; whether rich, middle class, or poor; whether male or female—have a truly equal opportunity to pursue the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  To try and make of their lives what they will.

And the government insures that opportunity by enacting policies that promote the education, jobs and economic stability necessary to allow people to advance themselves and feel financially secure. Once the government insures equal opportunity, it is the individual’s responsibility to take advantage of it.

For example, welfare is not charity, but an example of the government’s providing support so children have an equal opportunity to have a good education. What’s the connection? You can’t do well in school if you’re hungry, if your housing is not secure.  But it is then a child’s and his parents’ responsibility make the most of that opportunity.

The government foreseen by the Founders was thus a government very much involved in securing the well-being of its citizens, not a government that stands on the side-lines watching what happens. But not in the sense of directly changing people’s status in life—Adams was very clear that material inequality is inherent in nature.  The role of government is only to support people’s exercise of their moral right to equality, to improve their situation, to pursue their rights, to make of their life what they will, by ensuring that all have an equal opportunity to do so. 

This concept of equality of citizenship, or a shared citizenship, led to the development of what’s called the American Social Contract after the turn of the 20th century.  Under this contract, in exchange for the benefits of citizenship, all citizens agree to obey the laws and to share the burden of government, whether through the paying of taxes or by answering a military draft.  Under this social contract, we are not just responsible for ourselves; we have a distinct responsibility for the welfare of the whole and thus for all Americans.

In the first half of the 20th century, women gained the right to vote and workers gained significant rights in their employment.  In the second half, overt forms of discrimination that had been practiced against some groups, like Jews and Blacks, became illegal.  And all minority groups benefitted from laws that guaranteed equal protection in public accommodations and other areas of commerce.  The movement always being towards more equality, more unity.  All of these governmental actions support people’s right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” by ensuring more equal opportunity in their attempt to make the most of their lives. Yes, bigotry and discrimination still exist; we are still a work in progress.

Greed, lack of concern for others may be the values of our contemporary culture, but they are not the values that our Founding Fathers gave America at its birth.  

The increased disagreement about the values in our founding documents and the denigration of people’s rights and the government’s role is why I started this blog 15 years ago.

This blog is a celebration of those profoundly liberal American values.  It is dedicated to insuring that the promise of the Declaration becomes a reality for all Americans and beyond that, that these values impact our dealings with other nations. 

But our nation stands under attack … not from without, but from within.  Both our politics and our culture have been corrupted.

Politics on both the right and left are ever more polarized.  We cannot be a great or strong country if the people and their politicians view fellow Americans who happen to have opposing points of view in an us v them mode, as the enemy; we can only progress if we are united, albeit with differing perspectives on how to go about things.  And our culture caters to the worst aspects of capitalism with ethics and concern for the common good falling to the demands of greed and competition.  The same issues are present throughout much of the world today.

One central aspect of the problem is that our country and much of the world is bereft of spiritual values.  Now right here we have a definitional problem.  I am not referring to the values hawked by born-again Christians in this country, or Islamists in Muslim countries, or the ultra-Orthodox in Israel.   Because interestingly, in almost all cases, the “spiritual” or “moral” positions taken by these people go against core tenets of their own religion.  

And although the majority of people, at least in the United States, claim to believe in God, they are not spiritual in any meaningful sense; their lives are totally a creature of contemporary culture.  Their spiritual core is if not empty sorely depleted.

It is important to note that the Founders were people of religious faith as well as men of the Enlightenment, and so they felt strongly that while it was important that government not be tied to any one religion, it should be spiritual at its core.  That is why the Declaration contains such spiritual statements and yet the Constitution does not make one mention of God.  They understood the importance of the separation of church and state.

It will be the mission of this blog to look at current events, be they political or cultural, from a spiritual, not religious, perspective, with relevant support from our founding documents—the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. 

I will take as my perspective the common teachings that are at the core of the spiritual/moral constructs of all the world’s great religions … Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism:

• Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
• Greed is the root of all evil.
• Put away lying; speak every man truth.

Only when these maxims are followed will we be able to achieve Lincoln’s vision of “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” and realize the goals set forth in the Declaration of Independence—that governments are instituted “to secure” the equality of all men and their “right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

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For the past 15 years, Preserving American Values has been located on Blogger.com. The address was PreservingAmericanValues.blogspot.com. I have moved the blog to WordPress.com because of technical problems with Google search. All past blog posts will be transferred to this platform.