Politics on my mind (foreign)

First and foremost, I'll begin this entry by stating that I am indeed patriotic. I was born and raised in a conservative, religious, patriotic household. I was a Cub Scout and then a Boy Scout, worked at a Boy Scout camp for two summers, and somehow earned my Eagle. I'd always been curious, though, about the way things were. I used to read my parents' encyclopedia collection for hours at a time.

My curiosity and analytical nature caused me to question everything. I would listen to my high school teachers and think, "Well, sure, but how do I know that you're telling the truth?" This was my first taste of Revisionism, though I didn't realize it at the time. I started a notebook at the time. It was a blue wireless Steno and I wrote "The Revision" across the cover with a black marker. I joked with my best friend, Dan, that I was going to take over the worldand the notebook was my game plan. In reality though, the notebook was my first attempt to define myself through quotes and poetry. Later I would make another notebook, "The Other Side of Kansas," and then a third, "Look Beyond My Eyes" (I live by notebooks). My friends and I became pretty sarcastic and cynical, as many fringe intelligentsia do in high school.

For all this, I didn't really think much about politics. Then I went to Guatemala and I noticed, "Hey! People here don't really like Americans. I wonder why that is?" Ironically, I chalked it up to their being jealous of America [see last entry]. I think that's the normal ethnocentric reflex.

Then I started studying History. Like I said, it was a conservative school but - even so - most History teachers tend to be a little more on the liberal side of the house. I began peeling back the layers of history and re-examining what I had been taught to be true. My world view changed on a number of topics and I gained a new appreciation for "the way it is." I became cynical again - only now with the ammunition of being smarter than everyone else in the entire world (except for Noam Chomsky) because I had studied History.

Whoa! Did I say that out loud?

I next went to the Middle East next, and noticed, "Hey! People here really really don't like Americans (or rather, America). I wonder why that is?" I also met a number of State Department diplomats and was surprised by their liberal disentranced views. So I started feeling that our Foreign Policy could use some help and tried to get in the State Department, but apparently they didn't feel they needed my help and I was turned down.

I returned to college and finished my last semesters, taking my favorite class of all time, Ideas and Man in the Modern World, from my most influential professor of all time, Dr. Paul Kerry. I got my first taste of the Enlightenment at that time, learning the difference between Enlightened and Romantic thought. Why do I bring this up, you ask? Well, because our Republic was founded on political philosophy from the Enlightenment: Hobbes, Locke, Paine, Rousseau, Voltaire.

Our founding fathers must be given credit for their work; however, the ideas inculcated by The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution did not originate with those men. The founding of the United States was revolutionary in that it attempted to found a republic on the basis of natural law and not heavenly mandate, or barbarism, or any other form of government which justified its rule by another source than the people themselves. Voltaire et al had given us the idea of a Social Contract between the citizen and the government: with each side having obligations to the other. The United States was the first country with this system of rule. Also, the manner in which they created a system of checks and balances, as well as amendments, is really quite amazing.

But the Enlightened revolution did not stop with the United States. Other countries followed suit until most Western governments had a representative government and Constitution of some sort. The rest of the world took longer to come around - not because they lacked enlightened principles or a desire for self-rule - but because many nations were still under the control of European nations intent on their domination. So from the start we see that the principles of the Enlightenment only extended so far. This was justified by racism and pseudo-sciences such as Social Darwinism.

My point is this. The United States of America is, of itself, an incredible monument to freedom and democracy. However, we are not the only example of a democratic regime; furthermore, our egalitarianism does not extend that far beyond our borders. What's this mean? It means that we need to start paying attention to the outside world. It also means that we shouldn't believe our propaganda. We shouldn't even say it unless we plan on carrying it out. Otherwise, it is harmful to us and to everyone. So when I listen to the Inaugural Address, I just think, "I hope you mean what you're saying."