Ain't that America?

People tend to live up (or down) to the image they have of themselves. These images are based upon both traditions and sentiment. This is true not only of individuals but also of groups of people.

There is the authentic image, the core value or belief system. Then, there are the alternative, competing views held by those who are not part of the mainstream. They gain their own authenticity if they either are excluded from the mainstream or choose to take a different path. If the former, they tend to diminish the truth of universality of the mainstream view; if the latter, they tend to produce growth around the edges of the mainstream.

DocBrain believes that the authentic America contains the following belief system:

• Liberty to be whatever you can make of yourself
• A nation of laws, where law rules, and just laws favor no individual over another based upon anything other than the evidence and the universal values of fellow citizens who sit in judgment
• The right to own property, vote, worship
• The right to speak your mind in the civil discourse that promotes the pursuit of knowledge, comfort and harmony
• The power of a country that does not limit the potential and rights of its individuals to pursue happiness will prevail over any adversary
  
• A duty to preserve the country that defends these rights

Some would argue that there have been individuals deprived of being part of what I call authentic America. These people, shut out of the system, have made it necessary to modify these premises to allow others to be included in America. For example, women, Jews, Asians, people of color, native Americans, and other groups have been excluded from the universal aspects of America at various times in the past.

DocBrain believes that scars from previous wounds do not impair a person's present or future unless one chooses to be preoccupied with them. DocBrain believes that individuals are free to focus on the past if they want to, but does not see this as a reason to modify his core belief system.

There are alternative views. For example, the Amish have not been part of the mainstream of their own choosing. They request no change from us, but do give us a different perspective on life and the relationship with the natural world, from which we perhaps can learn something.

Then, there are the alternative views that pose as ways of helping the victims of earlier prejudices, but really just are alternative mindsets. These include the following beliefs:

• We are all responsible for each other.
  
• No one lifestyle choice is superior to another. If one chooses to be an ant and another the grasshopper, both deserve a fair piece of the pie.
• No one is responsible for who they are or what they do. It is all due to external forces at play
• Religions must serve the purpose of the State. Thus, if the state determines that gay marriage is legal, then religions must honor it.
• Equal opportunity and equal outcome
• Groups are more important than individuals; people need to be considered not as individuals but as members of groups
  

While some of these alternative views may have intrinsic value, they are not America. In America, we should have the liberty to decide who we want to be responsible for, who we want to help, and how we want to relate to spirituality and associate with each other. We should be free to do this as individuals, allowing our choices to promote the welfare of those we value. Without individual responsibility, we cannot reflect the image of America. Without the chutes and ladders of life, we cannot perfect and reinvent to make the world a better place.