swerdloff dot com

July 04, 2003

It's good to be an American

Take a moment to read the Bill of Rights. Ask yourself if those rights are afforded anywhere else in the world. Anywhere at all. From the smallest island nation through China, the world's most populous nation.

If you say that the PATRIOT act is impinging on this, do two things for me: first, tell me how (maybe it is, PATRIOT is one of those pieces of legislation that was passed in haste and is likely not good) second, tell me what you intend to do about it.

Remember - as an American - you have the right to redress of the government AND the right to vote in local, state and federal elections. Don't like the government? You can change it. Do nothing to change it? You lose your ability to keep my attention when you complain.

In 2000, I left work at 3 in the afternoon and got on a train to Connecticut so that I could vote. I took a two hour ride, not including travel time to Penn Station. And then turned right around and came back. Because no matter what you may think of your vote, it's important. With so few people voting, it's even more important. With Smart Mobs of voters, arranging voting by mass "get out the vote" email and text message reminders, it's even more important. What if the Klan mobilizes and we get more former members like Robert Byrd? What if radical Islamists mobilize, and we get a senator who pushes their agenda like Cynthia McKinney did?

Instead, what if those of us who like to dance and party mobilize and actually vote in New York and throw out these chumps who outlaw smoking in bars and dancing at night?

That's what it's about - you have responsibilities to go with those rights - the responsibility to stay informed and involved. If you don't like the way things are going, you can change it. It sounds incredibly naive to say that, but that's what America is - we're incredibly naive. We believed we could put men on the moon. We believed we could walk across a continent and settle it. We believed that there was no way the Soviets were going to put missiles in Cuba. We're naive like that.

We've also got one of the oldest governments going, especially compared to so-called "Old Europe." Germany's government was reconstructed after World War Two (which, despite the Berlusconi flap, the world seems to forget that they started) England's government was monarchy dominated until queen Victoria at least. Italy's had different governments for the last fifty years. France's revolution came after ours - and those of the French who supported our revolution were Monarchists, not the current government.

Our country has been through an awful lot. We came to grips with slavery. We're coming to grips with racism, and while we're not perfect yet, I wonder if anyone could point to a more racially, ethnically or sexually diverse country? Or one that tolerates the "other" so well?

I don't say America is perfect, certainly. We make mistakes. We got stuck in a "cold" war that consisted of many small proxy wars around the world. In our modern victorious arrogance, many Americans forget this. They forget that when it was us against the Soviets, Israel was with us, and Dar-es-Salaam was with the Soviets to a great extent. Now that the Soviets are gone, the only thing restraining Israel is itself. And us.

When we go to war now, people forget that there are no Soviet generals in the trenches of Saddam's thugs, although they were trained there. There are no Soviet fighters supporting the opposition in Afghanistan. We won that war.

Our own people, some of them my friends, complain, bitterly, about America. And that's the most amazing part. Go to some of our other critics nations and complain about them. Remind Germans of their Nazi past, and get thrown in prison for a hate crime. Remind a Saudi that we let our women drive, and... I have no idea what they'll say because I'm a Jew and they don't talk to us. But know that you CAN speak out against your government without fear of reprisal from the government, and know that that's one of the most amazing innovations in the history of mankind.

That you can carry a firearm, or not, is up to you. While that idea frightens many people, what frightens me more is a government like that of any in the Middle East but Israel, with tight curbs on who can have guns, and a rule by an iron fist. A knock on the door in the middle of the night, with no ability to fight back or organize resistance. Think of the situation in Iran right now. Students marching in the streets, who are then disappeared and killed, with no ability to fight back. All they want is what you take for granted - the ability to get up in the morning free from the fear of the knock on the door. The ability to talk to whomever they like without government interference. The right to wear whatever they like. Live how they want.

There's more here, and I'll likely amend later, but just take a few minutes today, wish America a happy happy birthday, and remember your rights. As an American, you're the only one in the world who has got them.