Regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, we all have work to do to overcome the challenges of an uncertain future. It starts with a shared American identity.
When it comes to issues of race and cultural diversity, the last couple years have been a roller coaster ride of events in the United States. Without rehashing the gory details and controversial headlines, suffice it to say that America is a bit conflicted right now about who we are, what we believe in, and what it means to be an American in the 21st Century.
In a presidential election year, this is a hot topic of debate and one that has huge implications for our economy, politics and education system.
No matter what side of the argument you land on, the reality is that this is a complicated country and is far from perfect. All of us, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, have much work to do to overcome the challenges of an uncertain future.
But perhaps no problem is thornier and more under-appreciated than the question of modern national identity. Put as a simple question, what are the bonds that tie us together as Americans today? While the nation has never exactly been homogenous, and while there have been times of even more political polarity than today (Civil War, anyone?), it could be argued that past traumas in our nation’s history were overcome by a shared connection about what we as Americans aspired to be.
Whether through war, depression or civil rights struggles, the country’s diverse communities often found common ground through a loyalty to shared values, chief of which included human compassion, free expression and right to economic self-determination.
But what are the shared values of Americans today? Perhaps the great expansion of information and mass communications through technology have (quite ironically) made us more self-interested and inward looking. It’s easier to immerse ourselves in the going concerns and accompanying narratives not of a broad national or global community but instead of any number of identities from a disparate cacophony of voices, selected according to each individual’s personal choosing. And could it not be said that our efficient markets and collective, consumer-driven mindset has in some ways made us a nation of entitled, soft and spoiled materialists?
This is a harsh oversimplification and not uniformly true, of course. Communities, towns and neighborhoods throughout the country have experienced local revivals of culture and economic flourishing. But there does seem to be something amiss at the level of our national consciousness, and many across the nation are waking up to it.
Unfortunately, no one has of yet found the answer to this riddle. Continuing racial unrest, religious disputes and fierce political gridlock give daily evidence to that.
But all hope is not lost. Quietly, there have been interesting ideas thrown around, and often among influential thinkers. Fareed Zakaria, foreign policy commentator of CNN fame, has recently discussed the successes of Singapore, a city-nation with almost zero crime and a higher GDP than that of America and most of the rest of the developed world. On a recent episode of his show GPS and an accompanying column for the Washington Post, Zakaria quotes a Singaporean official as attributing the great success of the country to its policies of social harmony. In short, Singapore integrated a diverse population by building fully integrated public housing communities in which the vast majority of citizens live side by side with residents from every social and economic strata. In other words, Singapore’s CEOs often live next door to its teachers and janitors.
Even more pointedly, Ron Fournier, writing in the National Journal, has spoken openly of the need for a national service in the U.S. The idea being that young people between the ages of 18 and 28 would enter a year or two of service in various arenas of social good, where they would become personally invested in the nation’s biggest challenges, including poverty, education and threats against our security. He cites the Franklin Project, an organization dedicated to national service, on whose board sit titans of past American foreign policy including General Stanley McChrystal and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Both of these commentaries are controversial. In the case of Singapore, America is too large and culturally distinct to follow such a model; never mind the autocratic political means necessary to achieve such ends. And with respect to a national service, which in my estimation is a more realistic goal, there are a litany of tricky logistical and economic questions and implications on civil freedom that would need be resolved before anything close to that could happen. It’s easy enough for those of us who are past the age of entry to talk glowingly about said service without having to actually enlist and participate.
But I believe that all of those making the call for more national unity have their hearts in the right place. The United States needs a rallying cry and a shared sense of ownership to tackle the problems it faces. We need to come together and embrace similarities rather than constantly harping on our differences. Thankfully, there are steps that many college aged Americans are already taking that contribute to attaining this enlightened goal. These actions include experiential learning, internships and, perhaps most importantly, study abroad programs.
I’m a strong believer in the idea of embracing a form of pragmatic patriotism through travel. Foreign travel, study abroad programs and international business are all pathways to a better understanding of where each of us fits into a globally intertwined society. And this of course contributes to a better sense of harmony and community both at home and abroad.
In my personal experience, living in Argentina for an extended period of time made me prouder to be an American than anything else I’ve done. Not because I missed home or didn’t like living overseas. On the contrary, I was able to compare and contrast my own life, education, and upbringing to the cultural traits of Argentina, which ultimately gave me more respect for both countries. And I’d be remiss not to mention that many of my foreign travels have put into acute focus the abundance of opportunity we take for granted here in the states. The USA has its challenges, but there is still one lesson I think is worth remembering. When it comes to quality of life, every single person born on American soil won the lottery compared with the vast majority of the rest of humans on the planet.
In addition to altering our perspective, extended foreign experience also contributes to a sense of adventure and risk taking. Just stepping into exotic lands requires a relaxation of our natural inhibitions, preferably tempered with humility. While wandering foreign environs, we’re often reminded of the lessons of mobility, commerce and a sense of potential. Whether it’s a Mediterranean marketplace or high-tech Taiwanese shopping center, encountering the everyday hustle and bustle of other cultures offers insights into what people want. And this in turn fosters an understanding of how to fulfill human needs, which is the key to any successful endeavor.
One of the most central ideas to the American experience has been our intrepid nature. As Edward Murrow famously said, “we are not descended from fearful men.” Though our reputation in the world as cowboys, explorers and courageous leaders may have slipped some, the American identity is certainly not lost. We just need to redefine it a bit on the margins, and then get on board with adopting it together. Short of a national service, there is no better way to do this than by first understanding a bit about life outside our borders.
America may be a flawed nation, but so is every other one. There is no shame in accepting history’s harsh truths. Today we sit at a critical juncture before a future of vast unknowns. So now more than ever is the time to seek a place in this unfurling order of the world, and define positively what it means to be an American. But we can’t do it unless we recognize that we all have a vested interest in the country’s success. And all things considered, it’s not a bad place for us to be stuck together.
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Ted Eytan.