The United States vs. America

It had been brought to the attention of Boring Diatribe that a perception of overt nationalism may be afflicting the reputation of this blog. To be clear, here at Boring Diatribe, we make a bright distinction between the United States, which is a country, an instrument for acting as one, and America, which is an ideal.

America is a land where no one lives in fear of reprisal for expressing an opinion. America is a land where a free people allow no one to fall so far that he has no opportunity to rise again, where merit, character and behavior, not breeding or wealth, are the standards by which all citizens are judged, and the law under which they are protected. America is a place where freedom is not thin rhetoric sent marching to destroy the lives of distant peoples, but a hope, a promise, and a hand up to the less fortunate to stand side by side with us to accomplish nothing less than the wholesale improvement of the human experience throughout the world.

Ask not what America does for you. Ask what you can do for America, for it is the one true hope of this troubled sphere, careering its way through darkness. America, the America all of you carry in your hearts, is the place of justice, mercy, benevolence, innovation, independence, and tolerance that Jesus, Muhammed, Confusius, Gandhi, King and the Buddha envisioned when they walked this Earth, carrying their learning and their grace before them to illuminate the hearts of huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

America is within you. Find it, there, under your prejudices and fears, your hatred and your despair -- there. It is mighty like a river in flood, tall like a beacon lighting the path home, wide like the ocean that embraces the world, full of grace, full of goodness, and burning with the resolve that all peoples everywhere will taste the sweet wine of its restorative draught.

America has another name. It is Hope.