We are going to hear the term “American Values” more and more as the 2020 election nears. It seems that everyone loves the term, but I have yet to hear the politicians who spout it define them. My esteemed Senator Blumenthal has repeatedly used the term in many of his innumerable moments in the klieg lights. After hearing him cite, “American Values”, I have written him for his definitions multiple times, with no response. Dictionaries define values as “principles, a set of standards of behavior, a judgement of what’s important in life” or “something intrinsically valuable”. What are “American Values”? In order to answer this question, we must look to how America came to be.
Our forefathers came here for the very real and distinct reason of religious freedom. The church of England was a government sponsored religion. Many chafed under this mandate and sought a place where they could practice their faith as they see it. American value number one is the ability for Americans to practice their faith in God as they want, up to and including the ability to eschew all faith in God.
Freed from the yoke of mandated religion, the settlers enjoyed the ability to seek their own fortune by relying solely on themselves. Individual contribution led to individual success or failure. Rather than the state, each person owned their labor and the fruits it bore. The individual, instead of the collective, was elevated introducing individual freedom as a fundamental value in our new country.
Once the individual was placed above the collective, it was apparent that any suppression of the collective over the individual had to be eliminated. The ability to govern one’s self was codified in the Constitution. The power of the people was instituted, and the state made subservient to the will of the people. Government was to do as little as necessary to assure the ability of the people to attain their manifest destiny. No government was to throttle the ability of the individual to seek their fortune and happiness. The “Bill of Rights” (the first 10 amendments to the Constitution) captures the specific rights that are born from the value of individualism over the collective.
For me, hearing people say this or that does not fit with American values must be challenged. So often, we hear programs or policies do or do not fit our values. Well, which value is that? We may hear that those who wish to lead our government don’t in fact hold true “American Values”. For example, as more laws are passed, the more the freedom to seek one’s own outcomes is diminished. I for one would like to know how that squares with our individual rights?
Current Day Publius 