We hear a little too often that we in the United States should change some policy simply because other countries do things another way. The implication is somehow that if most countries do things differently we in the U.S. must be behind the times.
I’m reminded of my Mother’s oft-repeated admonition, “If everybody else jumps off a cliff, are you going to?”
Let’s remember that there is something special about America, something unique. We have freedom not because a king granted it to us, but because it is ours by birthright. In America, we created the government, and therefore we, the people, are the sovereigns.
The Declaration of Independence established our country as the first nation ever created on the principles of self-government. It reads: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed . . . “
We’re in charge. In no other nation are the people held to be the sovereigns. Talk to people in other countries, even the democracies of Western Europe, and you can see their attitude toward government is shaped differently than is ours.
It’s not that we can’t learn from other countries, we can. But it would be like jumping off that cliff my mother warned me about not to cherish our unique American heritage.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.