Americanism
Essay Contest Winner
“In America, the stories we tell ourselves and each other in fiction have to do with individualism. Every person here is the center of his or her own story. And our job as people and as characters is to find our own motivations and desires, to overcome conflicts and obstacles towards defining ourselves so that we grow and change.”
— Adam Johnson
What makes America the greatest nation to have ever been conceived on this earth is its underlying qualities that characterize Americanism. America—the great experiment—was fundamentally different from all prior nations and civilizations that had existed before it. American ideals did not value the concept of royalty and nobility, but instead held the self made man as the highest ideal. It is America’s love of freedom which reflects the deep respect for the self made individual. The American Dream, the very essence of Americanism, rests upon America’s high regard for freedom, the self made man, and individualism. America was the first country to deeply value all of these concepts and it has been the ultimate determining factor in America’s ongoing appeal, even in challenging times. My understanding of Americanism is simple: I have the freedom to pursue my own happiness and to craft my life as I want it to be.
It is the values of a nation that determines the characteristics that distinguish it. America’s economic system, capitalism, and its governing system, a democratic republic that protects individual rights, each reflect Americanism; capitalism in combination with a democratic republic that protects explicit, individual rights, creates the optimal environment to thrive in. Other countries that have relied upon command economies and totalitarianism, be it in the form of a monarchy, fascism, communism, or theocratic governments, have created the worst catastrophes in human history. As a result, America has attracted immigrants excited to forge their own lives in a country that does not command but rather allows the individual to be the master of his or her life. America is bound not by ethnic ties or arbitrary similarities between citizens, but rather we are bound together by a universal dedication to liberty.
My love of the American Dream has been one of my most defining traits. It has filled me with a sense of my own self efficacy, a love of life, and undaunted optimism even in the face of adversity. The unrestrained joy that comes from the understanding that your destiny is yours to create is what makes America, and all aspects of Americanism, truly exceptional. This essential characteristic of America, is where true patriotism stems. To love Americanism is to love the fact that your fate is truly your own. It is this love of liberty that inspires America’s servicemen, to whom we are all indebted, to protect our right to live and thrive as we have decided to. If freedom perishes from the United States it will surely perish everywhere. It is important always to remember that in the grand expanse of human history, liberty as a right has existed for only a moment: Freedom, the basis all potential happiness, must never be taken for granted. Appreciate your individual liberty by recognizing that your life on this earth is finite—do not waste a moment living someone else’s life. Craft your own.
In the words of the great American poet, Walt Whitman:
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
If you like what you just read, please hit the green ‘Recommend’ button below so that others might find this essay.
