It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Republican,
Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, member of the Green Party, or something in
between—keeping up with America’s central issues is no easy task. Health care,
illegal immigration, war with Syria, Benghazi, gun control, raising the debt
ceiling . . . The information revolving
around each issue is so crowded with statistics and details that it’s no wonder
no one seems to know what’s going on. The confusion is enough to make anyone’s
head spin.
Maybe it’s time to take a step back. To get away
from all those confusing details and look at the big picture—whatever that
might look like. If there’s one thing Americans need, it’s a focus. A plan. One
that benefits everyone. Rich and poor alike.
Maybe it’s time to take a step back. A giant step .
. . Like 200 years. Or at least 11.
What? 11 years?
I didn’t realize it at the time, but September 2002 came
to mark an important turning point in my life. It was the year that “Liberty’s
Kids,” first aired on PBS. For most kids my age, it was the year they watched Nickelodeon,
Lizzie McGuire, and other such teen “reality” shows. For me, it was the year
that my vision of history changed from the boring, black and white stills of my
workbook to the vibrant colors and movements of a cartoon—a cartoon that
portrayed a world far more real than that of Lizzie McGuire’s.
There was Moses, the freed African man employed in
Ben Franklin’s print shop. James, the headstrong, teenage journalist determined
to “get the story” and do his part in fighting for the American cause. Sarah,
the proper yet feisty Englishwoman working to help others but also express her
strong opinions. And finally, the little French boy Henri, who spent most of
his time making mischief and finding ways to fill his belly.
Okay, so what do 4 cartoon characters have to do
with the real world? Each one of them was—is—just a figment of someone’s
imagination. And yet, the reality with which each of these fictional figures
reacted to real events and real people somehow made them—somehow made the whole
story—seem real. Because the story was real. And my sister and I saw it all. An
angry Sam Adams dressed as a Mohawk Indian. The excitement of the American
soldiers after their first reading of the Declaration of Independence. The
sorrow of losing Dr. Joseph Warren at Bunker Hill. The plans, worries, endeavors,
and reaction to the burden placed upon George Washington as Commander-in-Chief
of the colonial army. We grew to admire the bravery of the patriotic Benedict
Arnold and witnessed in disgust as he betrayed the American cause for his own
ambition and a mere 20,000 pounds. And finally, we rejoiced with the rest of
colonial America at the victory at Yorktown. Yes, that was the year that I learned
how history was more than just a bunch of words. It’s a story. Our story.
Eventually it ceased to play on PBS. Then, about a
year ago I had the opportunity to watch most of them again on DVD. This time,
however, something about them struck me—something I hadn’t noticed before.
Everyone kept talking about it. The soldier, the politician,
the journalist, the farmer, the slave . . . they were all fighting for the same
thing. Freedom. Liberty. It was the one thing they all wanted.
Now over 200 years has
passed. America, once proud of her unique virtues, spends most of her time
berating her negative history and patterning herself after other nationalities.
Even her greatest virtue has been ignored in current politics in order to
accentuate all of her historical mistakes. Patriotism has ceased to exist and
internationalism has taken root.
Yes, it is true that America
has made mistakes. And as long as the country continues to place its trust in
fallible human politicians, she will continue to make them. But America is not defined
by the mistakes of her people. She is
defined by the one principle upon which she was founded. The one thing that
makes her unique. The one thing we can all believe in.
Teenage Sarah Philips is
also crushed to learn of the treachery of her own American hero, Benedict
Arnold. Yet she refuses to lose hope:
“Some think that the
treachery of such a great general will cause us to lose hope and give up our
fight. But we do not fight for Benedict Arnold. We do not even fight for George
Washington. We fight for freedom, and that cause is bigger than any man.”
