Hope for America

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.”