We the People: A Covenant at 250 |
As America approaches its 250th birthday, we Americans seem to have no shortage of reasons to argue with one another. Our politics are louder and more corrosive than our conversations. Our disagreements often seem deeper than our common ground. We increasingly sort ourselves into tribes that appear to speak different languages, consume different facts, and imagine different futures.
But anniversaries offer us an opportunity to remember not just where we have been, but who we aspire to become.
The United States is unlike almost any nation in history. It was not founded upon a shared ethnicity, language, or ancient homeland. It was founded upon an idea that a people could choose, together, what kind of nation they wanted to become. That idea was enshrined in three words: “We the People.”
We have said them so often that they’ve lost their impact. But when they were first stated they were genuinely radical. And they still are today! They don’t simply locate power in the citizens.........