In order to love America, you have to first try and hate it

"America is exceptional but it is not inherently exceptional."

Thus spoke Senator-elect Rand Paul as he congratulated his supporters on a succesful campaign last week.

It is an insightful line, likely written by a twentysomething for the man who aspires to be the new icon for a new form of conservativism in America. Whether or not he drafted this accurate statement though my sense tells me he is up to the job.

Paul is not afraid to question his own government; such skepticism is the first step toward true love and appreciation of country.

Just this week he crossed the Rubicon into the terrority of cuts to military and intelligence spending, an area traditionally ignored by self-claimed conservatives, but a dangerous terrain which must- if the debt is to someday be tamed- confronted and conquered.

Such a difficult but rational conclusion can only be reached after a healthy skepticism of America. And that takes first trying to dislike this wonderful place.

It is not always necessary to try to hate one's country before learning to love it.

Consider Norway. It is a nation of about 4,000,000 people who, save for a few recent immigrants, are uniform in their cultural and ethnic composition. Norway is loved by those who live there because it is the place they and their ancestors come from. They are all Norwegians, united by history and nature. There is little difference between a Norwegian in Oslo and one in Bergen and another in Trondheim- the country is full of Viking stock and has been for dozens of generations. When a Norwegian child grows up he can look around at his neighbors knowing they all originated from the same general area, they all practice the same religion, and they all share the same language.

Their government is structured for such communalism. And their Parlimentarian system and high tax rates were designed for a population intent on relying on one another. The same could be said of many of the European countries.

But in America there is no such uniformity. Geography can create profound differences between Americans, even of the same ethnic background. Consider the cultural seperation which divides an American of German descent in San Francisco and one living in Little Rock. There has always been a diversity of religion in America. The country has always had a variety of languages too (although in the past there was an understanding that English was the standard and assimilation was the goal, whereas now progressives have, in their zealousness to equate assimilation with oppresion, discouraged such an improving and beneficial course for new arrivals).

What then unites America?

The American idea that people operate best on their own and without government interference.

I spent a year in Afghanistan in 2006. It was marked by, among other curiousities, the number of neoconservatives working there with blind love of country. Even the most precise, well-intended questioning of our nation's actions was met with rebuke. The justification was always that "America is the greatest country on earth."

When I asked why, the responses were hollow.

Because of "freedom." Because of "democracy." Because of "our wealth." Or, worst of all, "because it's my country."

Let's address the "it's my country" line first, because it is the most disturbing.

Every person on the planet yearns to love the place they were born. I have been to some pretty terrible countries (and there are some terrible ones, contrary to what Lonely Planet would have you believe- not every place is enjoyable). You can check this by typing into Google the name of some random, terrible country (I'll let you set the standards) along with "I miss." You will find a refugee or expat someplace who is blogging or Facebooking about how they wish they were back in the Republic of Terrible, tending their malnourished goats while ducking the indirect fire of clashing rebels.

It is natural to love the place one was born.

But such emotions are not only innate, they can be dangerous.

Blind love of country breeds nationalism. German youth goosestepping under the Arc de' Triomphe probably did not understand the complexities of the evil ideology that sent them there. All they knew was that the Fatherland needed their help. Certainly Russian conscripts in the First World War did not appreciate the details of why the Tsar was tossing them into filthy trenches to be shot or sickened to death, but under the pretense of protecting the Motherland and taking advantage of trying times, they did as told (interestingly, the Duma played upon the nationalistic tenendcies of some of these same men during the February Revolution of 1917, which the Bolsheviks then flipped and used themselves in the October Revolution- the people were pawns, moved about by manipulation of blind love of country, sometimes being drafted from one extreme to another- but always under the guide of supporting the homeland).

Wealth and freedom are not unique to the United States either. Singapore, Luxembourg, and a host of oil soaked countries in the Gulf all offer more than America in per capita income. Even total GDP, if you are planning on being alive for the next forty years, might not drive you to the United States- you'd likely be better off in China or India, when thinking long term.

And freedom to most people is relatively unimportant. America is far more free than most Western European countries, which regulate speech, elections, and a variety of other liberties we enjoy. But most Americans do not care. How many Americans would notice if their right to read "Mein Kampf" were taken away?

America, however, is blessed with two characteristics which by the measure of other countries might be shortcomings: we have no single culture and our government is not designed to promote one.

The Founders established our government to preserve liberty.

The English kings derived power from God. For over a thousand years though that divine power had been eroded by the nobility and by the development of capital markets. (This subject is worth a seperate posting, so I will leave it for now).

By the time the American colonies were established, the English monarchy was essentially a power sharing agreement between the royal family and their noble, and occasional commoner, financeers. But the future States were still established as entities under the king, albeit with more progressive structures. ("Commonwealth" for example, still used as a title in Kentucky, Virginia, Masssachussets, and Pennsylvania, was a label used to indicate that the government was founded not as a consequence of the king, but for the benefit of all living there.)

When the late 18th century forced the colonies to seperate from England it was mostly for financial reasons. The Stamp Act, the Declatory Act, the Townshend Act- all of these were provocative actions against the colonies. For many intellectuals in America, they were an opportunity to incite the general population to revolt. Just as the Duma had capitalized on the misery of the First World War to promote a larger political goal, so did Jefferson, Adams, and Washington. For many if not most Americans the War for Independence was not about liberty but about money. It was the men we see on currency today who cared about such abstractions as freedom.

(Interestingly, the American complaints were against the Parliament which was passing these bills- until the end, including in the Declaration of Independence, Americans were pressing for reprieve from King George).

So America then, truly is unique. But it is not inherently unique. It is unique because it is decidedly different. Unlike every country in the Old World, which was an off-shoot of ancient governments constructed around deference to a hereditary regime, America was established to guarantee the most limited form of government possible in order to protect liberty.

Now that is certainly something to love- and it deserves more than just blind love.

Every American should love their country. They should understand that America is unique, but not because they happened to have been born there. It is unique because the Founders worked to establish it as an exceptional place. And that exceptionalism is what has allowed us to succeed.

America has been a magnet for like minded people from around the world- those who seek liberty, the chance to soar or crash on their own merits. That peculiar structure has allowed us to excel where other nations have sputtered. While the British Empire was ebbing and flowing throughout the 1800s, America was slowly gaining power based on the efforts of entrepreneurial Americans. Many of these citizens were new arrivals from Italy, Germany, Russia, and other places.

This trend continues today. Bright, risk taking, courageous persons trade their known, difficult lives for a chance at a better one in America. It is a formula which has brought our country tremendous, indeed unprecedented success, over the past two centuries.

Our success is at risk though. For one, we are no longer the only country offering returns to immigrants willing to risk it all. Canada, Australia, South Africa, and other countries have the space, the resources, and the need for bright or educated people, and are taking in immigrants by the plane, boat, and truck load.

Secondly, we are threatened by our own success. There is already a great deal of criticism of illegal immigrants, some of which is merited. Many are hard working, but there is a percentage of illegals who game our social welfare system, and cost the nation a significant amount of money. But perhaps more of a threat is that the progeny of those who came here in the past at great risk- are no longer themselves great risk takers.

As one group of Americans after another votes to replace the risks and benefits of liberty with the security and stagnation of socialism, the country loses its edge. What would our ancestors think about federal regulations requiring individuals to pay into a national health care system? Did our forefathers come here with dreams that their children might one day be eligible for federally subsidized student loans and Department of Agriculture handouts?

Such a plan will fail because the country is not built for it.

Short of scrapping the Constitution and drafting a new one, or completely ignoring the existing one (which it appears is the trend), our political system cannot yield a successful welfare state. Unlike Norway, which has the mechanisms to tax and spend at a colossal rate, our federal government simply is not designed to take from each according to his means and give to each according to his needs.

Perhaps this is why there is such a disparity in wealth in America today- we're moving toward the worst of both worlds. On the one hand, we have abandoned the liberty driven marketplace we once cherished, but on the other, we are unable to institute a full-scale, take care of everyone nanny state. We are stuck with corporatism which runs wild, giving little to the masses. The masses, meanwhile, vote themselves more and more benefits, designed to pull us all toward a dull, mediocre middle-ground.

The solution is in the extremes. Run toward the left or run to the right, but do not get stuck in the middle. We need to accept, or more properly remember, how America was built as an exceptional place. Our goal should not be to exist as the best country in the world, but as the only country of its kind in the world. Success will follow the lack of government interference.

That examination, of the extremes of American politics, is one every good citizen should make. Closely consider why America is exceptional and what the alternatives are. Take that course and it will be clear, I am certain, that America is worth loving, and it is worth loving because it, and it alone, values and protects liberty.