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You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments: rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the universe.
—John Adams

Esteemed Reader of our Magazine:
I want to rediscover America—the America that assimilated and saved those who came from everywhere, the America that absorbed my own ancestors into the grand experiment that was democracy. From every kind of social, religious, ethnic, and economic background they came, and each was given a chance to show his or her mettle on a more or less level playing field.

My own people—the Sternsteins and Goorviches and Weinsteins and Rosenheims—all arrived at Ellis Island, at the beginning of the last century, from Germany and the Ukraine. They were able to make a new life here in America, freed from pogroms and genocide; freed from persecution for their name for God, their hue of skin, kink of hair and bend of nose. They were given the tools and opportunity to start afresh.

In the process of becoming Americans, my people buried the painful past. (I have had to go to great lengths to discover where we came from.) Perhaps it is the pain of the past that motivated the American immigrants to pursue their dreams with so much industry. Perhaps it was the vastness of the field of possibilities.

But does the door close behind those who have “made it”? More and more the power of the bold individualism that helped shape America is being funneled into new entities—the corporations. Instead of each person’s capitalizing on his or her strengths to build a business and a life, we have corporations—dead automated entities guided by a mission statement, a business plan, and dividends, searing brands into the hide of the national and international marketplace. A system that gave rise to individual initiative now produces cogs in vast economic machines. A system that educed creative diversity of production and marketing has so homogenized products and messages that almost the entirety of output can be contained in a Wal-Mart store and on 156 channels of cable. Today, instead of fostering a system tolerant of individual expression and filled with opportunity, America is sowing the seeds of repression.

America has long been bent on exporting its system. And for good reason. It is a system that, in principle, affords universal equality, in which each individual is granted the chance to make his or her mark based on his or her inclination and ability. And in principle, it is a system that incorporates diversity and is fundamentally tolerant. These factors cannot but provide a system that will please the people of every community on the planet.

But the positive face of America, fair representation, government by and for the people—democracy—is not what America is now exporting. The Bush administration is spreading and encouraging totalitarianism, just as the Bush 1 and Reagan administrations did before them. Imperialism and conquest are the means of imposing their New World Order. This is a hijacking of America by a few ambitious charlatans that do not represent most of the country.

Events related to the government of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, one of the few truly democratic administrations on the American continents, has shown how much the people appreciate genuine representation in government. Last year Chavez was almost overthrown in a CIA-backed coup. The people of Venezuela—millions of them—went into the streets to make it known that they loved the president they had elected. He had encouraged and even declared it a duty for the citizens to read and know the constitution of their country. He said it was the common book, the unifying document, like Popul Vuh for the ancient Mayan civilization, that was the common reference for the nation. We see here consistency in the Bush cabal’s dislike of Chavez and its regular betrayal and denuding of the US constitution. See the film The Revolution Will Not be Televised.

The world loves America for its energy and tolerance. But the world despises the ugly side of the American character—arrogantly foisting the “American Way” on those who have no interest or need for it. With all this country’s resources it could be exporting another American Way, the way that is boldly tolerant, that accepts and encourages differences in people and ideas; that provides a safe haven and opportunity for people in need; that is a forum for individual initiative and expression.

America must learn to use its vast power for good; to drop bread, not bombs; to export safety, tolerance and kindness. Obviously we cannot leave it up to the government and corporations to do this for us. We must recognize that each of us has power, and it is up to us to use it responsibly, for the good of others, even if it means sacrificing some personal comfort. We can keep the freshness that is the American spirit, the nothing-to-lose quality that makes every endeavor bold and bright, without the heedless greed. If we can do this personally, the energy of it will spread through the roots of the grass and will proliferate on a much larger scale. We can become the New Americans. We can rediscover America.

—Jason Stern