Out of Many, One

 Out of Many, One.

Daily we are confronted with a culture astir. Do we as Americans know who we are. Some say ‘yes’, some ‘no’, some ‘I don’t know.’  With the glaring lights from the ‘woke’ torch, a look into the burning fire is a definition that is counter to what made America great.  The concern is that fire can actually incinerate the dream. 

History places on the world map nations that have features aligned with singular elements, such as ethnicity, religion, and race.  There are predominantly Muslim cultures, Christian areas, there is Japan and China whose heritage frames their identity, Israel grew out of a desire for a Jewish homeland, Europe was white, Catholic and Christian, and Africa was home of the negro. America was an unknown.  After it’s discovery a novel government was formed, not to cater to one, but to many. Call it a ‘melting pot.’ Call it a ‘mosaic.’ But it was never to be a singular culture, race or religion, ethnicity or gender driven country. So, what then?

The cradle of America can be pictured as many ships crossing the Atlantic, carrying people of all colors and stripes, with various religious beliefs, and political views, that reflected support or distain for the governments under which they were ruled.  They were uncertain as to what they were to face, but they were looking for an opportunity to be free from the restraints of oppression, religious differences, or indifferences, and autocracies. They sought an opportunity not available in their homeland. They may have come from a caste system. And some were taken from their homeland and brought to America as slaves. As a whole these people were diverse in their characteristics, but also intellectually diverse. The founding fathers took this mix of ideas and ideals, and made every effort to allow them to flourish within the framework of the canvas that was being painted to make a new nation. The founders were not in favor of slavery, but understood that time would be needed to eradicate it. 

To properly develop as a nation those that debated, discussed, wrote, re-wrote, and finally agreed on our Constitution saw fit to respect individualism and freedom. Democracy was in session.  Also capitalism became the pathway for anyone to achieve their dreams. It was recognized that hard work would be required. Forests were cleared, fields were plowed, houses built, cities created, businesses formed, trade begun, wheat and tobacco grown, battles were fought, and prosperity evolved. And those that achieved success where not of one color or one mind. And not everyone was successful.  Those that controlled this new nation were the majority.

America was built by individuals which as a group allowed the voices of the most, a plurality, to control by vote.  It was where private persons became the owners of industry, large and small businesses; they became the traders, and focused on profit.   The objective of a business was to make the best product, be most competitive, become a success and flourish.  The objective was not racial equality, the climate, or gender; that was left to the government.  Government was to have society as a whole in mind when enacting legislation to insure safe neighborhoods, justice, our nation’s sovereignty, clean water, healthy air, and equality.  It was not about equity.  It was not about stereotypes. It was about ideas, diversity of thought and individual attributes; how persons hired could best support the growth of the enterprise. There were shareholders wanting to invest in thriving corporations, not stakeholders wanting different characters from sectors of society, emphasizing sex, race, and ethnicity. Equal opportunity is the starting point, the outcomes seldom equal. Corporations were not to do the job of government, but to obey its laws. 

A quote applicable to this discussion. “The goal of feminism isn’t actually to put more women on corporate boards. That’s just a tactic. The real goal is to live in a world where men and women regard one another with genuinely held mutual respect as co-equals. The same goes for racial equality and the regard that people of different races ought to have for one another.” (Woke, Inc., Ramaswamy, Vivek. Woke, Inc. (p. 306). Center Street. Kindle Edition.)

At its heart America was united, yet today the ‘woke’ have created division, out of ignorance and laziness in properly defining ‘diversity.’ Diversity in its truest sense is that of thought.  When seeking a viable enterprise, for-profit or non-profit, ‘diversity’ is finding and melding ideas from the best minds, ignoring characteristics of birth.  True diversity is blind to religion, ethnicity, color and gender.  

E Pluribus Unum - Out of Many, One.  

We need to restore and some need to relearn what made America the best nation in the world in which to live today.  To some these are crass words;  capitalism, freedom, individualism, and democracy.  We need to incentivize people to better themselves and work with others, not create a dependent society expecting others to provide what many prefer be given. We need forums where opinions are heard, debate can occur and open-minds prevail. Protests should proceed without violence, consumers make their own decisions, companies concentrate on their products not our morality, and being white, straight and male should not be a sin. We are currently headed in the wrong direction. Let not a separate political bias continue to divide and cause us to awake from the American Dream.  

By Thomas W. Balderston

Author and Blogger