They are both geographically American. They are both legally American.
2018 Geographic America is American as 1812 Geographic America.
This from the people who like to complain about "hyphenated Americans". We're all Americans...until we're not.
However, the latter is fundamentally different culturally than the former. This occurred for three reasons.
1. We abolished slavery?
2. We annexed a ton of land with people living on it already?
3. We've passed many laws and amendments expanding the reach of citizenship?
The people forgot what was unique about America and began to see America for it's flaws instead of it's strengths.
Why don't you cut to the chase and tell us what you think is great about America. I'll tell you in advance that I think America is best when it's not telling everyone how great it is. Show, don't tell, basically. But what is it, in your opinion, that makes America great?
An elite , typically highly educated, establishment class worked diligently to change America from what made it great. This was largely seen in the establishment of the progressive movement whom teddy Roosevelt was it's first highly visible proponent.
Whereas I would say that the progressive movement has given America some of its most important institutions. I guess we have different views of what's good for this country. But again, you've given us another example of you delegitimizing your fellow Americans.
It's not just your country, you know. America doesn't look now like it did in 1776. Which is the real elitism: a government supported by the popular support of a majority of its people (as envisioned in the Federalist Papers), or the government being lead by a rural minority that demonizes knowledge and believes that only they are real Americans, and is empowered by historical decisions with disproportionate representation in the government?
Immigrants began to be brought in more for their economic use than for their appreciation for the American ideal.
I would venture that far, far more people in the entire history of the country immigrated here for economic reasons than anything else. And so what? Doesn't make them or their descendents any less American. And it's noxious and dehumanizing to only look at the economic reasons for immigration. These are people.
You cannot say the resulting culture was no different than original culture in terms of the ideal of the American experiment.
Not a standard that I have, or a thing I've discussed. The original culture was drawn from a small swath of wealthy landowning and slave-owning people from one section of the country. The culture has expanded, via deliberate changes.
You don't want to be accused of racism, but you're unwillingness to give specifics does invite the suspicion. What is it really that you think has been lost? And are you actually old enough that you miss it, or are you just imagining it?
That is unless you are a historical revisionist who has no respect whatsoever for the original American ideal and sees it fundamentally as racist, mysogonistic, and imperialistic.
In many ways it was.
These people define original America through it's faults rather than it's unique system of governance and it's view of the sovereignty of the individual.
There's little especially unique about our system of government, and many of the aspects that are fairly unique are not good. It once was exceptional, but a lot of time has passed, and the good elements have become a lot more common, where the bad elements have largely been discarded by other nations.
This is the essence of my topic which was misunderstood from the start.
If you believe borders should be open and all the world's people entitled to citizenship....then of course you will take umbrage at my topic.
Very few are in favor of open borders, and I am not one of them.
