I've had some time to think about this. I said it better here. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/icarusancalion/277082.html?thread=3259482#t3259482)
For Americans, there's a difference between "United States" and "America." The United States is us, a place. We'd never say that the United States invented democracy, that wouldn't be fair.
But America... is an idea, and ideal. An archetype of what this country should be, what it represents: it's Jeffersonian in its tone and scope; it's the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution. It's a cultural value.
It's bigger than us. What we're saying is that this ideal, America, is synonomous with democracy, with freedom. And it most certainly is. Even if the United States doesn't always measure up.
America has nothing to do with the gentlemen of property who started this country. It is an idea.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 10:12 am (UTC)For Americans, there's a difference between "United States" and "America." The United States is us, a place. We'd never say that the United States invented democracy, that wouldn't be fair.
But America... is an idea, and ideal. An archetype of what this country should be, what it represents: it's Jeffersonian in its tone and scope; it's the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution. It's a cultural value.
It's bigger than us. What we're saying is that this ideal, America, is synonomous with democracy, with freedom. And it most certainly is. Even if the United States doesn't always measure up.
America has nothing to do with the gentlemen of property who started this country. It is an idea.
Icarus