There Is an American Idea; H. Prochnow

There Is As THE WORLD HUMS with the ris ing clamor of confusing opinion and propaganda, ever more posi tively' skillfully, dominantly pre sented, it is imperative that you and I understand clearly the sig nificance of ourcitiz,enship and the American idea upon which it is firmly based. For there is an American idea. It came with the Pilgrim Fa thers and the William Tells of many races, who found homes here. It took as its emblem the free dom of the eagle and the inde pendence of the pioneer. It overleapt the hurdles that had blocked human progress in many other lands for centuries. It blew through the sordid run ways of outworn civilizations with the cleanness of mountain winds. It amazed the world with the Dr. Prochnow is former President of the First National Bank of Chicago and Deputy Under Secretary of State. Author of numerous books and articles, he also has spoken at hundreds of meetings in the United States and abroad.

HERBERT V. PROCHNOW rich outpourings of its untram meled spirit. It made men cry: "Give me lib erty or give me death." It dedicated itself in strength, humility, and tolerance, to the care of the needy and sick in this land and in all others. It brought forth a beneficent down pouring of free thought, free speech, a free press, and a free pulpit. It proclaimed the dignity of la bor and the right to the profits of personal effort. It erected the little white church and synagogue in 250,000 com munities. It created a nation of men with free bodies, free minds, free opin ions, and free souls. It brought forth in only 200 years, the greatest wealth and the highest standard of living any peo ple in history have ever known. That is the American idea. History is the story of man's struggle for liberty. Perhaps we need that reminder more than any 419 420 THE FREEMAN July other today. We need to be remind ed that there has always been a struggle for liberty. In whatever period of history you may muse, the battle for liberty - political, economic, physical, intellectual, artistic, moral - is going on. Upon a free body, a free mind, free opin ions, and a free soul have hinged most of man's achievements. Only with the reasonable attainment of freedom has man been able to reach after the finer and gentler things, the motifs and objectives of life, and the final objective truth.

"We hold these truths to be self evident," reads the Declaration of Independence, "... that all men are created equal. "... that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalien able rights, "... that among these are lif.e, liberty, and the pursuit of happi ness." Here are the great privileges of American citizenship - a free, in dependent citizen's stake in the nation. These are his equality, and his inalienable right to life, lib erty, and the pursuit of happiness. And these are dearly bought privileges that have come down through the decades. Far back in the 1770's man was literally earn ing his bread by the sweat of his brow. Working hours were double those of today. The wilderness had to he tamed with the bare hands, and its forests grubbed out by the roots. Almost everyone was poor. Hunger and storm were more puni tive then than our imagination can picture. Malaria, smallpox, and all the tyranny of the bacterial world were still enthroned. The business cycle was as restless then as now.

But those early citizens placed in dependence, liberty, equality at the top of the list of the privileges of citizenship, and in the balance they placed their lives, fortunes, and honor. Equally as important as the privileges of citizenship are the hard-won rights and weapons by which life, family, and property are defended. There are the priv ileges not only of equality before the courts, free speech, and a free press, but also the privilege to con vert time and ability into earnings honestly won in fair competition by giving value received-the right to have and to hold these earnings in any proper form, free from pi racy of any kind. The right to as semble peaceably and petition the government for the redress of grievances. The right of habeas corpus. The sanctity of family and home. The freedom to worship as conscience, and conscience alone, dictates. The right to vote regard less of race, color, or sex. These are great privileges which have 1976 THERE IS AN AMERICAN IDEA 421 become so habitual that they are often overlooked. But nothing else is more precious.

No country up to the settlement of America ever conceived of the privileges of citizenship in the gen erous measure we have come to know them here. The idea that in dividual liberty is an inalienable right of every human being had barely come to sunrise. The ener gies of all n1ankind, for all the cen turies, were occupied with the stern realities of political despo tism. The privileges were invari ably enjoyed by the favored few. With the colonization of America came a new note - a new citizen ship in the world - the beginning of freedom, with all its manifold blessings, for the common man. Out of the dream of liberty have come seemingly exhaustless privi leges - equal rights to justice within the law, freedom of the pulpit, a beneficent downpouring of free thought, free speech, and a free press. But the continuance of these pri vileges of citizenship is predi cat.ed upon the discharge by each of us of definite responsibilities.

Make no mistake about that. The men who laid the foundations of America had no thought in their minds that the priceless privileges of citizenship could be earned and retained except through the val iant discharge of the responsibHities associated with that citizen ship. Men have had to struggle and to die to gain the liberty which is the bulwark of American citizenship, and they have had to be on guard to retain what they have won. If a citizen demands wise gov ernment, he must recognize that wise government is the product of an intelligent citizenry, and noth ing else. If a citizen demands that crime be in the cell and not in the saddle, he must support honest law en forcement without any personal reservations whatsoever. If a citizen demands unfair ad vantages for his industry, union, or geographical section, he must remember that the price of class and sectional selfishness is national destruction.

If a citizen demands sound fiscal policies, he must realize that every dollar which a government expends must eventually he repaid by the toil of its citizens in the creation of wealth. If a citizen demands that his country protect him, he must co operate unselfishly in giving his time and money to maintain the institutions which afford that pro tection. If a citizen demands freedom of worship for himself, he must be tolerant of all creeds. If a citizen demands freedom of 422 THE FREEMAN July speech, he must not encourage its suppression in those who disagree with him, nor must he use it ma liciously to destroy the govern mental and other institutional framework of freedom. If a citizen demands a paternal istic government to assume re sponsibilities which he himself. rightfully should discharge, he must not forget that a nation's strength comes largely from each citizen standing on his own feet, and that the paths of benevolent despotism and personal decadence lead eventually to the destruction of the privileges of free citizens.

If a citizen demands of his fel low citizens that they work in creasingly for a great nation by developing communities in which men may have pride, let him as a citizen, grateful for the privileges which are his, dedicate himse]f in a spirit of humility to those re sponsibilities. When the viewpoint that the privileges of citizenship are in separable from its responsibilities begins to prevail everywhere in America, the unreal days that have harassed this generation may be forgotten, and time may become enriched beyond our present vi sion. Then America may continue in the future, as in the past, to be come increasingly the land of our pride. It will excel in the detail and in the sum of those essentials which measure a nation's true greatness. It may set time's far thest sea-mark in freedom for the individual. It may explore new frontiers in the achievement of quick and genuine justice; it may reach new breadths of opportunity, take new strides in the intelligence and farsightedness with which its citizens, fully aware of their priv ileges and responsibilities, blend self-interest and community inter.:.

est. It may reduce burdensome and costly complications of govern ment, attain new records in the present distribution of the desir able things of life, and in the fu ture protection of the resources of nature and knowledge as a heri tage to posterity. If, as citizens, we but take these as our objectives, all this can be - and shall be - our America. Then with an appreciation over the world of what American citi zenship implies, there will be cre ated an epic opportunity for Amer ica in strength, humility, and tol erance to be of worldwide service. The road America has pioneered may then become a broad highway for the swifter advancement of the peoples of less fortunate nations. This is the vision for us and our children's children. This is Ameri can citizenship - thankful for its privileges - faithful to its respon sibilities. ~ CLARENCE B. CARSON THE DRAMATIZAT10N of the early years of Helen Keller brings to our attention in a memorable way what a marvelous thing it is to be able to use words to communicate with others. Miss Keller was deaf and blind almost from birth. Whether she would ever he able to speak was a secondary question at first, for there was no known technique for even making her aware of the existence of words. The play cen ters around the struggle of her teacher to break through this bar rier to communication. There is Dr. Carson has written and taught extensively, specializing in Amercian intellectual history.