Recapturing Our Vision of America

Ratcatcher has been contemplating a way in which we might summarize some of the key challenges confronting America today. This is the first of a trilogy of posts that seeks to do that.

Many have argued that the National Anthem is too bellicose; that it is insufficiently inclusive and should be replaced. Ratcatcher strongly disagrees with that sentiment. Those who take that position often nominate America the Beautiful in place of the Anthem. So, taking them at their word that they believe it better expresses what America is all about, let’s look at the words and apply them to America in the Twenty-first Century.

America the Beautiful, like the National Anthem, has more than one verse. Each verse celebrates a feature of America, e.g. majestic mountains and massive fields of grain, but much more important, each verse includes an aspirational idea. Those are the parts of this hymn that Ratcatcher wishes to explore.

Verse one hopes for brotherhood among the people of the country. In 2023 we may fairly ask whether that goal has been achieved; maybe we can even ask whether any positive steps are being taken toward brotherhood. The evidence suggests not.

The second verse, after celebrating the achievements of pilgrims prays that God may mend the flaws of America and, note this, confirm self-control and liberty in law. Here again, the evidence is overwhelming that Americans are not exercising self-control. Rather, they are, in large numbers, acting out, stealing from stores and other people, physically attacking their fellow citizens simply for the fun of it. They are out of control. And as for liberty in law, it is hard not to laugh at the concept in 2023. The evidence is clear that the President has routinely broken the law; he lies with apparent impunity; and the Department of Justice, FBI, and various Soros-financed Districtd Aorneys are lawless. “Liberty in law” indeed!

Verse three is particularly relevant as we celebrate Memorial Day this weekend. The sacrifices of “heroes proved in liberating strife” absolutely deserves the remembrance, reverence, and gratitude of the American people. But we may ask whether all success is, in fact, nobleness and whether every gain is divine.” America in the Twenty-first Century is marked by a new class of robber barons far richer and every bit as ruthless as those of the law Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. When that power and wealth are used to silence opinions, squelch information they deem harmful to their interests, and to keep large segments of the population earning barely enough to get by, we may question whether the success of America is noble and its gain divine.

The final stanza celebrates the patriot dream that looks forward beyond the years alabaster cities that gleam undimmed by human tears. The verse ends with the refrain that began the song, a plea for brotherhood. So we may wonder whether that goal has been achieved. Do America’s cities gleam like alabaster? Certainly not the large ones. Are they dimmed by human tears? You bet. Those tears are often exacerbated by the policies of the governing elite who spew great platitudes by do not care for those they govern. The patriot dream has been badly tarnished in the last thirty years. America’s position in the world has been damaged, perhaps irreparably, in the past thirty months.

This excursus has not been hopeful. It was not intended to be. Rather, as noted at the top, it was meant to examine one aspect of American life to see how it is managing the challenges confronting each of us today.

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