America Is Not an Address

You are "American" in a legal sense if you were born here. You are also "American" in a legal sense if you've moved here from elsewhere and have become a citizen. But having a permanent residence within our borders is not what makes you truly American in a spiritual, philosophical sense. That requires acculturation -- the installation of a certain mental software.

Every nation has its own software. Occasionally, countries with common ancestors will share lines - even large chunks - of code, but even movement between cousins requires a long period of adjustment.

I live in a community of immigrants. 90% of my clients are immigrants. My bosses are both immigrants. Many of my friends and acquaintances are immigrants. Even those who've moved here from Western Europe - our cultural origin point - say they had to download a few new programs to assimilate.

Okay, enough with the tortured metaphor. My point here is that an American identity has to be cultivated. It can't just be assumed based on your physical location. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we'll actually get immigration right.

So what, precisely, is an American identity? Well, there's room for some debate on that subject, but in my opinion, there are a few things that are absolutely non-negotiable:

First of all, you must be broadly liberal. You must have faith that we can solve our problems through discourse and cooperation, not through force. This means accepting our institutional embrace of free speech, free markets, due process, the rule of law, and the like.

Second, you must be willing to work on setting old tribal animosities aside in order to, shall we say, get shit done. I'm not suggesting, of course, that America's own history in this regard is without blemish. Far from it. But we've traveled a generally upward trajectory ever since we declared the universality of human nature at our moment of becoming. You have to be willing to accompany us on this journey.

And speaking of the universality of human nature, you must also agree that all people have natural rights to their life, liberty and property. Read the Declaration of Independence. Read the Bill of Rights. Read them, love them, and live them.

There are people among us right now who reject some or all of these requirements -- including the members of the so-called "Squad" who've recently been the target of the president's ire. These young ladies (I think they're all younger than I, so "young ladies" it is) are "American" due to a technicality. Yes, it's stupid to tell them to go back to their own countries -- but given their ideological commitments, it's absolutely not out of bounds to question their Americanism. I insist on my right - on everyone's right - to do so loudly and repeatedly.

You can't be American if you hate everything we are.