“There is nothing in our founding documents that establishes the United States as an ethno-state. “ This one statement says it all. Thank you,Jay, for putting into words all that I think but can’t always express.
What gets me is that people think that to be respectfull of and to encourage the advancement of people of different ethnicities, religious faiths or alternative sexualities is simply a matter of altruism. It is not. Whatever it takes to help any impoverished or disadvantaged group of citizens is a benefit to society. That, in turn, is a personal benefit to me as a member of society. By helping or supporting whatever efforts it takes to make the lives of others better, I am only helping myself. And in that sense, I guess, it is good to be selfish.
If you only share social bonds with people who go to your church, you live a very narrow and impoverished life. If you only socialize with people who went to your school, you live a very narrow and impoverished life.
There is so much more to being a citizen than sticking with your own narrow group of only like-minded people. It is the scared person who can not reach out and be reached. And that is not what built this country: scared people huddled in their own little corners.
“There is nothing in our founding documents that establishes the United States as an ethno-state. “ This one statement says it all. Thank you,Jay, for putting into words all that I think but can’t always express.
Thank you, Jay!
It's interesting how you apply this lens, connecting the personal observation to broader societal structures, much like your prior analises.
What gets me is that people think that to be respectfull of and to encourage the advancement of people of different ethnicities, religious faiths or alternative sexualities is simply a matter of altruism. It is not. Whatever it takes to help any impoverished or disadvantaged group of citizens is a benefit to society. That, in turn, is a personal benefit to me as a member of society. By helping or supporting whatever efforts it takes to make the lives of others better, I am only helping myself. And in that sense, I guess, it is good to be selfish.
If you only share social bonds with people who go to your church, you live a very narrow and impoverished life. If you only socialize with people who went to your school, you live a very narrow and impoverished life.
There is so much more to being a citizen than sticking with your own narrow group of only like-minded people. It is the scared person who can not reach out and be reached. And that is not what built this country: scared people huddled in their own little corners.