American Hubris

The Republican Presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, has made headlines with his proclamation that he will, “not apologize for being an American.”  Now, by stating this, he is saying he truly believes in American ideals, moreover, he will not apologize for any acts committed by citizens of the country or the governing bodies themselves as long as they were means used to achieve a pro-American end.   I feel like this is a fair analysis of the statement, but if anyone disagrees, I am open for discourse.

Now keeping this logic in mind, let’s examine another much broader argument.  I feel most people will agree that humans themselves are fallible creatures, meaning we are by no means perfect. Being this way, it would follow that we will make bad decisions from time to time.  And in a society, in order to preserve a level of civility, subsistence, order, and humanity, we must learn from these mistakes, and at times, we must apologize whenever they are of the up most egregious affair.  By apologizing, we are displaying another most essential aspect of humanity.  We are growing, progressing, and learning from past follies in order to better ourselves as individuals and thus improving the greater social group we live in.  So in essence, making mistakes and thus apologizing for them have been quintessential aspects to humanity for quite some time.  While it’s moral justification may have been more secular than ethereal throughout various points of history, and vice versa, what only matters is that it occurs.  For without it, we would not be at such a state of enlightened civilization. And while I am sure many of you would proclaim we still display barbaric tendencies, the truth of the matter is that things are much more humane than they have been at times. 

We should now break down what it means to be an American; I would say it is a human being who lives within a set geographic boundary under the guise of specific political factors, who also contain a definite, yet in our case, diverse set of cultural values dependent upon the socioeconomic environment the citizen comes from.  To summarize, an American is a particular individual living within a particular social group.  Thus, they would be subjected to the previous paragraph’s argument.  Furthermore, since humans are fallible, and are capable of making mistakes, and social groups are made up of humans, would it not follow logically that nations at times would thus make mistakes?  I feel the answer is obvious.

I could easily twist Romney’s words here and posit that by him stating he will not apologize for being an American, he is ultimately asserting he is not subjected to the various characteristics all other humans possess.  Ultimately, he is not a human.  While I am sure there have been and will continue to be many people we meet throughout our days who we feel are mere wantons vicariously going amongst their lives without a care for how their actions impact others, they are still human.   We don’t respect these people because we know, in terms of the grand level, they are not acting how a civilized, and thus, efficient individual should behave in society.   And while I do not believe there is a specific way an individual should behave to be efficient, I do believe going amongst your life claiming there is no need to apologize is both foolhardy and arrogant, and that is how one shouldn’t act. 

In fact, I believe one of the most dangerous things that could ever happen to our nation is for us to adapt what I declare to be an, “American Hubris,” a perspective that  states we, as citizens of this grand country, are invulnerable to the many realities of humanity and the world in general.  This type of certainty is short-sighted, irrational, and pernicious to the overall health and stability of our nation.  By believing that sheer will  has been the deliverer of fruition, wealth, and prosperity, we ignore the various variables that have been delivered by fortune and fortune alone.   While might and action can to some degree, “bend” the arc of history, in many ways the path is already set, and we can only act within the parameters in front of us.  By not apologizing and acknowledging mistakes, a nation lacks the ability to see what has and has not worked. Therefore they cannot employ such an analysis in order to choose the necessary step regarding what actions we need to take.  And for the many people who are quick to state that apologizing is the number one sign of weakness, I completely disagree.  By identifying mistakes, you are preparing your nation to face certain realities of the geo-political realm, and thus examining the right actions to employ necessary means for a truly prosperous, yet still temporary end, while simultaneously encouraging the undying, eternal flame of humanity amongst your citizens.