The Inefficiencies of Idolizing a City Upon a Hill
During the early colonization of the New World, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was known as “a city upon a hill.” This was a metaphor for the moral compass of early colonialism. This colony was to represent the ideals of the puritans for the rest to follow. Now would you rather live in this city upon a hill, a self proclaimed idol for the rest of the world to follow in suit, or in the city of brotherly love where natives, quakers, and religious pariahs alike congregated in peace. One-hundred-and-fifty years later, America took strides against the colonial system, declaring their independence from England, inspiring many countries to rise up against the autocratic monarchies of the time. Albeit we served as a role model for democracy and freedom, we failed to truly represent those ideals by continuing to enslave the African population as well as neglecting aid fights for democracy in the Carribean as well as Central and Latin America. This has been the narrative of American history, helping ourselves and avoiding the rest of the world. Although some argue that making change on a local or national level is effective as it inspires other nations around the world to instill the same change, it is better to be a global citizen and have an increased understanding of our planet and people around you. By reading and learning about, as well as speaking to, people from all over the world, people tend to develop a global blueprint, mapping out the connections of people and nations. This improved appreciation for the world is integral for long term social and environmental change because many nations lack the necessary resources to make change.
Throughout the past half-century of American history, we have taken very little initiative to make change on a global scale, and when we have taken these initiatives, we have been acting in our own interests. We acted to hinder the spread of communism in the cold war so that we would remain the global economic superpower. We sent troops to the middle east to displace their terrorist governments, oh and because of all the oil. In these attempts to “establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” did just the opposite of that for the nations where we intervened. In the middle east, governments have been undermined by terrorist organizations for decades, not to mention the damage we incepted in Iran with our tactical coup d’etat. In vietnam, we sent 500,000 + good americans to their death to lose a war that we had no business starting in the first place. In Guatemala, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba the U.S. government organized coups to overthrow communist dictatorships but either failed, or resulted in fascists taking their place and further hindering their chances of development.
America remains the economic powerhouse that they have been and still fails to be the moral compass that we are led to believe regulates the rest of the world. What we see and hear from our president leads us to believe that we are doing well, when in fact we are not. How are we to be the beacon of prosperity for the rest of the world to rely on, when we are killing each other in the streets. How are we supposed to inspire people with tales of immigrants coming to America and making something out of nothing while children are being detained and their parents are being deported. How are we supposed to guide the world into the future when our president refuses to attend climate change summits, and enact legislation to save our planet.
If we look across the Atlantic Ocean to European nations who are trying their hardest to make a difference we can see that we are no longer the moral compass we thought we once were. The Thames River, which was one of the world’s filthiest bodies of natural water just ten years ago, is cleaner now than it has been in decades and is once more filled with aquatic life. Iceland has managed to reduce carbon emissions from energy plants to almost zero percent. The French government has taken initiative to ensure that their citizens have access to not only water that is potable, but also water that is healthier and more mineral rich. Germany has had their borders open to refugees from the Middle East for years, and the feelings of xenophobia and ethnocentrism have not been present, at least to the extent that it is in the United States.
As the son of a Brazilian immigrant and someone who has lived in 5 different cities in the US as well as well as three countries, it’s not just America that is lacking. There are long standing issues of government corruption, socioeconomic inequalities, and racial tension all over the world. In Brazil, there are millions that are impoverished getting no help from the government, all the while living in a capitalist economy where they should have every opportunity to go make a name for themselves, but they don’t. Not because they’re lazy or stupid but because they have been trapped by system designed to work against them not with them, much like immigrants and African-Americans in todays America. Driving through the favelas of Sao Paulo and Rio to avoid traffic showed me that these people have just been ignored by the government and the wealthy citizens of Brazil. In Israel, there is long standing racial tension between Jews, of sfardic and ashkenazi descent, and Palestinians and Arabs in neighboring areas. There is also an immigration crisis because of the Ethopian population who claim to be descendants of the lost tribe of Israel. In both Brazil and Israel there is an ongoing power struggle between the far right and the far left.
I’m not saying that Europe is perfect and the rest of the world is terrible, however the United States, along with many nations around the world, has a long way to go and a pretty terrible history to make up for. There is no clear right or clear wrong. Both sides have their pros and cons; however, it is quite irrefutable that when countries’ governments take on a global minded perspective, one where they aim to help not only their citizens but offer aid to any one who needs it, including the earth, positive change tends to be made.
