Warning labels are not a rare occurrence in today's society of lawsuits. If you order hot coffee you can expect to see a warning label informing you the beverage may be hot. There are warning labels on electrical cords, telling you not to cut the cord with a scissors while it's plugged in. When you buy a candy bar, there is a warning that it may contain nuts. And on top of that, there are a wide array of products known to the state of California to cause cancer, which range from shampoos to fertilizers. The latest item to make this list? The Constitution of the United States of America.
According to a FoxNews.com article, A&D Publishing and Wilder Publications have released a printed version of the Constitution and Bill of Rights that contains a warning stating, "This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work" (Wilder Publications, 2007).
What is completely mind-boggling is that I can buy a copy of Mein Kampf and there is no warning label to be found. At the school library, children can check out copies of The Stand and other books with questionable subject matter. But now the founding documents of our country come with warning labels? Is there anything offensive in the Constitution? Only if you hate life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Why, then, are these warnings put on these documents? The simple answer is that it is not politically correct to be American. And why isn't it politically correct to be American? The answer for that is jealousy and equality. The government, mostly liberals, have decided that our Constitution means that everybody in the world should be equal, in much the same sense that they believe every child in school should learn at the same pace. They are trying to institute a No Human Left Behind act. Other countries are jealous of our freedoms, and the politicians don't want to offend anybody, so they have to tone down how great our country is. What the politicians don't realise, is that America should be what other countries aspire to. Jealousy is good. If we can show the world how truly awesome capitalism and democracy are, then eventually everybody will have freedom. We undercut our status as a role model when we start talking about political correctness and when we start worrying about offending people.
Do I care that Mexico is a third world country? Not until Mexicans start illegally immigrating to the US and start feeding off of my tax dollars. Would I like Mexico to be a decent country with decent freedoms? Yes, of course. However, that is not my responsibility, nor is it your responsibility. Are countries like Mexico jealous of the United States? Of course they are. Does that jealousy sometimes lead to hatred and attacks against our country? Yes, Pearl Harbor and 9/11 are prime examples. The difference between the two, however, is political correctness. World War Two was not fought with political correctness in mind. Our war on terror is a politically correct war. We are tying our military's hands by telling them they can't bomb a hospital full of terrorists for fear it would look bad on the news.
America exists because we had a problem with what England was doing, and we fought for our sovereignty. Our founding fathers were out-numbered, out-gunned, and out-matched, but we won. In my opinion, any citizen of Afghanistan is equally responsible for 9/11 as the terrorists who carried out the attack. Our strategy should have been, bomb the temples, bomb the hospitals, cripple their country and bring them to their knees. If we did that, they wouldn't want to attack us ever again. Look at Japan. How much trouble have we had with Japan since the end of WWII? Zero trouble. We took the fight out of them. It is more advantageous for them to be friendly with us, than it is for them to be our enemy.
I'm not advocating we bend every country to our will, or that we go around the world as a 'police nation.' I'm just saying that war cannot be politically correct. If we are attacked because of our morals and values, then it is our duty as free citizens to defend our rights, our country, and our lives. Fighting a war half-heartedly, politically correct, only fosters more hatred. War is about showing the enemy that they don't ever want to mess with you again. If you can do that, you can prevent more wars in the future.
Being American isn't about warning labels. Being American isn't about political correctness. Being American is about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Being American is defending our country against all enemies, domestic and foreign. Our country was not founded on political correctness. We fought a king and his army to gain our freedom. I will be damned if warning labels convince me to be politically correct. I am American. No apologies.
© Nate Phillipps 2010
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