E Pluribus Unum

This is the unofficial or De facto motto of the United States, and appears on the Great Seal of the United States, which is used by the president and vice-president, both houses of Congress, and the Supreme Court. It is also found on our coinage, and is Latin for Out of Many, One. Originally it is said to have referred to the consolidation of the original thirteen colonies into one nation, or united states, and has since come to refer to the merging and blending of many different cultures, races, and ethnicities into one nation of people, an American nation founded on principles such as liberty and justice for all, and on the notion of inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We are a nation that proscribes on our Statue of Liberty that we welcome the tired, poor, and huddled masses from all corners of the world. We are described as a melting pot society, where as the slogan goes, many different elements blend into one. E Pluribus Unum.

At this point you might expect me to go into a tirade against bigots and racists who have abandoned such principles in an all-effort to keep out those who wish to join our great society. While there are certainly plenty of such people that deserve all the condemnation due to them, the Minutemen intent on vigilante justice on the Mexican border come readily to mind, this is not to be the purpose of this column. For there are also many forward thinking Americans, mostly free of racial prejudice and bigotry, who nonetheless see a problem and potential crisis brewing for our democracy, and who wish to come up with a humane, enforceable, and reasonable immigration policy that above all else protects our national interests.

That's right, national interests, and I bet you thought all liberals and progressives were pie in the sky internationalists who sneer down from their lattes at anyone who suggests nationalism and patriotism are anything to be encouraged. Well here's the news flash, just as not all conservatives are ignorant, jingoistic, NASCAR fans who drink cheap beer out of the can, not all liberals and progressives are smarmy, cosmopolitan, soccer fans who drink expensive hot chocolate out of a paper cup. While conservatives and liberals often disagree on issues of substance, there are many areas where with a little compromise and understanding, and yes even tolerance of the other side, areas of agreement can be arrived at. I truly believe that immigration reform is such an issue, and as with many of the important issues of the day such as health care reform, tax and spending policies, and foreign policy to name a few, this true spirit of compromise is not only warranted but absolutely necessary if we are to produce productive policy solutions to the problems that plague us.

Back to the motto, which suggests what we have historically, and ought to continue to strive towards. That being a society where many come together, and without selling out their individualism become part of something bigger than themselves. The notion of the common good must be revived if we are to get ourselves back to the garden, and back on the path laid out for us by our founders during the Age of Enlightenment, when America was founded with the idea that we would be a city on a hill, a shining example for the world to follow. While we are not at the point of a civil war, despite what the political pundits would have us believe with their red and blue maps, we are at a point where as President Lincoln stated in his famous Gettysburg Address, we are being tested whether a nation so conceived as ours can long endure. We have become a hyphenated America in many respects, and we run the danger, perhaps not in the next few years or even decades, but over time of becoming a fragmented society, one which loses its sense of purpose and for which the common good becomes increasingly replaced by individual and factional desires. These are the types of changes which occur gradually, but which once a tipping point is reached it becomes exceedingly difficult to return to the way things once were and should be.

The onus however is not solely on those citizens, native born as well as foreign born, to welcome those who wish to join our society. It is also incumbent upon those coming to our shores, or across our borders, to do their part, which means to become full-fledged members in the society which they have chosen to join. This means learning the language for starters, and embracing the culture and its people. While it is understandable that people would want to associate with those with whom they share a common heritage, and certainly throughout our history we have seen ethnic neighborhoods, it is not acceptable to come to America and then shun the very society which one is now a part of by refusing to adopt to the new home culture. This does not mean people should check their loyalties and native tongues at the door, but it is to say that the phrase, when in Rome, do as the Romans do applies.

Comprehensive reform starts with fixing the broken system of illegal immigration, which allows for employers and consumers to benefit from cheaper goods and services at the expense of the common good. It then continues with a reasonable solution for dealing with the millions and most likely tens of millions of Americans who are here without documentation, but who play a vital role in our society and who in many cases have been productive members of that society for years and even generations. Finally, we will have to make often difficult decisions regarding who and how many people we wish to allow into our country every year, because while immigrants do contribute to our economy as producers and consumers of products and services, they are also consumers of finite economic and natural resources. In an age of increasing worldwide population growth, much of it coming from the developing world, even the wealthiest and most developed country in that world does not have limitless resources and the ability to take care of everyone who wishes to be a part of it.

We are still a relatively young nation when compared to many European countries, and certainly when compared to ancient cultures in China, Japan, and Iran. Many skeptics believe that our best years are behind us, we are often compared to the declining Roman empire, a culture that is decaying and about to be done in by the barbarians at the gates. This is a most pessimistic view of our own history and of that of the world. I prefer to think that America has her best days still ahead, that we haven't even yet begun to enter the decadent and corrupt period of Roman Empire, but are still in the glory days of the Republic. We are still striving toward the ideals of our founders, and are still working our way up that hill, with lights yet to shine, and stories yet to write. Our strength has always been, and always will be our people, our many people, who come together for a common purpose to form one. One nation, one people, one way of life that while not for everyone, can serve us well and can be a model for other people if they desire to follow it.