Was It Really Being Taken Away?

During this last election year I noticed several red political signs that said “Take Our Country Back in November” and I couldn’t help but to associate this with radical conservatism. The phrase gave the impression that some how our country had been taken over by ideas and values that contradicted those of “Traditional America”. But had it really been hijacked?

             In this last election, the idea of change provoked several great demonstrations of conflict between new and old social values like issue of gay marriage, the legalization of marijuana, and healthcare reform.  These ideas have started a dramatic response from conservatives who’ve used these changes in policy to create the impression that the United States has become, removed from its past. On cable news, members of the right wing paint a picture of American society from the 1950s tv show much like “leave it to beaver”, but this can’t possibly be reality.

 After all, we’re in the 2010s and the environment of our society change with time. Perhaps Edmund Burke would develop the opinion that the integration of our system and the changes we see in our society are part of an incremental change, or revolution, that minimizes the risk of a more dramatic revolution. In this regard, I believe that Burke would take issue with the moves by modern republicans to resist change where, logically, it seems necessary. The proposed platform run on by republicans of resending Wall Street regulations in the aftermath of the 99% movement serves a prime example of this.

In the case of the French revolution, the monarch lost touch with its people through its propagation of old money and ideas, leading to revolution and drastic, violent change. With the current social climate, things are not nearly as desperate as they were during the French revolution but it is not difficult to see where, if we prevent any adaptation from taking place, our country could fall to the same fate. I believe that there are many aspects of our country that should be preserved, but this can’t be at the expensive of the entire American experiment. All parties involved must respect the past but incremental changes are needed to prevent a large more destructive change like the French revolution. This is mentioned by Burke who wrote, “When ancient opinions and rules of life are taken away, the loss cannot possibly be estimated. From that moment we have no compass to govern us; nor can we know distinctly to what port we steer.”(Burke, 5)

 With the end of the political campaign season, the signs rallying republicans to take back “their” country have been removed from our curbs but the sentiment continues out of public view. To those who think they’ve been robbed of their country, I wish to remind them of what has made the American experiment successful. Change. We are a nation of innovators and effectors of change and to ignore this is to ignore our past. The some wish to see an America rooted in history but if they don’t learn from and recognize our history of change, they may become fatalities of progress. After all our constitution was designed to be a relatively adaptable document or formation of governing principles. Did we really need to “take it back” from expanding social tolerances toward diversity, immigration and gay rights?

Video clip source: http://youtu.be/OCHXLDJZ4ww
Picture source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Occupy_Oakland_99_Percent_signs.jpg