“Nobody can be like us”

In his July 4th rally speech on the National Mall, Donald Trump said “Nobody can be like us.”

It’s unclear exactly what he meant by this, but probably he was saying that America is unique, exceptional, and that no one can ever attain the power and wealth that the United States has right now. After all, just a few hours before that, fighter jets were streaking through the skies of Washington DC, driving home that point.

Not so long ago, Mr. Trump’s statement might have been phrased a bit differently: “Everyone wants to be like us.” The people who said that believed that the way America did things was the way that everyone in every country wanted to do it. That mentality led us into wars in which we tried to change the underlying societies, whether they wanted it or were ready for it, a good example being Afghanistan.

But this phrase of the president’s - “Nobody can be like us” - has a different ring to it. It seems to be saying that we are so big and so powerful and such rulers of the world that no one can even touch us, that other people in other countries are condemned to their own paltry future, as America strides forward like a Colossus.

This reminded me of what George Washington said: “Our cause is noble; It is the cause of mankind!”

Washington, and our other Founding Fathers, believed that what they were doing in their Revolution against the King could be a beacon to other people in other lands who were suffering from tyrants who held all power.

We were not doing this just for ourselves. When they said “All men are created equal” they were saying this was true for all mankind. That our revolution could become the inspiration for other people to throw off the bonds that subjugated them.

What Mr. Trump seems to be saying is inherently selfish. No one can be as rich as we are. No one can be as powerful as we are. It is boastful. It is filled with hubris.

He seems to be saying that Americans have an exclusive right to this power and wealth and prestige.

To me, that is the opposite of what America should be. Yes, not everyone can be an American and, certainly, not everyone wants to be. But every person, in every country, can be inspired by what motivated our Revolution.

Everyone should have the right to determine their own destiny, and their country’s destiny. The smallest country on earth, the poorest, the least powerful, can have its own version of democracy. They can be inspired by the ideas and ideals that the American Revolution put forth.

After all, the Declaration of Independence says that ALL men “Are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

It is not just speaking of the 13 original colonies. It is talking about Mankind: “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it and to institute new Government… “

No, it is not the case that “nobody can be like us.“ The truth is anyone can be like us. That was the fervent wish of our founders. It should remain the fervent wish of every American, who hopes that all mankind will, as Abraham Lincoln said, “”have a new birth of freedom.”