The Spire

Bryce Maloney ’26 and Ashwin Prabaharan ‘26

Opinions Editors

In the last weeks, our nation witnessed one of the closest and most historic elections in its history. If the results proved anything, it is that these are incredibly difficult and divisive times. The constant change of power and shift in government makes it feel as though our nation is searching for a focal point to grasp to ease the sense of unease in the air. As we each, in our own way, come to terms with the result of last week’s election, we might do well to rally behind one of the only concepts left untouched by partisan politics: the very idea of America itself. In a previous issue of the Spire, one Opinions Editor thought it helpful to write that in the wake of this very contentious result, Americans should do some hard inflection about what ‘America’ truly means. In the article, readers are begged to answer the questions, “What good has America done?” and more specifically what can we as a nation ever really “be proud of ?” The answer we have come up with, is, in short, a great deal. Regardless of what some limited perceptions of the outside world may suggest, America is still an opportune place to live worth being proud of. Its legacy and the place it has occupied on the world stage

Firstly, the mere concept that one should be allowed to criticize one’s own government is, if nothing else, proof of the strong foundations of our democratic system that ought to merit our pride. The ability to make claims that America “is Fascism,” as the author of the aforementioned article writes, is proof that our society is inherently non-fascist. We can’t say for certain, but it would be difficult to believe that Hitler (the leader of a real fascist dictatorship) would have allowed for such to be published in the opinions section of any newspaper operating under his regime. In fact, we are rather inclined to remember that Fascist leaders throughout history have often shut down newspapers that dared to speak truth to power: and yet were still operational. The beauty of our American system of government is that most important right to disagree. An inherently American tradition that has been passed down within what the aforementioned author describes as our “ 248 years of existence.” America’s greatness can be defined best by this most integral tradition. 

The tradition comes in the form of a simple bargain. I have the right to say something and you have the right to disagree. For example, when the author wrote that in America’s long and storied past there was “not a nanosecond of righteous history,”  I have the right to think that inflammatory remarks such as these only seek to raise the temperature in our politics at a time where we would be best served by coming together. You see, we as authors are both currently studying abroad, one in Latvia and the other in England. For some background, Latvia is a small Eastern European nation with a democratic tradition of only just about 30 years. In fact, the concept of an independent Latvia has only truly existed for just over 100 years. Born out of the bleak days of civil war, this country has seen a fascist dictator, 2 Soviet Occupations, and 1 Nazi occupation. As a Republic of the Soviet Union, Latvians were brainwashed to think Americans were their enemy: a race of people dedicated to their destruction. But, as has been true so many times in history, singular narratives can only bring an argument so far. As mass protests freed the Latvian people from their colonial oppressors, so began a shift in their narrative about the United States. Today, America’s strength of will and influence through NATO is the imperative shield that keeps this young democracy away from the desperate grip of its autocratic neighbor: Vladimir Putin’s Russia. About a 20-minute drive from Russia is Belarus. A close ally of Russia, Belarus has many times been described as the ‘North Korea’ of Europe. The contrast of the freedom and relative prosperity felt by Latvians in comparison to their neighbors and relatives across the border could not be more striking. Latvia, a nation that chose to ally itself with the West and the United States has reaped the benefits of access to our civil and commercial way of life. Belarus, however, has not: its standard of living and civil liberties are akin to that of some of the world’s worst regimes.

Writing from England on its Day of Remembrance that honors the sacrifices of many a serviceman, one is compelled to recall, given by millions of American, British, French, and other nations’ servicemen, what Lincoln famously named the “last full measure of devotion” to the promise of democracy and the defeat of the horrid fascism espoused by the Nazi regime. We stormed the beaches of Normandy, the streets of Paris, the ruins of Berlin, and the gates of Auschwitz to free millions from the gut-wrenching and abject reality that is fascism. Less than a century later, these lands are holding free and competitive elections, have a government composed of civilian voices, and are hallmarks of the modern progressive state, endowed with the ideals of equality, freedom, and independence.  

When the election results poured in on Tuesday night, Americans were not the only ones watching. Latvians were too. In fact, people all across the world who look to the United States for leadership were watching that night. Not because they feel American imposition, but because they have benefited from the proliferation of American values abroad. The very ideals we often consider standard and expected here are only beginning to ripen in some of the world’s youngest democracies. Our nearly 250-year experiment with the institution serves as the ultimate paragon for them and others yearning for our political realities. The idea that Americans spread democracy by “imposing itself on others through extermination and oppression” as the author writes would be lost on many Latvians for whom the United States is the only comforting factor that lets them sleep at night. It is also just a categorically tone-deaf view of the world, highlighting areas of America’s failures and downplaying, if not outright ignoring, successes. And while it is true that much of America’s foreign and domestic policy is at its core self-interested, no nation anywhere else on earth writes a foreign policy that isn’t. The difference is that our self-interest is the interest of self-determination. Our history is rich with examples of interventions that served to liberate and secure peoples around the world. The millions of veterans still with us today, from those who stormed Omaha Beach to those who safeguarded ethnic Albanians in the former Yugoslavia, are living proof of this mission.  Our nation has liberated millions from oppression and brought their people into the light of liberty and freedom. There is not a democracy on earth today that does not somewhat owe its tradition or longevity to our nation. And, if that isn’t admirable, we don’t know what is. For nations like Latvia, the United States has played the role of being the first and foremost guarantor of its independence and freedom in its history. Therefore, the argument that the United States is hell-bent on destroying its autonomy and self-determination for its own special interests might be a little lost on them.

In his address to the nation shortly after the results of the election were finalized, President Joseph Biden put it best when he said “You can’t love your country only when you win, you can’t love your neighbor only when you agree.” Let us all, in our own way, work to temper the divisiveness in our politics. Let us work together to build a new, bold future, instead of dwelling on the pain of the past. Most importantly, let us engage with one another and build an America we can all be proud of, one that forces us to always continue to reinvent ourselves as a nation.

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