American Non-Negotiables
Sanjay puts forth a set of Principles he believes form the bedrock of the American way of life, enabling the unique phenomenon that is American Diversity. What does it take to make this sort of diversity work?
For the reader’s reference, Sanjay aims to earn the license to present his argument in the supplementary piece linked here.
American diversity is a nearly singular phenomenon in the history of the world: we willingly accept all ethnicities, but in return we demand that all immigrants adhere to a set of principles that contribute to the prosperity they seek.
This is unique.
In fact, diversity is such a contentious subject for us precisely because American diversity is unseen in the world.
Instead of centering the immigration topic on the non-negotiable principles that make American diversity work, we take the easier route of bickering over the benefits and drawbacks of immigration policy or the kinds of immigrants we want.
Immigration itself is not the problem: America will likely continue welcoming legal immigrants for the foreseeable future. We should, instead, be having a conversation about how to properly assimilate immigrant groups that are already here and may come in the future.
There are no established guide books, road maps, policy guidelines, key risk indicators or key performance indicators for our bold experiment in peaceful, multiethnic coexistence; every step we take forward is onto a very dimly lit path, with only our foundational principles and a conception of the Platonic ideal of a diverse nation guiding us.
The United States of America is considered a nation of immigrants: it was founded by English expatriates who fled their home seeking religious freedom, settling what they saw as a pristine and fertile land. Since then, immigrants have come to this nation for a multitude of reasons and have adopted America as their home.
Africans were forcibly migrated here and endured the toils of plantations and factories, Scots and Irish followed soon after in search of economic and political stability, Dutch, Germans, and Swedes, followed by the Chinese all came to the USA seeking fertile lands and opportunity. Italians, Poles, Russians, and Jewish people from all nationalities seeking refuge from anti-Semitic persecution. Then Latin Americans, Asians, and Africans of many nations settled and made America their new home.
So, what makes it work? What is the ‘design’ of the bold experiment?
Can various ethnicities, differing religions, clashing definitions of individual and communal life, opposing social norms, etc. coexist such that citizens can pursue a fulfilling life as they envision it?
American life is based, fundamentally, on certain non-negotiable principles that we all agree to adopt. These non-negotiables form the bedrock of American society, designed to enable medium-to-high trust communities.
America puts forth a thesis that communities which share these non-negotiable principles, enable its members to focus on activities that satisfy their purposes in life (i.e., whatever is their “drive” in life - raising a family, stimulating economic activity by working for a business, starting a business, community organization, altruistic service, charity, ecological preservation, etc.).
Importantly, these non-negotiables simultaneously ward off any scope for tyranny, which inherently prevents people from leading a fulfilling life.
A nation formed of ethnically diverse people can only be successful if it shares an underlying set of principles.
The principles are as follows.
We start with the belief that every person has a right to their own liberty, and this principle undergirds all the others.
Next, Americans must believe that we are all fundamentally equal.
Americans must also have and recognize moral duties and legal duties to the nation: together these comprise civic virtues which must be upheld for the republic to properly function.
Then, Americans are responsible for our own liberty — i.e., instead of hoping the government consistently delivers justice, we instead understand that individualism and meritocracy enable the greatest degree of justice.
Finally, we must maximize freedom of association and the voluntary nature of engagements in free market systems, which have made America one of the most prosperous nations in the history of the world.
Every Person has a Right to their Liberty
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Every person has God given rights, these are unalienable human rights. Being granted by God, no person or government is empowered to revoke these rights.
The Constitution, enumerating duties of the branches of government, charges the American government with protecting the rights and liberties of the American people. It is the government’s solemn burden to ensure that no entity infringes on the Bill of Rights, or other rights listed in subsequent Amendments.
Of the three unalienable Rights identified in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, liberty is foremost and should be the most zealously protected.
We should live our lives with the practice and preservation of liberty in a prominent place in our own minds. What good is liberty if we have it, but our children or grandchildren don’t?
Without Liberty, the rights to Life and pursuit of Happiness are likely to become casualties to political oppression.
The revolution which founded the United States was a reclamation of liberties which had been seized from the people, as laid out in the Declarations grievances.
Reading the Bill of Rights through the liberty-maximizing perspective, the purpose of these first ten Amendments becomes significantly clearer: they enumerate individual rights that are essential to the practice of liberty, as well as limitations on powers of governments.
It’s easy to take liberty for granted when we’re immersed in it, but a look at current events in Europe shows just how quickly freedoms can be eroded by governments dictating what constitutes liberty.
Throughout the country, we exercise our liberty preserving rights daily.
The rights to freedom of religion, of speech, of press and peaceful assembly. Law abiding gun ownership stands as a bulwark against government tyranny and preserves the peaceful lives we enjoy from violent crime. We demand that our law enforcement agencies procure warrants before entering our homes and places of business to conduct investigations, and we maintain the right to not incriminate ourselves and demand due process.
When our government impedes these liberties, we should protest and demand accountability and a redress of grievances.
We are all fundamentally Equal
Although our history is fraught with inequality, the Founders’ conceptualization of equality alludes to a removal of the aristocratic hierarchy that plagued the European nations, and further expresses a sincere desire to truly create a nation of Americans equal to each other.
Let’s address the elephant in the room: we can’t discuss the topic of equality without discussing the evil indulgence of slavery practiced by our ideological ancestors; without a doubt this is a sin and a blight in an already complicated history. The indigenous nations of the American continent and women were also excluded from the practice of rights afforded to landholding men.
However, even among Founders, there were men who sincerely desired abolition of slavery in the nation they envisioned. Often the compromise, intended on adopting documents with unanimous consensus, was to not address the issue directly.
I interpret “all men are created equal” as an aspirational statement meant to be a guiding principle for all citizens proclaiming allegiance to the values of that fledgling nation.
The Founders detested the idea of an aristocracy with rights and privileges not allowed for the common man, they renounced the concept of a “divine right to rule.” These same aristocrats were granted governorships and other prominent positions in the States by very little merit, but instead due to their status as nobility.
Even more abrasive was the Monarch holding near absolute authority over the States whose prosperity he had not contributed to.
Mentions of “created” and “Creator” give us even more insight into the underlying beliefs of the Founders. Counter to the previously established European belief that hereditary class and birth into nobility grant exclusive rights, the Founders insisted that rights are granted by God and thus are inherent and inalienable for all humans, and we all have equal claim to these rights.
The passage of time and legislature shows the American nation steadily extending legal rights to the previously excluded (despite some missteps along the way).
As it stands currently, one would be hard pressed to find in other nations the legal and social equality afforded to American citizens.
In America, the blanket of liberty shelters all citizens, regardless of their race, religion, or ethnic heritage. Every American is afforded the legal protections laid out in our Constitution and our subsequent laws.
Americans have Civic Virtues to uphold
“No theoretical checks - no form of government can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea.”
James Madison, Judicial Powers of the National Government, June 20, 1788
Many people differentiate between duty and responsibility, but I believe that a citizen only has two different kinds of duties which jointly comprise civic virtues: legal duties, and moral duties.
Engaging in these ensures the American people secure our own liberties, instead of deferring to the government.
The legal duties are: obeying laws, paying taxes, serving on a jury of peers, and (men) registering for the selective services (colloquially called “The Draft”).
The moral duties are: being educated and informed on issues affecting local communities and the nation at large, voting in elections, respecting the rights of those around you, engaging in good faith discussions and debates, volunteering in our communities, and serving in the nation’s armed services if physical and mental health allows.
There are no legal requirements for a citizen to fulfil these latter duties, but the nation is better for it.
Together, legal duties and moral duties comprise the civic virtues of each citizen. When we engage in these it further brings us into harmony with each other and strengthens the Union.
It is a privilege being judged by our peers instead of being subject to a trial and sentencing by a class of people who perceive themselves as superior to us. Among the list of grievances against the Monarch that were laid out in the Declaration, the Founders note being deprived of Trial by Jury.
We joke about skipping jury duty, or purposefully answering questions to have ourselves removed from a jury pool, but it is a solemn privilege to hear out the case and provide earnest judgement:
It is our legal duty to educate ourselves on these laws and ensure that we abide by them.
If there are laws that we believe impede on our religious morals, or infringe on our liberties, it is our moral duty to press our legislatures to revoke laws or amend them as necessary.
If the legislature fails to meet our expectations, then the next recourse is to vote them out of the offices they hold.
And if we believe we can meet the legislative burdens better than the incumbent officials, then we should campaign for office ourselves. Failing all these options:
“... what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them.”
Bearing arms for the preservation of liberty against domestic or foreign enemies is no trivial endeavor.
When the US entered into the World Wars of the 20th century, our contribution of manpower was extremely valuable and effective precisely because men of the era were physically fit and proficient in the use of firearms.
These virtues, combined with a zeal to defeat a tyrannical enemy bent on domination and conquest, contributed to successful military operations in the theaters we engaged in.
Not just in military operations abroad or for national security, but a generally fit America has benefits for society at large.
The pursuit of fitness itself is a great community builder: whether organized sports, outdoors activities, strength training, or any other pursuits, these are all more fun to do with others.
Finally, as the medical sciences enable us to live longer, physical fitness increases the quality of that long life.
Some activities, like team sports, build a collaborative mindset and impart a number of other social and emotional benefits that aren’t replicated elsewhere. These contribute to the sort of holistic health that we should strive for.
Physically fit Americans are better able to take care of themselves, their family and friends, and their communities.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, many Americans willingly rushed to help rescue and recovery operations in the western Carolinas.
Individualism and Meritocracy enable the greatest degree of justice
“…rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will, within the limits drawn around by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’; because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.”
The Founders were strongly influenced by Lockean philosophy and emphasized individual liberty in a society of equals. Humanity has a set of natural rights, with which they are endowed by virtue of being human.
These natural human liberties are only limited by the fact that we live among other humans, we cannot infringe on the liberties of other humans if we wish to live life and pursue happiness.
When other humans persistently infringe our liberties or our property, we have a right to defend ourselves with proportionate force.
The nature of humans being as it is, we may misjudge what proportionate force is. For this reason, we delegate some of the use of force to our elected governments and law enforcement mechanisms.
However, just because governments and appointed law enforcement officers hold the power to enact force, does not mean we should completely absolve ourselves of that civic duty.
A government with an unchecked monopoly on violence inevitably results in tyranny of the individual and dissident groups.
What constitutes “tyranny” may be subjective, but some things are beyond debate.
Displacement of Native peoples from their traditional homelands, forced sterilization of “unfit people” by American governments, and the internment of Japanese origin American citizens and legal residents all come to mind.
On the world stage, within the last century: political purges carried out by Stalin, Castro and Guevarra, Mao, Pol Pot, and continued subjugation of North Korean citizenry.
Locke discusses private property with great clarity.
The bare minimum property of a human is their own individual self, which only that person has a right to; this idea was not lost on the abolitionists among the Founders.
Locke’s ideas on property rights and his elucidation that no person is entitled to own any other person or the results of their labor, had a great effect on the Founders.
Quaker communities in the States had been actively discussing the evils of slavery and their desire to abolish it as early as 1688. Although prohibitions and limitations on bondage and slavery were made before this, these were rarely enforced. By 1780, Pennsylvania had begun legal abolition of slavery: importation of slaves was prohibited, but existing slaves were not emancipated until 1847.
Further along Locke’s ideas of property are that results of work done by a person is also considered their property. In complex modern economies, we produce goods or services and sell them for a salary, wage, cash, or some other compensation previously agreed to.
Every employee has the right to resign their job and seek employment elsewhere or begin their own business producing goods and services for consumption by others.
Not having claim to the fruits of others’ labors, each individual must take the personal responsibility to labor for their own benefit.
This is a sort of economic individualism, but a properly functioning market where each individual’s success is based on their own effort, ability, and achievements actually results in a flourishing society.
Immigrants to this nation have an innate understanding of this concept.
The American Dream is getting your piece of the proverbial pie of socioeconomic success in a nation that rewards hard work and perseverance.
America, being a nation devoid of rigid, explicit social hierarchies, challenges all its citizens to take their slice of the pie. This hope is what has inspired immigration for countless generations, not the expectation that a welfare state will board and feed a population unwilling to contribute to society.
A vibrant economy, powered by individual creativity, keeps the pie growing ever larger. The size of your slice is mostly up to your own efforts and a little bit of luck.
Association and Free Market systems are voluntary engagements
“Commerce is a cure for the most destructive prejudices; for it is almost a general rule, that whenever we find agreeable manners, there commerce flourishes; and that whenever there is commerce, there we meet with agreeable manners.”
Earlier, I discussed how individuals producing goods and services engaging in a properly functioning market results in a flourishing society. A properly functioning market necessitates that the seller and buyer are free to sell or buy from who they choose.
If you are required to sell to me, then that is no longer a properly functioning market. I want you to be able to sell to whoever you please, for the price that suits your situation.
Enterprise and free trade provide goods and services that people may pay for or exchange their own goods and services for; this is the essence of a free market.
I want myself to be able to buy from whoever I please and pay what I want in exchange for a product.
The imposition of forced association is contrary to free markets and impedes proper self-regulation of a good economy; at a more fundamental level, forced association is an impediment of liberty.
A truly free market means voluntary cooperation between groups who enrich themselves via an exchange of goods, services, or funds. The groups who choose to not cooperate (either because they refuse to sell to certain people or groups, because their price is too high or low, etc.) are inevitably faced with the consequences of their actions (usually in the form of market or social ostracization).
Businesses who choose to not cooperate will eventually fail to return profits.
The combination of freedom of association and free markets enable the capitalist enterprise that has fueled growth in America and abroad.
Free market capitalism, the system that brought us the advanced device you are reading this essay from, has generally advanced the quality of life for the entirety of the world.
We can’t completely credit American principles for this, but the American spirit of enterprise has played an outsized role in the uplifting of humanity at large. None of which would have been possible without the underlying principles already mentioned in this essay.
These Principles are ‘Non-Negotiable’
As the national psyche struggles to absorb new populations, some of these non-negotiables seemingly become lost in the predominant conversations.
The massive ideological churn created by efforts to absorb the latest wave of immigrants frequently calls into question the non-negotiables that make America...America.
Immigrants bring new ideas with them from their countries of origin, and America is one of the few (if not only) nations that can successfully subsume these ideas and enhance them to the benefit of the American collective.
The broader society becomes stronger with an influx of intelligent and hard working immigrants introducing their foods, languages, cultural practices, and unique philosophies. In turn, the immigrants must strive to understand and adopt the non-negotiable principles that form the fabric of the country they were attracted to, for which they left their motherland.
America adopts what we believe will strengthen us, like a steel alloy, bonding elements of several metals.
America may even, over time, shift the elements of immigrant cultures that it adopts in order to meet the needs of the nation. As long as the melting pot is a culture still in line with our foundational principles, we emerge stronger for having been challenged.
The American troops who fought in WW2 were mostly of European heritages: British, German, Irish, Italian, Polish, and Jewish are the prominent among these. These men, who likely grew up speaking a different language in their homes than in the street among their friends and co-workers, willingly went to a war with certainty of grave injury or death in their minds.
Though some may have newly come to America, they still felt the call to military service and protection of their new homeland. For what? What fool would go to war for a nation he doesn’t feel a deep love for?
The men and women of the Armed Services join because we believe in the grander idea of America.
Even during times of war, knowing that we may be deployed to combat, we volunteer for the sake of our fellow Americans and to uphold American values. We say “Here I am America, send me!”
The non-negotiable principles become imbibed in us, even if we aren’t able to fully articulate it.
So long as these principles are upheld consciously, not just as ideas but as true building blocks for our behavior, then no matter the ethnic diversity present in a community, an ‘American’ life can thrive.
Sanjay Lohar is a cybersecurity professional with a background in the United States Marine Corps, where he served for four years before being honorably discharged in 2017. He currently works in the financial industry, protecting clients from emerging digital threats. Sanjay writes about modern American society and politics, drawing from his technical expertise, military experience, and research. He earned a BSBA in Management Information Systems from UNC Charlotte in 2020 and holds multiple patents. Outside of his professional work, Sanjay enjoys woodworking, is fascinated by watches and cars, and constantly explores the latest in technological advancements.
Sanjay is also a Tusk & Quill Contributing Writer.
All opinions expressed here are solely of the author and do not reflect the views of the author’s employer.