Dr. CHE Sadaphal, a Libertarian physician and New York City-based minister, takes on American nativism.
"Resultantly, what has made America “exceptional” in the eyes of the world is not how forcefully it applies its authoritarian boot to the necks of its citizens; rather, American “exceptionalism” is derived from the ability of people to freely pursue their own interests without governmental intervention. If individual freedom and liberty do not exist, then America is by no means “exceptional” but quite similar to other regimes across the globe. Distinction requires separation, and throughout the last century, many people fled from their country of origin to the United States because they believed that they too could be “exceptional” and be free to pursue their own ends.Natural rights are a human privilege, and sadly, what makes a modern government “exceptional” is their ability to uphold these innately human rights above national interests.
This is what makes natural rights so simple and powerful: You have them as a function of being human, so no matter who you are or where you are born, you have the same natural rights as everyone else, no matter where you go. This is a sentiment expressed by the Founding Fathers both in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. This sentiment reflects the feeling in the late 1700s that natural rights were being ignored, and so the writers of these two documents used language to ensure the protection of natural rights.
Yet, in the 21st century, our national conversation has changed so that many derive their exceptionalism as a function of being American, not as a function of being a human being who happens to live in America.
Yet, this is exactly one of the prescriptions that many presidential candidates are prescribing: taking federal action (e.g., drone strikes) against illegal immigrants, who fall outside of federal jurisdiction. Such prescriptions highlight the surge in American nativism, the policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants."
Read the full article HERE.
