Liberty and Unity: Hardcore American Values

Kogar veseli tema ameriških vrednot, si lahko prebere esej, ki smo ga morali napisati za faks.

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The Americans use their sacred words liberty and unity, together with democracy so frequently, they would be smitten by them if they were gods. Defining the words liberty and unity should be simple, but it is not. Liberty means freedom, the power to do anything one wants (as long as one does not harm others), while unity means being together for a common cause. But with Americans, nothing is simple.

Liberty or freedom can be seen everywhere: Statue of Liberty, Freedom Fries, Freedom Fighters, Liberty Bell, Tree of Liberty; the state of New Hampshire even demands the Americans to live free or simply die. Being free obviously means a lot. When the Bush administration prepared for the second Gulf War, they said the Iraqi people must be liberated, freed from the tyranny, and their freedom had to be obtained by a sword: “live free or die”. Even the constitution demands certain liberties: the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, the freedom to bear arms. But those liberties can be limited for the sake of national security or people’s feelings. After the 9/11 attack, freedom of speech was limited and even certain songs were banned in order not to upset the American nation. On the other hand (and in another country), the freedom to liberate Iraq with bombs was sacred, albeit for the wrong reasons.

Unity is another favorite value in America and to be fair, it should be. The United States of America are the greatest concoction of nations and cultures and if there were no sense of unity integrated in the nation’s mind, America would fall apart. Mottos and symbols, present in people’s lives from birth to death, tell them they should stand together, regardless of their origin and beliefs. Which, in other words, means: different cultures can remain different as long as they put certain American values in lieu of their incompatible convictions. A Muslim may practice his beliefs, but he may not practice the Sharia law. Instead, he must be united under the established laws and the constitution. When tough times come, a pro-life American will stand next to a pro-choice kinsman to keep the American Engine going.

Meanwhile in Slovenia: the words freedom and unity do not have the same meaning as they have in the US of A. Freedom is mostly perceived as not being locked up, but still carries the meaning from the past: the freedom to speak Slovenian and the liberty to have our own country. For centuries, a foreign boot tried to either assimilate or exterminate us, but our lust for freedom prevailed. Unity, on the other hand, is less popular. The annoying division from the World War II is still present (mostly prolonged by the politicians and the media) and should another similar situation occur, I would not bet on unity. Slovenian people are, on the other hand, unified when there’s a need to help a compatriot. Whenever a family needs help or a hospital calls for a new device, thousands of Euros are raised. Not everything is black about Slovenia, after all.

The understanding of the aforementioned words is different in America and Slovenia. While their freedom means doing everything in the American way and having equal opportunities, it mostly means not being oppressed by bigger nations in Slovenia. The concept of unity is heavily present in America, where it works as a glue that holds the nation together, while in Slovenia, unity occurs when others need help or when the national soccer team plays against Italy or Croatia. But even though America seems more virtuous with their sacred values, they tend to overuse and abuse them. Compared to that, Slovenia appears less hysterical and less hypocritical.