Why I Love America
Dennis Prager has traveled all over the world. But at the end of every trip, he returns home with a new appreciation for America. Why? Because no country is more open, more generous, and has done more for the cause of freedom than America has.
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In his third year of college, Mr. Prager studied in _____________________________.
FranceThe Soviet UnionTunisiaEnglandWhat made the defeat of Imperial Germany possible in World War I?
the actions of French saboteursEngland outspending Germany on warfare technologythe devaluation of German currencyAmerica entering the warFifty-eight thousand Americans died in Vietnam to enable the South Vietnamese to live in the same freedom America made possible for South Koreans.
TrueFalseWhat idea was America founded on?
absolute and total equality in every wayimperialismlimited governmentethnic cohesionIn addition to having visited numerous countries, Mr. Prager has traveled to ____________ of the United States.
20304050
- America has given more liberty and opportunity to more people from more nations than any country in world history.
America is the only country that was founded not on a race, ethnicity, or nationality but on an idea: limited government. It is no surprise then that the United States maintains the most generous immigration policies in the world. In 2015, over 40 million residents of America were foreign born—that’s over 13% of the population, the highest percentage since 1890, when it was 14.8%.
View source176 different languages are estimated to be spoken among students in the New York City public school system.
View sourceRelated video: “The American Trinity: The Three Values That Make America Great” – Dennis Prager
View source- Without America, people around the world would suffer from far more tyranny, enslavement, and genocide.
America has helped many counties around the world overcome genocide and war and achieve greater levels of freedom, equality, and prosperity. For example, the American military helped stabilize Germany, Japan, and South Korea, and all three have risen to worldwide prominence.
View sourceMeanwhile, as Dennis Prager points outs, “countries that America abandoned—such as Vietnam and Iraq—experienced mass murder and other horrors. The Left, however, views nearly all of America’s wars since 1945 as expressions of superpower imperialism.”
View sourceRelated video: “Why Did America Fight the Korean War?” – Victor Davis Hanson
View sourceRelated video: “Why Did America Fight the Vietnam War?” – Victor Davis Hanson
View sourceRelated video: “What Was The Cold War?” – Andrew Roberts
View source- Hundreds of thousands of Americans died fighting a civil war to end the evil institution of slavery in America.
The New York Times’ much-promoted “1619 Project” claims that America was founded in inequality and suggests that the country can never truly move beyond its past transgressions.
View sourceThe evil institution of slavery was not an American invention, but rather an almost universal institution which has appeared in most civilizations in history and, when it was installed in America, was still practiced by most countries. The contradiction of allowing slavery in a country committed to freedom and equality ultimately led to the dismantling of slavery in America.
View sourceAn estimated 360,000 Union soldiers (and 620,000 Americans total) lost their lives in the Civil War, a war waged by the Union to end slavery in America once and for all.
View sourceHistory shows it has largely been countries with Judeo-Christian roots, like America, which have outlawed slavery.
View source- While more racial healing is certainly needed, America has made remarkable strides in improving race relations since the 1960s.
In 1960, 60% of Americans claimed they would “never” vote for a black president. Less than 50 years later, America became the only white-majority country to have ever elected a black leader. Barack Obama was elected in 2008, then re-elected in 2012 — both times winning the popular and electoral vote by significant margins
View sourceIn 1958, only 4% of Americans approved of black-white marriages. In 2013, 87% of Americans approved.
View sourceMarriage between blacks and whites has increased from 1.7% in 1960 to 12% in 2014.
View sourceFor recent newlyweds in 2014, approximately 15% are interracial.
View sourceBy the 1980s, more black Africans have come to America voluntarily as immigrants seeking freedom and opportunity than ever came as slaves. More African immigrants arrived in the U.S. between 1990 and 2005 than during the entirety of the evil slave trade.
View sourceHarvard sociologist Orlando Patterson described America as “now the least racist white-majority society in the world,” offering better legal protection for minorities “than any other society” and “more opportunities to a greater number of black persons than any other society.”
View source- America is the most religiously diverse and accepting nation in human history.
The First Amendment forbids the “making of any law respecting an establishment of religion” or “impeding the free exercise of religion,” thus establishing the freedom of religion in America.
View sourceNot only is America “known for religious tolerance,” asserts historian Larry Schweikart it is not an exaggeration to say that “America invented modern religious tolerance.”
View sourceRelated reading: A Patriot's History of the United States – Larry Schweikart
View source- America’s commitment to individual liberty provides citizens an ability to improve their lives to a degree unequaled in other countries.
America gives people the liberty to end up wherever their abilities, work ethic, and luck take them – meaning it allows people to experience unequal outcomes.
View sourceA nation that embraces liberty for its citizens promotes equality of opportunity, not results.
View sourceForced equality restricts opportunity and liberty.
View source“Unlike in most societies, for most Americans being poor is not a fate,” notes Dennis Prager. “The only time being poor becomes permanent is when noneconomic factors render it so.”
View sourceWATCH: “Why We’re Losing Liberty” – Robert George
View source
I am a third-generation American—my parents and my maternal grandmother were born in Brooklyn, New York. But I didn’t know I loved America until my early twenties.
In my third year of college, I studied in England and began a life of travel that eventually took me to one hundred and thirty countries. That was when I began to understand how important America was to the world—and still is. That was when I began to understand how unique America was—and still is. That was when I began to appreciate the decency of the American people.
Being away from America for a year, spending the Christmas season in Morocco, where there was no Christmas season, and ending the year with a month in the Soviet Union, where there was no freedom—this all had a life-changing impact on me. I realized how lucky I was to be an American. I even realized how much I simply enjoyed being an American.
I'll explain:
1. How important America is to the world.
Without in any way diminishing the enormous sacrifices made by England and France, it was America’s entry into World War I that made the defeat of Imperial Germany possible and ended that horrible war. It was America that made the Allied victory possible in World War II and kept Western Europe free during the Cold War. Thirty-seven thousand Americans died fighting the North Korean and Chinese communist regimes. Were it not for America, all of Korea would have no human rights and would endure the mass torture, starvation, and murder that have been routine in North Korea until today.
The next time you hear the lie that America fought in Vietnam for colonialist reasons, ask that person: Why did America fight in Korea? I’ll tell you why: to stop the spread of communism, the greatest genocidal and totalitarian ideology in history, and thereby enable more than half of Korea to live in freedom. Another fifty-eight thousand Americans died in Vietnam to enable the South Vietnamese to live in the same freedom America made possible for South Koreans. Neither Vietnam nor Korea had any natural resources that America wanted. Americans died in those two countries solely so that their people could be free.
And, without diminishing the role of the great British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, and the great pope, John Paul II, it was America that ended communism in the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria, and liberated, among other nations, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
2. America is unique.
America is the only country that was founded not on a race, ethnicity, or nationality, but on an idea: limited government—because the founders of America believed, first and foremost, in liberty. America became the freest country in world history, which is why France gave the Statue of Liberty to one country: America.
And America has given more liberty and opportunity to more people from more nations than any country in world history.
Yes, America allowed slavery in half of its states. But every society in the world practiced slavery. What rendered America unique is that Americans killed one another in its bloodiest war to abolish slavery, and that it eventually became the least racist multi-racial country in history. It remains the only white-majority country to have ever elected a black leader. And Africans know how good America is, which is why, by the 1980s, more black Africans had come to America voluntarily as immigrants seeking freedom and opportunity than ever came as slaves.
3. Americans are decent people.
Ask visitors what they think of Americans, and they are likely to tell you how friendly Americans are. There are mean and bad Americans, and there are kind and good people in every country. But having travelled abroad every year of my life since college, and to all 50 American states, and being sensitive to people’s goodness and happiness, I have been continually amazed at the essential decency of most Americans.
I fell in love with America at the age of 20, and given the freedom, the opportunities, and the religious tolerance I have experienced, I realize all these years later that America has loved me too.
I’m Dennis Prager.
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