Ah, the mindless prattle of the uncaring, the ill-informed, the apolitical. It’s a chorus I’m sure you’ve all heard before, whether it came from a social studies teacher, an apathetic co-worker or perhaps an activist passing out leaflets on a street corner near you. It’s one of the favored tracts from the modern multiculturalist’s playbook, used as an idictment against shared American values in an attempt to marginalize what should be the obvious advantages of Americanism.

This time, it was dropped at a party I attended over the weekend. As a certain segment of the partygoers entertained themselves by singing the peans of anime (just exactly how gay is Naruto? I wasn’t really curious to begin with, thanks), I began having a discussion with my friend Ed about Islamism and the need for westerners to begin standing up in defense of their culture, before it’s overrun and lost. I was looking for conversation a bit more stimulating than rehashing twenty-year old Cosby material. I mean, sure, the cookie jar routine was funny… in 1986. Can we move on, please?

At this point, a young woman at the party, apparently starved for a bit more than cartoon talk and novocaine jokes, sidled up to Ed and interjected herself with that aforementioned line. Hard for me to be sure, but it was delivered in such an offhand manner that, it seemed to me, it originated more from indoctrination than conviction.

The “old me” would have cringed inwardly, said something noncommittal, and taken the argument in a different direction. The “current me” saw an opportinity, and pounced. “Of course, that’s not true”, I rebutted. Fortunately, this young lady was actually willing to listen to and consider counter-argument, and after quite a long evening of conversation, I like to think she left with more perspective to consider.

People look around themselves today, and make superficial judgements based on what they see around them, immediately to hand. They see the AP articles on salsa overtaking ketchup as the number-one national condiment. They see “Chinatowns” in just about every major urban area, and Chineese restaurants on ever street corner - with eateries right next door boasting “REAL Italian pizza!”. They see a latino Attorney General of the US, and a black woman running the State Department, and the son of a Kenyan positioning himself for the Presidency. They see this, and extrapolate “it’s true, America has no culture of its own, it’s just a mish-mash. A mongrel. What Mr. Smith told me in 7th grade is true.”

Bullshit.

Anyone who understands civics and government in this great country, anyone with even a basic understanding of their American history, knows (or should know) that the value of this country doesn’t rest in ethnic restaurants. Nor does it derive from Sony electronics, the NYSE, the bagel shop down the road or the Islamic center next to it. Rather, the greatness of the culture that we share is laid down in the principals espoused at the founding of a free and independent America.

It is a culture of liberty, prosperity and the rule of law. And while those principles have at times been witheld from segments of our citizenry, they are the principles that those people have fought for, bled for and died for, for decades and centuries. The freedom we share is the tie that allows all citizens to live together in this “melting pot” and prosper together. It is the mechanism through which other persons from other cultures can influence our own, and find success through doing it. It is the blanket under which all citizens from all cultures have found shelter, which is provided by the blood shed by the brave sons (and recently, daughters) of this country on battlefields across the planet.

America doesn’t require you to be white, male or Christian. America requires you to work hard, be a good citizen and contribute to the advancement and prosperity of its society. It affords you the liberty to pursue your goals, no matter your race or religion. It only asks that you be exceptional, and earn what you have. People of all cultures have come to America to pursue their dreams of prosperity and comfort; better lives for their children. From year to year, those who are determined to, find it.

American culture, Americanism, was unique in the world when laid down by the founders over two hundred years ago. It has provided the framework for the most powerful, prosperous society of the modern age, and been the idea by which most other clasically liberal, modern societies have been formed. While occasionally tarnished, bruised and beaten down, it still exists as that “shining city on the hill”. We must protect it against all odds, at all costs, lest it be lost to history under a wave of encroaching illiberalism and, dare I say the word… barbarism. We face nothing less than a return to Dark Ages thought, and the death of true intellectualism.

The first step toward that end will be when Americans - all westerners, really - cease valuing their culture as something worth defining and defending. This has been creeping incrementally into the American collective psyche for decades - but finally, citizens are beginning to stand up and fight back against that tide.

American Exceptionalist, and damned proud of it.

Update: Orson Scott Card, noted author, opines on the coming Dark Ages here. I swear I didn’t know about this essay until about an hour ago, heh.