Sorry, Joe: America’s a Nation, Not an Idea

One of our nation’s most tired clichés is to call America “an idea.” What does that even mean? It’s too vague and abstract to be of any practical use — and can even be used to dangerous ends. By Aaron Kliegman One of our nation’s most tired clichés is to call America “an idea.” It’s used regularly by Republicans and Democrats, newspaper columnists and foreign policy analysts, rock stars and corporate executives. It’s also a personal favorite of Joe Biden, who launched his 2020 presidential campaign by declaring as much. Since then, President Biden has employed the line several times, including in his address to a joint session of Congress and, most recently, in his remarks celebrating Independence Day. In fact, during his Fourth of July speech, Biden suggested the idea of America is really what unites the American people. He echoed the sentiments of the late journalist Theodore White, who made the point more concretely. “Americans are not a people like the French, Germans, or Japanese, whose genes have been mixing with kindred genes for thousands of years,” White wrote. “Americans are held together only by ideas.” Fellow journalist Cokie Roberts put it even more bluntly: “We have nothing binding us together as a nation — no common ethnicity, history, religion, or even language — except the Constitution and the institutions it created.” Columnist Mike Barnicle went a step further: America is “not a democracy a republic before it is an idea.” Logically and historically, most of this is plain wrong. Think about it: If America was an idea, a Spaniard could become an American simply by embracing the ideals of the Declaration of Independence. But that’s not how it works: To become an American, someone actually has to move here and integrate into American society. That’s because America is a concrete physical place — the national home of the American people. And in this home, we have a real history and culture full of customs and traditions and institutions and experiences that connect us. Of course, America’s national identity is bound up with the ideas enshrined in the Declaration of Independence — freedom, self-governance, equal opportunity — and the Constitution — checks and balances, federalism, and the separation of powers. Because of these ideas, anyone can become an American and enjoy a life free of tyranny, regardless of who they are and where they come from. But Americanism, if there is such a thing, isn’t some vague abstraction. It can’t be, or else the United States wouldn’t be a country with defined borders and a distinctive way of life. Moreover, American national culture began well before our Founding, when the colonists essentially governed themselves and each colony created its own legislature. Indeed, our ideals are deeply embedded in us, the people, and the people are what matter most. Ideas are meaningless unless people adopt them, and people will only adopt them collectively, as a society, in a lasting way through shared history and tradition. But what does it even mean to say America is an idea? The concept is too vague and abstract to be of any practical use. Yes, the line sounds nice and inspirational, invoking the “self-evident” truths listed in the Declaration. However, it can also be used, even weaponized, in dangerous ways that hurt the country. If America isn’t a nation but instead an idea about the promise of freedom, tolerance, and equality, why have borders? Why have a strong military? Why conserve any traditions or institutions? Everything is in service of a utopian-like vision and can be changed or abolished in service of the “idea” of America. It’s just too malleable, too impractical. A people need to be grounded in certain concrete realities — and, to a degree, in history, tradition, and a shared national story. Otherwise, you get something like the French Revolution: crazed radicals, abolishing all vestiges of France’s proud history and tradition, in the name of “liberty, equality, and fraternity” — the revolutionary motto. It’s no coincidence that mass violence soon followed. Unfortunately, critics will read all the above and think, “This is blood and soil nationalism!” Indeed, it seems calling America an idea has become especially fashionable in recent years precisely to combat the political rise of Donald Trump and the resurgence of the term “nationalism.” But recognizing that America is a nation doesn’t preclude anyone from becoming an American or diminish the power of our ideals. It means that government of, by, and for the people is much more than an inspirational slogan. 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