The Face of America

I have a friend who is originally from China. We had the privilege of providing him a place to live for a few months. He was working at the same company I was, so we enjoyed lengthy discussions to and from work as well as interesting discussions with other coworkers. So one day this guy from another country gave me an epiphany about our own country.

My friend had been a college student in Shanghai during the Tienanmen Square protests of 1989. While not part of the famous protests in Beijing, students were protesting for freedom in Shanghai as well. When it was all over, my friend had to spend time in "re-education", learning to be a good communist again. A fellow worker asked him, "So, not everyone in China is communist?" My friend was puzzled. "No. Our government is communist, not the people."

And it struck me. The government in China didn't ask the people if they could be in charge. They took control. The government wasn't a representative government. It held its position by force. Not so in America. The government in our country is selected by the people. It represents the people. If you want to know what the Chinese people are about, don't look at their government. It doesn't represent them. If you want to know what the Americans are about, look at their government. It is a reflection of the people who elected them.

You can see this in recent years. A patriotic people elected General Eisenhower as their president. A more liberal America put Kennedy in office. After awhile, America swung back toward the right and Reagan became our president. A conflicted America put Clinton and then Bush Jr. in office. It was a nation in crisis that put President Bush back in office in 2004. In many ways, our government has been a picture of our people.

It begs the question. What will the face of America be in 2008? Will we be ready to finish the job in Iraq or not? Will we be anxious to pay more taxes to allow our government to be more compassionate? Will our face be a Hillary or a Giuliani? Will we look more like Obama or Thompson? Whoever we elect to be the president of our country will be an image of who we are as a country. Who will we be? Will we be focused on abortion or health care, Iraq or immigration? Will we be a country of high moral values or will we be a pragmatic country?

I understand that our elected representatives are the face of the majority. I understand that it is a generalization. There are variations and exceptions. Fine. Agreed. But who, in general, will we be in 2008? The question is worth asking.