What America means to me

I've been recently re-reading (for the fifth or sixth time) Eric Flint's alternate history novel, 1632. It's a book about whole West Virginia town that is catapulted back in time to Germany in the midst of the 30 Years War.

Every time I read this book it brings tears to my eyes because it says so much about what I believe America is and should be about. This small town, where much of the power resides with the United Mine Workers of America, takes on the task of bringing American values to Europe centuries before the United States actually existed.

Which American values? Well, religous tolerance, for one. In a world thrust into a war between the Catholic Church and the growing power of the Protestants, this tiny transplanted colony stands up and states without hesitation, that it will be a haven for those who would otherwise be ground underfoot.

It's a place where everyone has a voice, and everyone can belong. That wealth, privilege, or even being a native American doesn't matter. It's about people who believe in people, that, if given the support of their community, anyone can rise to the occasion.

It's about a belief in justice, and in opportunity for everyone. The townspeople take in refugees from the surrounding region, and, rather than lording it over them, bring them into the fold.

That's what America should be about. Inclusion. People making a difference in the world because it's the right thing to do. Such disparate personalities as a local Union Rep, a 17th Century Jew, (the daughter of a noted philosopher and physician), a young war game afficianado, a former camp whore (or, if you'd rather, a woman who was basically a sex slave of the man who killed her father and held her whole family hostage) make up some of the main characters.

The assumption of these transplanted Americans is that men and women are automatically equal, and that reason trumps superstition, and that protecting innocence is worth sacrifice.

Every time I read this book I am proud to be an American. Not because of what we've done, but because of the ideals the best of us hold in our hearts. Tolerance, inclusion, compassion, and a belief in equality and justice and a willingness to fight for them.

These are traits worthy of pride. And they symbolize what America means to me.