"A Shining City Upon a Hill"
Throughout The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell, John Winthrop mentions "a city upon a hill". In the 1600s, Winthrop believed that America was chosen above all other nations by god to be the most shining/prosperous nation in the world. Winthrop wanted America to be a brilliant place for the rest of the world to see. He wanted all other nations to observe America as a perfect model to strive for. He wanted other countries to view America as a shining city upon a hill.
About 400 years later, John Winthrop's dream came true. America burgeoned into the most successful country in the world. There was no other country quite like America at this time. People from around the world began to view America as a shining city upon hill. They admired America for its freedom of religion, for its freedom of race, for its freedom of essentially anything. America also became loved for its democracy. The first stages of democracy were also developed during John Winthrop's time as governor in Massachusetts. People from other nations thought America was the best place anyone could possibly live. America was essentially viewed by almost all other countries as a free, prosperous, and kind country.
In the past 20 years, America has slowly begun to lose its admirable qualities of a shining city upon a hill. One reason people have stopped seeing America as the greatest nation in the world is because of America's foreign policy. America has engaged in wars over the past 20 years for few, if any valid reasons, including the war in Iraq. As mentioned in The Wordy Shipmates, Abu Ghraib was a penitentiary for Iraqi prisoners. Iraqi prisoners were raped, tortured, and killed in this prison. One of the prisoners, "Ameen Saeed al-Sheikh told the Washington post that he was tortured and ordered to denounce Islam. And after his leg was broken one of his torturers started hitting it while ordering him to curse Islam..."(Vowell) How could a country known to embrace religious freedom be involved in any cruel, savage action like this. America has also developed its use of drones to kill criminals in other countries. The drones have often killed entire villages of people just to kill one person. How could America, the "shining city upon a hill" be responsible for such inhuman, evil actions.
John Winthrop dreamed of America becoming a shining city upon a hill, and his dream came true. But if America is going to stay one of the most brilliant and admired places on the planet, something must change.
Nice post. I enjoyed the strength it was written with. It really showcased a straight forward view on America that was clearly backed up with examples from both the book and recent events. I like how in the end you compared the "shining city upon a hill" to the true America, something that people need to do more often.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very well put together piece. Your point " But if America is going to stay one of the most brilliant and admired places on the planet, something must change." I would argue that we are not the most admired place on earth, though America is world renowned and is a great place, I am afraid that we have made more enemy's then friends. So we need to do something else to return us to the position of " city upon a hill"
ReplyDeleteVikram,
ReplyDeleteNice post. I think that something that mus change is . . . us.
In the words of the great cartoonist Walt Kelly, of Pogo fame, "We have met the enemy and he is us."