The United States seal shows an American eagle with arrows in its left claw and an olive branch in the other. In the beak there is a sign with a Latin inscription: E Pluribus Unum. From many (became) one.
This is a commander. The leader expresses the position of VG. VG’s political editor is in charge of the leader.
The motto of the nation is unity in diversity.
That there are some core values, and a common understanding that binds Americans together, regardless of race, religion, and any other dividing line.
Perhaps it has always been more a model than a reality.
President Joe Biden has in no way achieved the unity he called for on Election Night 2020. On Independence Day, July 4, 2022, the nation looks more divided than it has been in a long time.
President Abraham Lincoln is often quoted as saying that “a house that contradicts itself cannot stand.”
Lincoln used a verse from Mark’s Gospel in which Jesus says: If a kingdom goes against itself, the kingdom cannot stand. Lincoln led the nation during the American Civil War. It cost incredibly big sacrifices. But the union was there.
The United States is a powerful country that differs from itself in many ways.
In the end, it could pose a threat to democracy, as we saw during the coup attempt in 2021 when President Donald Trump refused to admit defeat in the election and his supporters stormed the Capitol.
Political debate, free elections and the peaceful transfer of power are the hallmarks of democracy.
Democracy passed the test in January last year, but there are serious signs of danger when trust in institutions is eroded, conspiracy theories abound and there is no longer a common perception of reality.
The Texas Republican Party recently adopted a political platform in which it rejects the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and claims that Joe Biden was not legally elected.
This claim is completely unfounded, but it is still shared by many Americans.
Six out of ten Americans say in a Pew Research Institute poll that they are dissatisfied with how democracy works. 85% believe that the political system needs comprehensive reforms, but the majority of those are skeptical of the system’s ability to change.
In Trump’s days, the US Supreme Court won a very conservative majority. Court rulings in cases related to climate action and arms laws elicited strong reactions.
But no Supreme Court decision has divided the United States to the same degree as repealing a woman’s right to self-determined abortion, no matter where she lives.
A more perfect union, the authors of the Declaration of Independence wrote.
For 246 years, the United States has been striving for a more perfect union, though it has often been overshadowed by divisions and conflict.
Like this Independence Day. Many Americans have experience that the country is headed in the wrong direction.
The United States has survived major crises in the past, without losing the optimism that has traditionally characterized Americans.
The United States is our most important ally. America, as former President Barack Obama said, is an indispensable nation in international affairs. We need a United States that defends democracy at home and abroad.
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