The Devaluation of America and the Law By D. C. McAllister
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The immigration debate, fraught with fake news about separation of families, has revealed two ills in American society. One is the devaluation of America as a great nation. The other is the devaluation of law as a good in the civil society.
Frederic Bastiat, in his brilliant work “The Law,” wrote, “Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.”
America is great because we value life, liberty, and property. These rights of American citizens have been protected by the law, to one degree of another, since the founding of our nation. These values are what make America’s greatness far exceed that of other nations. The American experiment of equality before the law and protection of rights has created a nation of prosperity and peace—quite a feat considering the diversity of our society.
These uncommon characteristics shine like a beacon to the rest of the world, and those who see it on the dark horizon of their own failed countries long to come here. We who live in America understand this desire; we are especially sympathetic to those who live in worn-torn nations, riddled with poverty and gang violence.
Some think this empathy for the less fortunate should compel us to open our borders, flooding our great land with the unskilled, unvetted downtrodden from across the globe—a folly that would result in the destruction of our nation. If you don’t think so, consider the fall of Rome due, in part, to its influx of outlanders who failed to honor the values of Roman citizenship.
Those who want the same for America think they are acting out of empathy, but their motivations are rooted in something far less noble. They have forgotten the great values of America that inform our laws. At best, they don’t think the United States is all that great; at worst, they think it is a despicable land that must make restitution to the rest of the world for its success. They think America isn’t worth closing its borders; Americans aren’t good enough to judge others as unworthy to come here; and America isn’t noble enough to construct laws to protect the very values that attract immigrants to its shores. CONTINUE AT SITE
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