'America Is Unique' Futurist Krubski Tells Rotary Club

Futurist and Sunrise Rotary club member John Krubski used Friday's meeting as the “New Haven tryout” for his new presentation “What makes America America and What Makes Americans Americans.” 

He offered up his current distillation of over 38 years of studying this country. It was detailed, complex and a lot of information for the time he had to speak. But taking away only a part of the message should have left most everyone with insights into why we are a unique people living in a unique land.

Krubski began by defining American Exceptionalism — we are different from other countries, though not, the neo-conservative use aside, better. The why and what it means are the theme of the talk.

We are, he said a “nation of immigrants,” in fact, a “nation of nations” in which almost everyone has immigrant roots.  One-third of our population is of German, Irish or English extraction. The 43 million German-Americans are half as many as live in Germany and our 30 million Irish-Americans are five times the population of Ireland.

He noted later on that with the reach of our media and the global economy many of today’s immigrants are “Pre-Americanized,” so coming here is something of a coming home. 

Our country is the third largest, with the third largest population. This combination “allows for possibilities.”  We are the only country populated from sea to sea and border to border. Russia, the largest, has over 90% of its population living in a long east-west sliver of its land mass. In Canada, the second largest, over 75% live within 100 miles of the U. S. border.

Our resources are enough to make us “self-sufficient for hundreds of years.”

Krubski next addressed “what defines us as Americans.” The two essentials are the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. They show “how we think, and why it was essential to get rid of England” to become American.

The Declaration begins with some lofty statements and finishes with a list grievances against the King, while our Constitution told the world “whatever we do will be different from what we did before.”

In contrast, he noted that England has no written constitution. Instead, they rely on an ages old “gentleman’s agreement.”

That wouldn't work here, Krubski pointed out, because Americans “don't trust government.”

He then offered a set of descriptives, his “Seven Pillars of the American Code” — our DNA. Among them:

• We are “disenfranchised, diligent optimists:” Warily settlers didn't fit in where they lived – some had even found their second homes unsatisfactory. They came to these shores recognizing they needed to work hard physically and politically to build their society. But they came prepared and made the world they wanted.
• They have been helped by a “collective, congenital amnesia:” We don't learn from the past. We're coming out of our 47th recession since 1790, a testament to our forgetting the lessons of history. 
• Americans “don't hold grudges": We fought the Vietnamese 40 years ago, but today we buy their goods.”
• We are “genetically coded for individual liberty.”  This is the other side of not trusting government. Americans cherish personal freedom. Our Constitution pulled us together, but the Bill of Rights drew limits to that togetherness.
• Americans have a “belief in something greater than ourselves.”  Two-thirds of Americans believe in God. Our historic issue has been the separation of church and state, not God and man.
• We are “pragmatic combatants:” We have been historically reluctant to go to war, and we are also willing to “pack up and go home if something’s not worth fighting for.”  His example was again the Vietnam War. Despite destroying the North Vietnamese army in the Tet Offensive, the country increasingly opposed the war, so we took the win as a signal to start negotiating our exit.

He continued on by defining America’s Central Operating Premise, our raison d’être — what he called “Three Propositions for a Nation.” 

• “We value your right to be you,” as long as you fully reciprocate; 
• “You are entitled to your own space,” as long as you’ve earned it; and
• We may disagree, but we recognize that on occasion we must come together to survive, then we can return to disagreeing.”

Together, these underline our desire for personal liberty, while identifying its limits

The Central Operating Premise then becomes “Participate in and contribute to each other’s initiative.

Krubski’s final points were a “12 point plan for building the future we deserve.”  Among these prescriptives are that we should:

• Clarify our thoughts and language by rescinding political correctness;
• Qualify information sources before accepting an opinion;
• Respect and reward candor — if you don’t know, say so, but promise and get the answer;
• Redefine entitlement as something you have the right to try, not to expect;
• Maintain the value of God and man while recognizing the original idea of separation of church and state;
• Don’t ask what you can do — unless you want to be told; 
• Be proactive, do it!
• Finally, we need to “stop taking ourselves so seriously, but learn to take real threats to our nation and our future seriously.”

Dennis Wong asked about the role of Rotary in this structure. Krubski responded that Rotary “identifies what’s common, it is an example of an opportunity to work together for a common good even if we don’t always agree.”