Words of A Swede Who Has Fallen in Love With America

Excerpts:

I went back and forth between Sweden and the U.S., between socialism and freedom, and it was like growing up not only on two sides of the world, but on two sides of history.

I saw America helping to change the world and saving lives while Europe engaged in knee-jerk liberal analysis and Monday-morning quarterbacking. And every time the U.S. unapologetically went its own way, I smiled with pride, sleeping soundly at night knowing that just like in my bedtime stories, there was a hero out there who would always show up just in time to save the day.
 
In the past years I have seen the country I love so much change, moving toward the country I grew up in. I saw a president get elected on promises of change, and apparently things had changed enough by 2012 to get him reelected too. Despite his exit the changes have lingered, making commonplace what should be absurd and eccentric. Well, guess what? I know the change that your former president speaks of. I have lived it, and I live it still. .

I know what happens when government trumps the individual, I know what it means when you apologize for the values that built your land, and I have seen the horrific results of a nation equating exceptionalism with brutality and deeming values moronic and obsolete.

I know one thing especially well: If you grow up in a country that doesn’t ask anything of you, you end up living an entire life without asking anything of yourself — expecting nothing, excelling at nothing, with no repercussions for failure and no incentive for growth. It kills your very soul.

I also know, however, that there is a way back and a road forward, and I know you have it in you, because you taught me what it means to be free. It is in your very nature to reject bullies, dogmas, and emperors in the buff, regardless of their political affiliation. We look to you to lead us, and I know that you will. “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”;

I hope every single one of you get how amazing that is, in word and in meaning. To me, it captures what it is to be human, by highlighting not only our need for freedom and our right to life, but also the massive capability every single person is born with. This is something no government entity can ever replace, and no well-spoken leader should ever be given the power or pulpit to question.

You are exceptional, and coming to America taught me that I could be exceptional, too. Thank you for that. Thank you.

— Annika Hernroth-Rothstein is a political consultant and writer who lives in Sweden.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/449201/swedish-love-letter-america