We, alone and with others, have corrected some in the past, and they have been accepted to such a point that to favor or posit them now would seem ridiculous. They are truths. American truths. Things we as Americans hold true. Not coincidentally, most of the world does as well.
Some of these American truths have made their way out of American wars, social upheaval, advances in science and technology, archaeology, and paleontology, physics, law and life. Some of the most accepted I will list here, then we will see which ones are now loudly and frighteningly under attack.
Self-Evident American Truths:
- Slavery was immoral
- The earth is round
- Women should vote
- So should black people
- Blacks and whites should be able to marry
- The universe is really old
- Hitler was very, very bad
- It's good the Union prevailed in the Civil War
- Nazis are assholes
- There is no difference in potential between races
- Communism failed
- Medicare is Socialized Medicine
- VA is Government Run Health Care
- Private health insurance provides no social good (since it can be done cheaper by the government)
- The rich are getting richer
- Evolution is theory, like gravity, and they are both real
- The poor are getting poorer
- We owe China like, a lot of money
- Poor people in America die of hunger and lack of health care
- You don't heckle the POTUS in the Chamber
- Gay parents are like your parents--warts and all
Anyone comparing our President to Hitler should get arrested. Or at least beat up by a progressive. A big, gay, progressive. There is nothing Obama is proposing that is in any way similar to Hitler or Hitler's policies. Hitler, you see, was a fucking psychopath and murdered millions of people, many because they were Jewish. He was nothing like Obama, who seems pretty stable. And Obama is a Democrat, not a Nazi. Google it. Hitler was bad, America fought him in WWII, we defeated him with the help of some of our greatest generals and soldiers, the whole country sacrificed and rationed, and no American president should have to tolerate being compared to Hitler. That's an American Truth. Assholes.
Insurance companies exist to make money, not provide health care. Anyone who says otherwise (not that anyone has) is wrong, or stupid, or lying. Medicare proves that a government run "single payer" can be far more efficient delivering the commerce of health care than insurance companies, something like 30% operating cost versus 4% or something astounding like that. Anyone who can't see that insurance companies have to charge more so they can pay for commercials, and planes, and bonuses, and CONGRESSMEN, and hookers (okay, maybe not hookers. NOT!!) are just blind, or stupid, or get their money via an insurance company. It's an American, capitalist truth!
The universe is old, and Earth is too. It's in the billions, not the thousands. We are related to monkeys. And fish.
*Update: I've had a good response from this post, though there's a quibble. The quibbler (who I love) doesn't like the word "canonized" because it is too Catholic. I agree, so here are some options: declared, adjudged, held, lauded, extolled, exalted, glorified, and last, proclaimed. Those were from Synonym.com.
Feel free to add your own in comments.