What Are Friends For?

France has been a friend of the United States since 1776.  France was our first ally—our first friend.  Without French military and economic support we might have been still-born as a nation.  Like all friendships there have been some squabbles in our relationship over the last couple of centuries, but a Gallup poll in 2016 indicated that 87% of Americans had a favorable view of France.  In fact, just a few months ago, the world was talking about the great “bromance” between Donald Trump and France’s President Emmanuel Macron.  Why then did Mr. Trump lash out so nastily and insult the whole of France and belittle its president just two days ago?  It's a long story—but it is a story most of us know and understand from our own friendships.  What’s a friend for?  A good and faithful friend is one who  has the courage to tell you when you are wrong, help you see your shortcomings, and encourage you to seek the higher road.  President Macron may no longer be Trump’s friend, but he is a real friend to the United States of America.  He is trying to help us.  

President Macron tried to help us back in April 2018 when he spoke before the Republican-led Congress.  “Personally, if you ask me,” he said then, I do not share the fascination for new strong powers, the abandonment of freedom, and the illusion of nationalism…The United States and Europe have a historical role in this respect, because it is the only way to defend what we believe in, to promote our universal values, to express strongly that human rights, the rights of minorities and shared liberty are the true answer to the disorders of the world.  I believe in these rights and values.”  

Back then, just a little over six months ago, Macron was trying hard to be Mr. Trump’s friend and a friend to “we the people.”  On nationalism, Macron said, “We can choose isolationism, withdrawal, and nationalism.  This is an option.  It can be tempting to us as a temporary remedy  to our fears.  But closing the door to the world will not stop the evolution of the world.  It will not douse, but inflame, the fears of our citizens.  We have to keep our eyes wide open to the new risks, right in front of us.  I am convinced,” he said, “that if we decide to open our eyes wider, we will be stronger.  We will overcome the dangers.  We will not let the rampaging work of extreme nationalism shake a world full of hopes for greater prosperity.”  Macron added, “The most destructible, the most powerful, the most definitive knot between us is the one that ties the true purpose of our peoples to advance, as Abraham Lincoln said, the ‘unfinished business’ of democracy.” What a friend!  I wish we had more friends like Mr. Macron.  What are friends for, after all?

Mr. Trump in October 2018 declared “A globalist is a person that wants the globe to do well, frankly not caring about our country so much, and you know what, we can’t have that…I’m a nationalist.  OK? I’m a nationalist.  Nationalist.  Use that word.”

So, again, what are friends for?  President Macron last week tried to help us see ourselves, tried to encourage us to entertain our better angels, tried to inspire us to live the American dream.  “Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism.  By saying our interests first, who cares about the others, we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what gives it grace and what is essential:  its moral values.”  What a friend!  What are friends for, but to care for us, to lift us up, to help us  see our own dream.