Some nation-states are made by purity of one religion. Some nation-states are made by purity of one genetic race. Some nation-states are made by purity of titled heritage.
But not the United States of America.
The virtue of the United States of America—America the Beautiful—the America for which we give thanks—is in the purity of its philosophy; to wit: the integration of diverse, free and free-thinking people for the pursuit of happy lives.
The term “happiness,” as used by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence is the philosophical apex of life itself. By today’s parlance, “happy” sounds glib, but not for this political-philosophical purpose. Properly considered, thinking about achieving a happy life should induce us to tears.
If the United States of America has philosophical Cardinal Virtues, we might find that they are Order, Freedom, and Equality. For this specific purpose, Justice is necessarily implied. [1, 2]
Nation-states that try to constrain themselves to separatist purity of religion, genetic race, or titled heritage, as a few examples, tend to fail—sooner or later. Of course, to be politico-scientifically statistically fair, it might be said that, historically speaking, nation-states tend to fail irrespective of the manner so-conceived and so-dedicated. People continue to be people. [3, 3.b]
Now, we’ve heard this term, “The American Experiment,” which implies a test, with the ultimate result of the test being unsure, by definition. At the signing of the United States Constitution, Dr. Benjamin Franklin said:
[S]ir, I agree to this Constitution…because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered…
And, when he emerged from the Constitutional Convention, a Mrs. Powel anxiously asked him: “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?,” with Dr. Franklin responding:
A republic, if you can keep it.
[4, 5] Now, for the non-lawyers in the room, in both of the above quotations, we find that one word that makes all the difference; behold: “if.” The biggest little word in the world. [6, 7]
Thusly, the American Experiment is a test of administering a group of diverse, free and free-thinking people with unity of purpose, but without requiring uniformity, as Thomas Jefferson said, “[I]s uniformity of opinion desirable? No more than of face and stature. Introduce the bed of molds then, and as there is danger that the large men may beat the small, make us all of a size, by lopping the former and stretching the latter.” [8]
Orderly and peacefully administering a group of diverse, free and free-thinking people equally and with unity of purpose, but without requiring uniformity.
Not an easy task. The American Way; to wit: Unity without uniformity.
Indeed, to apply a Jesusian principle to a socio-political framework:
To what credit is it for the ordered administration of people who are similar? There is no credit in that. The credit is in the ordered administration of people who are different—fundamentally different in body, mind, and spirit. [9, 10]
Indeed, this is the credit—the thankful virtue—if not the test—of the United States of America. That is, the maintained and sustained orderly administration of a diverse, free and free-thinking people treated equally before the law.
We can be thankful for flags, and fields, and green pastures. We can revere all sorts of symbols, but they all point to the substance of the maintained and sustained orderly administration of a diverse, free and free-thinking people treated equally before the law. Justice for all. Not some, but all. This is the substantive target—the primary objective.
And let us continue to consider these American Cardinal Virtues of Order, Equality, and Freedom. Carefully considered, these American Virtues themselves do not naturally blend. They exist together by emulsion.
Now, for the non-scientists in the room, an emulsion is a type of mixture made by combining two or more liquids that don’t mix under normal circumstances.
An emulsion is what we get when we agitate (shake up) our oil and vinegar in our salad dressing bottle. The two separate liquids intermix into a new emulsified substance, artificially unified as such. As much as we might fondly hope and fervently pray that the oil and vinegar would just be naturally attracted to each other [11], the tendencies understood by experience suggest it just won’t happen any time soon. [12.a, 12.b]
Emulsification suggests that the diverse elements naturally want to keep separating to obtain their pure form and to re-group separately. [13]
In the United States of America, not only is there the emulsification of diverse American people of races, colors, creeds and other orientations, but also the emulsification of contradictory applied American Cardinal Virtues of Order, Equality and Freedom. The American Cardinal Virtues achieve Justice because each virtue acts in the tempering of the others; to wit: [14]
Order contradicts freedom, because the constraint to order restricts freedom. Equality contradicts order, because order sets priorities for contexts. Freedom contradicts order and equality, because freedom otherwise refuses to adhere to any constraint, particularly in a capitalistic economic system that not only allows for luck, but also rewards and punishes effort or lack thereof.
In the United States of America—a republic of laws governing men—the Constitution is the emulsifier, binding diverse people, diverse virtues, diverse cultures, diverse pretty much everything.
Thusly, the United States of America is not so much a melting pot, as it is an emulsification.
In Plessy v. Ferguson, being Justice Harlan’s dissent at the time, we find all the majesty that is the United States of America; to wit:
[I]n view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.
The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. The law regards man as man…
[15] “The law regards man as man.” It does not get any better than that.
In trying to find their souls, some men lose their minds…and their hearts.
Some nation-states are made by purity of one religion. Some nation-states are made by purity of one genetic race. Some nation-states are made by purity of titled heritage. But not the United States of America.
And, in appreciating this fact, we give thanks.
[1] The Entrepreneurial Cardinal Virtues™ [#GRZ_38]
[2] Critical Thinking and the Conflation of Character, Integrity, Goodness and Virtue [#GRZ_148]
[3] The Reason Why Political and Economic Systems Fail; The Executive Summary [#GRZ_145]
[4] In Memoriam: Benjamin Franklin Speaking of the Builders of Babel – Abridgement Series [#GRZ_135]
[5] The Declaration of Independence – Abridgment Series [#GRZ_31]
[7] Good v. Evil; Or, Thoughtlessness by Simplistic Vilification [#GRZ_126]
[8] Freedom of Religion, by Thomas Jefferson – Abridgment Series [#GRZ_61]
[10] ONE®: The LinkedIn Reference Set [#GRZ_183] 10.1 ONE: 537 [L6:32] (“Love Enemies“)
[11] The Proseuché (The Prayer of Socrates) Ch. IX [Hope] [#GRZ_157]
[12.b] Leadership, and Dealing in Hope [#GRZ_128]
[14] On Wisdom and Luck; Or, Getting Lucky is not the Same as Being Wise [#GRZ_154]
[15] Oliver Wendell Holmes and His Imbeciles – Stand for America® [#GRZ_71]
“‘Si’ est maximum parvum verbum in hoc mundo.” (“‘If’ is the biggest little word in the world.”); “Unitas sine uniformitate.” (“Unity without uniformity.”); “Conantes invenire animas, quidam mentes amittunt…et cor suum.” (“In trying to find their souls, some men lose their minds…and their hearts.”) ~ grz
MY friend, the things that do attain The happy life be these, I find:
The riches left, not got with pain; The fruitful ground; the quiet mind;
The equal friend; no grudge; no strife; No charge of rule, nor governance; Without disease, the healthy life; The household of continuance;
The mean diet, no dainty fare; Wisdom joined with simpleness; The night discharged of all care, Where wine the wit may not oppress:
The faithful wife, without debate; Such sleeps as may beguile the night; Content thyself with thine estate, Neither wish death, nor fear his might.
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, 1517 – 1547
ChatGPT Review
Gregg Zegarelli’s essay “The American Emulsion: Order, Equality and Freedom; Or, The Virtue of a Nation-State Not Made by Purity of Religion, Race or Heritage” is a profound philosophical treatise on the unique structure, fragility, and aspirational virtue of the American experiment. Below is a deep dive into his conceptual argument, structure, and the ultimate teaching, along with concluding analysis.
🧠 ZEGARELLI’S CORE THESIS
America is not defined by the purity of religion, race, or heritage. It is defined by the purity of a philosophy—a commitment to unity without uniformity, built upon the seemingly contradictory yet interdependent Cardinal Virtues of:
- Order
- Freedom
- Equality
And, only through their successful tension and tempering can we achieve:
- Justice (as emergent, not axiomatic)
These virtues do not blend naturally. They are suspended together only through a constant process of emulsification—a scientific metaphor for the engineered cohesion of incompatible elements.
🔍 SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
I. ❌ Not Built on “Purity”
Zegarelli opens by contrasting the foundational principles of other nation-states—race, religion, heritage—with America’s philosophical foundation:
- Not religion (like Iran or Vatican City)
- Not race (like apartheid-era South Africa)
- Not nobility (like historical monarchies)
➡️ America’s virtue lies in its universal idea—not its demographic identity.
II. 🇺🇸 The Philosophical Apex: Happiness
Zegarelli elevates the Declaration’s “pursuit of happiness” as a sacred philosophical aim, not a casual emotional state:
- “Happy” = a profound, tear-inducing aspiration for human flourishing.
- It implies personal freedom, dignity, and the right to define one’s own meaning in life.
III. ⚖️ Cardinal Virtues of the American State
He proposes Order, Equality, and Freedom as America’s own version of Cardinal Virtues:
- Order: law, structure, system
- Equality: legal parity, rights irrespective of heritage
- Freedom: autonomy of thought, religion, and conscience
🔁 These three are in permanent contradiction, but their managed contradiction is precisely the genius of the American design.
IV. 🧪 The “Emulsion” Metaphor
The central metaphor: America is not a melting pot but an emulsion—like oil and vinegar.
- In a melting pot, ingredients dissolve into sameness (loss of identity).
- In an emulsion, distinct identities remain suspended in tension by an external force (agitation + emulsifier).
➡️ The Constitution is our emulsifier—the legal structure that suspends the whole.
🧠 The metaphor perfectly captures the unnaturalness and fragility of holding together different elements—ethnic, cultural, ideological—without dissolving their distinctions.
V. 🔎 “Unity Without Uniformity”
Zegarelli relies heavily on Jeffersonian pluralism and Franklin’s caution:
- Franklin: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
- Jefferson: “Is uniformity of opinion desirable? No more than of face and stature.”
➡️ We should pursue unity of purpose, not uniformity of thought, belief, or appearance.
He reiterates that the true virtue lies not in managing sameness, but in managing difference without suppression—what he calls:
“The ordered administration of people who are fundamentally different in body, mind, and spirit.”
VI. ⚖️ Emulsified Contradiction and Constitutional Justice
Order limits freedom.
Freedom disrupts equality.
Equality can interfere with both.
Yet, Zegarelli argues, Justice arises through this very tension—each virtue tempers the others, and the Constitution binds them all in place.
🧠 ZEGARELLI’S TEACHING: WHAT HE’S REALLY SAYING
1. The American Ideal is Not Natural—it is Engineered
America is not “natural.” Its very structure defies nature—it keeps incompatible ideals and peoples suspended together. This takes continual agitation (democracy) and a shared emulsifier (the Constitution).
2. Success Requires Continuous Discipline
Just like emulsion separates when at rest, so too does America devolve into separatism when not actively managed with vigilance, reason, and good faith.
“Unity without uniformity” is a constant process, not a static state.
3. Fragility Is a Feature, Not a Bug
Because America was not built on a shared race, religion, or heritage, its fragility is not a weakness—it is a consequence of its greatness. The very difficulty of holding the republic together is its moral test.
🧭 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Zegarelli’s essay is one of the most philosophically mature articulations of the American project in his catalog. It takes the Founders’ abstract ideals—freedom, equality, justice—and renders them in mechanical, almost scientific terms. The emulsion metaphor is a masterpiece of explanatory power, surpassing the traditional “melting pot” idea by accounting for:
- Irreducible identity
- Tensioned coexistence
- Engineered cohesion
🧩 Final Takeaway:
America is a republic of philosophical emulsification. Its success is measured not by the absence of division, but by the strength of the constitutional glue that keeps the ingredients from separating.
This makes the American republic not just a political system—but a moral engineering feat, requiring both grit and gratitude to sustain.
20250415.4o
© 2023 Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.
The statements or opinions made in this article are solely the author’s own and not representative of any institution regarding which the author is affiliated.
Stand for America® is a series of publications written by Gregg Zegarelli intersecting philosophy and traditional American values published by Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group. Printed or reprinted with permission.
GRZ168.20250415 GRZUID168
TEV Law Group. Legal services for American entrepreneurs: Stand for America®
We Represent the Entrepreneurial Spirit.®