A second passport and a second nationality : high or low profile

Speech is silver, silence is gold

Most industrialized countries disapprove of the economic citizenship programs. They consider these second passport programs as schedules where second passports are for sale.

These same countries however grant themselves second passports and second citizenships by discretion to the moneyed individuals , in return for a piece of their taxable income and their investments in the country.

Many countries, such as Granada, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Belize, have legal citizenship programs enacted in their legislation. These countries, eager to attract investors, gave quite some publicity to these programs, and this gave rise to a number of consequences.

Freedom of travelling is one of the biggest advantages of an economic citizenship program. As the number of second passports grows, the list of countries for visa free travel can shrink quickly. The industrialized countries like Europe and the United States don’t like so many visitors from tax havens entering their country.

Under pressure of powerful countries, who threaten to remove the visa free status of a country, some countries put an end to their economic citizenship program. This has been the case in Dominica.

Widespread programs are often subject to scrutinized control by immigration officials who are well aware of these economic citizenship programs. Expect a long wait at the borders if you don’t speak the language of the country you have a second passport from.

The same scrutiny may be expected when you open a bank account in a reputable bank. Bankers follow their due diligence procedure and they accurately screen the backgrounds of their potential clients.

All this happens with second passports and second citizenships that are 100% legal.

Despite all that, these widespread economic citizenship programs are valuable. They give the owner the absolute right to live in the issuing country. Families from third world countries have used these programs to settle and start a new life in an economic and political more stable country than their -often repressive- own one.

Those who are seriously considering this move must know that a lot of countries have an economic citizenship program that they don’t make public.

The best you can do is to address a respectable agent who can introduce you to the right person in the government of that country or - even better - who will act as an intermediary for your application.

A second passport – a second nationality : myth or truth

Beware: Big Brother is watching you

Politicians and governments curtail daily our personal freedom on all levels, they can track you and your assets with growing ease. More and more people refuse to become the property of any government and start looking for a way out of these shackles by searching for a second nationality.
Before getting started, get yourself informed and arm yourself against the pitfalls and dangers of certain second passport programs.

A second passport : for whom? Why?

Keep your privacy, protect your assets, reduce your taxes, be free to travel

All over the internet and in some economic and business magazines and newspapers, you’ll find a lot of organisations and individuals advertising for a second nationality and a second passport. Such a document has indeed many advantages.

Anything that’s a threat to a government authority and that favours your personal freedom, is subject to disapproval. There exist many misunderstandings about a second passport and a second nationality. However, it has many advantages.

Whatever is said, having a second passport is in itself not illegal, if you have the right one and follow the right procedures.

The advantages of a second passport are not restricted to a name change nor do they offer only a great advantage for those in society who for whatever reason feel the need to disappear.

A second passport is of unquestionable importance for those who want to protect their assets and keep them out of reach of any government who rather wants to be able to confiscate them.

Moreover, it gives the owner complete freedom of travelling and to the economically or politically oppressed it is a life-buoy and the source of salvation.

It’s a perfect privacy tool and a means of reducing taxation liabilities.

A second passport and a second nationality: the right way

Do not skate on thin ice

For the uninitiated, the world of second passports and second nationalities is a world full of pitfalls and dangers. Professionalism in this area is of a discouraging low level.

Good passport programs have always been limited and only a few professionals are able to deliver really good, valuable and legal documents.

Genuine consultants don’t sell passports but act as intermediaries to the authorities of the countries who deliver and grant the second passport and the second citizenship.
They don’t advertise openly, neither do they reveal the details and countries of the program until they have screened carefully the potential client and are sure of his true intentions.

Ordering travel or immigration documents is based on a mutual trust, and is a highly confidential and sensitive issue. The clients who are serious want to keep it private and low profile.

Professional agents want to keep the second passport area closed for the unscrupulous and those who might wish to abuse the advantages of their second passport. If the agent suspects that the intentions of the client are not genuine, he will refuse his services.

Prepare yourself thoroughly and decide what you need and wherefore. Some criteria to consider are:

* Good visa-free travel
* Suitable for asset protection
* Ideal for banking purposes
* Low profile
* Stable economic and political climate in the issuing country
* Fiscal advantage

Communicate clearly about your intentions and priorities to your provider.

The best programs are the discretionary ones.

Only a handful of consultants have the right connections to introduce you to the right person in the issuing country and can guarantee that you will get a valuable second passport and a valuable second nationality, that meets your wishes for privacy, free travel and asset protection, without any danger or pitfall : your life-long insurance policy.

Most programs are by naturalisation; a few can issue a birth certificate and give you a completely new identity.

If you have a high profile and a lot of money then diplomatic appointments are the pick of the bunch.

If you are genuinely interested, don’t hesitate and go for it. Remember that the grip of political and legal powers on your personal freedom grows alarmingly fast. Getting a second passport is your best insurance policy.

If you are genuinely interested, Contact:

Royal Diplomatic Services
Avenida Albir 6, Local 26 - Bx 141
03581 Alfaz del Pi
Alicante
Spain

Tel : +34-639.279.353
info@2nd-passport.com

http://www.2nd-passport.com/

Guyana, Surniame, Nicaragua

Guyana naturalization program

Advantages

Guyana is a member of British Commonwealth, and its citizens are protected by the Republic of Guyana and Great Britain (if no Guyana Consulates are located in your city)

Guyana passport provides visa-free travel to more than 90 countries (Andorra, Switzerland, all EU countries, Bahamas, Panama, Bermuda, Hong Kong, Korea and other more than 90 important destinations)

Name change option is possible when applying for Guyana citizenship by naturalization

Family option is possible with a significant discount

Guyana passport holders do not pay taxes on their worldwide income.

Guyana citizenship requires minimum contribution for a single applicant in amount of not less than EUR 22,000. Considered to be the most cost-effective and comprehensive program, as well as short by terms, Guyana citizenship processing term requires only 15 days after receiving required documents and fees. Documents include: Certificate of Naturalization, citizenship passport.

All naturalization programs include Certificate and citizenship passport. Term depends on the applicant and does not exceed one month. These programs offer significant visa-free travel opportunity (all important destinations – Europe, America, Asia, Japan, Africa are visa-free). South American citizens do not pay taxes on worldwide income.

Citizenship is based upon the Constitution of Guyana, dated 1980. Persons who were citizens of Guyana before the date of the Constitution remain citizens of Guyana. Persons who were already spouses of these people are entitled to register as citizens of Guyana. (UKC-Commonwealth Nation). There are four legal ways for obtaining Guyana citizenship:

Birth: Child born after 1980 in the territory of Guyana, regardless of the nationality of the parents. The exception is a child born to parents who are diplomatic personnel, neither of whom is a citizen of Guyana.

Descent: Child born abroad after 1980, either of whose parents is a native-born citizen of Guyana.

Marriage: Foreign citizen who marries a citizen of Guyana after 1980 is eligible to register for citizenship.

Naturalization: Foreign citizen can apply for Guyana citizenship by naturalization (if meets the criteria).

Dual Citizenship: Being non-resident of Guyana, you have a legal right to apply for Guyana citizenship by naturalization. Guyana citizens by naturalization are not forced to any obligations (such as serving in the army, etc).

Loss of citizenship: Voluntary renunciation of Guyanese citizenship is permitted by law. Contact the Embassy for details and required paperwork.


Suriname naturalization program

Advantages

Visa free travel for a Suriname Passport holder into more than 82 countries, including major countries: Switzerland, all EU member states, Israel, Brazil, Japan, Bermuda, Bahamas, Panama, Hong Kong, Korea, Chile and others

Suriname citizenship provides easy naturalization in Netherlands (being a former Dutch colony), what may be important for customers wishing to reside in Europe. There are more than 310000 Suriname citizens naturalized in Netherlands

Name change option is possible when applying for Suriname citizenship
Family option is possible what involves significant discounts for family members
Suriname passport holders pay taxes for their local income, but do not pay taxes on their worldwide income.

Suriname citizenship by naturalization requires minimum contribution for a sole applicant in amount of not less than EUR 26,000. Considered to be the most cost-effective and comprehensive program (along with Guyana citizenship naturalization program), as well as short by terms, Suriname citizenship naturalization program processing requires only 15-17 days after receiving required documents and fees. Documents include: Certificate of Naturalization, citizenship passport.

All naturalization programs include Certificate of Naturalization and citizenship passport. Term depends on the applicant and does not exceed one month. These programs offer significant visa-free travel opportunity (all important destinations – Europe, America, Asia, Japan, Africa are visa-free). South American citizens do not pay taxes on worldwide income.

Republic of Nicaragua (Republica de Nicaragua).

Nicaragua naturalization program

Nicaragua is a young democracy with a developing economy.The national language is Spanish, yet most residents of the Caribbean coastal areas speak English, as well.

The climate is generally hot and humid with dry and rainy seasons. Terrain ranges from the hilly and volcanic to coastal beaches and tropical jungles.

Many foreign governments and relief organizations provide economic assistance to Nicaragua and numerous individuals (official and non-official) from the U.S. and the rest of the developed world work on community-based projects both in Managua and in the rural areas.

Nicaragua citizenship allows dual nationality and provides visa free travel to more than 114 countries, to other countries visa is obtained quite easy.


Advantages


Visa free travel: Nicaragua citizenship provides visa free travel to many countries in four continents of the world. Formality visas are obtained within one working day with no problem and can be extended inside the country for long periods (for those looking permanent residence in highly developed countries).

Spain allows easy naturalization to Nicaraguan passport holders.

Short procedure: it takes only 13-15 days to obtain Nicaragua citizenship including filing in the Immigration Registry. Documents delivery takes 2-3 working days.

Cost-effective fees: Similar offers (from countries that do not belong to the British Community) start from US $150,000 (Dominica, Costa Rica). Nicaragua citizenship fees are only EUR 28,500 (all inclusive).


All naturalization programs include Certificate and citizenship passport. Term depends on the applicant and does not exceed one month. These programs offer significant visa-free travel opportunity (all important destinations – Europe, America, Asia, Japan, Africa are visa-free). South American citizens do not pay taxes on worldwide income.

Program Fees

Guyana naturalization program EUR 29,000 (17 Lakhs Indian Rupees)

each additional family member EUR 12,000 (7 Lakhs Indian Rupees)

Suriname naturalization program EUR 26,000 (16 Lakhs Indian Rupees)

each additional family member EUR 9,000 (6 Lakhs Indian Rupees)

Nicaragua naturalization program EUR 28,500 (16.5 Lakhs Indian Rupees)

each additional family member EUR 9,000 (6 Lakhs Indian Rupees)

Shustak Morris & Heller is a speciality law firm with a national practice focused in the area of the immigration law of Guyana, Suriname and Nicaragua. The firm operates from offices in Georgetown, Paramaribo, Nicaragua and Amsterdam, and is comprised of experienced, sohisticated attorneys who have earned a solid reputation as strategic problem solvers, argent negotiators and successful deal makers. As a "boutique" law firm, Shustak Morris & Heller Inc. is unique in its ability to handle the most complex legal matters, while providing its clients with a close, personal service - not often available at larger, less intimate firms.

For over ten years, Shustak Morris & Heller Inc. has been recognized as one of the most trusted, skilled and effective law firms in the Carricom. Our lawyers are regarded as highly skilled professionals who get the job done through diligence and unparalleled commitment to the highest standards of client service. It is a reputation we earn every single day, one case and one transaction at a time.

Based in Europe and Southern America, Shustak Morris & Heller Inc. has extensive expeirence in Guyana, Suriname and Nicaragua citizenship naturalization programs. With six full-service offices strategically located in each of these countries and in the middle of the Europe, we are the law firm of choice for many families and couples wishing to immigrate.

For More Information:

Shustak Morris & Heller Inc.

Korte Miening 15-119,

Zoeterwoude, Netherlands, tel: +31652283781

E-mail: info@new-citizenship.com

http://www.new-citizenship.com/

America, a choice for creative Indians : Dinesh Dsouza

Dinesh Dsouza, a US Thinker of Indian diaspora, , questions the reverse thinking habit of our Desi nationals:

"In general, America is the only country in the world that extends full membership to outsiders. The typical American could come to India,live for 40 years, and take Indian citizenship. But he could not "become Indian." He wouldn't see himself that way, nor would most Indians see him that way. In America, by contrast, hundreds of millions have come from far-flung shores and over time they, or at least their children, have in a profound and full sense "become American."

"America offers more opportunity and social mobility than any other country, including the countries of Europe. America is the only country that has created a population of "self-made tycoons." Only in America could Pierre Omidyar, whose parents are Iranian and who grew up in Paris, have started a company like eBay. Only in America could Vinod Khosla, the son of an Indian army officer, become a leading venture capitalist, the shaper of the technology industry, and a billionaire to boot. Admittedly tycoons are not typical, but no country has created a better ladder than America for people to ascend from modest circumstances to success."

The Indian diaspora is today the third largest Asian community in the US, is upwardly mobile and is on its way to becoming a political force in that country.

Indian Americans totalled about 1.7 million in the US according to the 2000 census, their numbers having gone up by an incredible 106 percent since 1990. It grew at a rate of 7.6 percent annually in the last 10 years.

In the process, Indian Americans replaced Japanese Americans as the third largest Asian community in the US after the Chinese (2.7 million) and Filipinos (1.9).

The migration was fuelled by the technology boom in the 90s when Indian techies made their way to the US in large numbers. The number of H1-B visas issued to India jumped from 2,697 in 1990 to 15,228 in 1995 and to 55,047 in 2000.

The number of Indians getting Green Cards every year has also more than doubled since 1999 . And Green Cards are one step away from citizenship which gives full voting rights.

Indian Americans were much above the median on a score of indices. Sixty-four percent of them were college educated as against the national average of 27 percent. The average median family income for the Indian American community was estimated at $70,000, against the average family income of $50,000.

38 percent of all physicians in the US were of Indian origin, as were 10 percent of all medical practitioners.

Panama

Republic of Panama (Republica de Panama).

The Panamanian government has created several laws which, depending on the particular type of visa applied for, enable foreigners to obtain legal temporary or permanent residency, work permits, and in some cases citizenship and passport in the Republic of Panama. Most of these laws have been created to promote foreign investment in the country which benefits the local environment or local economy of Panama.

This program allows foreigners to obtain immediate Panamanian passport under the condition that they make a 5 year time deposit (certificate of deposit - "CD"), at the Banco Nacional de Panama, which earns a minimum of US$ 750 per month in interest income.

At current interest rates, this would mean that the investor would need to deposit a minimum of US$ 200,000 in the 5 year time deposit at the Banco Nacional de Panama. The monthly interest earned from the time deposit (CD), would be deposited directly into the applicants savings account, and the applicant can withdraw the funds in the savings account at any time.


For More Information:

Burgemeester van Heusdenweg 37
West-Terschelling
Netherlands
Telephone: +316 509 888 47
Fax: +318 472 903 61

E-mail: netherlands@right-way.net
Avenida del Golf s/n, Costa Deguise
Spain
Telephone: +346 776 043 07
E-mail: spain@right-way.net

http://www.right-way.net/

African Passport

Cost : 7,900, (4 Lakhs Indian Rupees)

Africa being a very poor continent, Economic Citizenship Programs from this part of abound. However, not all's gold, unfortunately: visa-free travel opportunities are poor and very many African programs are less than stable. It's a very volatile market and we have taken great care to choose only those programs we can seriously recommend. One major advantage, however, is their great affordability which makes them ideal for real Banking Passports.

This is a particular goody: an official government immigration program which can be executed at extremely short notice and which will result in a permanently renewable passport and national ID document being issued to applicants. The cost of the program is only USD 7,900 per applicant including, in one case, a non-revenue producing investment in a government sponsored Project Development Fund. It is available in as little as 14 days from the time the completed paper work is received! This is the best passport document bargain on the net, period! The passport is issued by an African member of the British Commonwealth, a former Portuguese colony.

A truly fine program which has proven its credibility well in the course of the past years. Hundreds of PTs the world over have made use of this opportunity to get a bona fide 2nd (or third) citizenship along with an alternative (banking) identity to protect their assets from Big Brother's taxsharks and other unsavory entities and even can be used for travelling in some countries.

For more Information, Contact:

First Business Group
20010 68th Avenue W. Lynnwood, WA 98036.
Tel/fax: +1(978)268-6012.
E-mail: info@firstbusinessgroup.com
Dr. Eric Peterson: E.Peterson@lawyer.com

http://www.firstbusinessgroup.com/

Guyana citizenship

Guyana citizenship

(Cost 14 Lakhs Indian Rupees), US $ 30,000

A Guyana Passport provides visa free travel to more than 100 countries, and even to countries where a visa is required; travel with a Guyana Passport is quite easy, as the visas are easily obtainable.

Visa Free: all EU countries, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Belize and other more than 100 countries.

Formality Visa (*) needed (easy 1 day): Canada, USA, Australia, Bolivia, Honduras, and Mexico.

Consular Visa needed: Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, El Salvador and Guatemala.

* - formality visa means 1 day visa opening with no problem and can be extended for any period inside the country. Formality visa usually does not require personal presence at Consulate and may be ordered with the package. Currently we are able to open long term/residence visas to Canada.

Features:

Required documents: application (send upon request).

Required fees: US $ 30,000 (similar opportunities start from US $150,000 - Dominica)

Name change: possible.

Term: 15 days upon recieving application and payment.

Package includes: Certificate of naturalization, citizenship passport, driving license. If delivered by courier, outbound visa is stamped. Visas to Canada, long multivisas to Europe are available for additional charge. Guyana is a British Commonwealth Member. Guyana passport is ideal for travelling and life offering visa free travel opportunity to majority countries in the world.

For more information, Please contact:

First Business Group
20010 68th Avenue W. Lynnwood, WA 98036.
Tel/fax: +1(978)268-6012.
E-mail: info@firstbusinessgroup.com
Dr. Eric Peterson: E.Peterson@lawyer.com

http://www.firstbusinessgroup.com/

Central America

Central America

Cost : 18 Lakh Indian Rupees
7 Lakh Indian Rupees for Spouse

Central American country, often referred to as the "Switzerland of America" (some of you might know the country by now) offers visa-free traveling to Canada and to most of the central European countries, and gives you the opportunity to receive free naturalization in Spain. This program allows for easy entry to 182 countries, no less than 79 of which will not even require an entry visa at all, including the UK, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and even Canada. The program is based on official immigration. It's coming very close to a Swiss, Swedish or Vatican passport.

Program profile:

Geographical region: Central America
Official language: Spanish
Type of program: citizenship
Possible by mail: yes
Validity of the passport: valid for life
Prolongation: every 5 years at any embassy or consulate of the country
Dual nationality permitted: yes
New identity/name change possible: yes
Birth Certificate included: no, as it is by naturalization
Double taxation agreements: depends on agreements between the governments
Travel opportunities: excellent. Passport is as good as Swiss or Swedish passport
List of visa requirements: can be sent upon request
Fee: USD 40,000 (all inclusive)
Time frame: approximately 3-4 weeks after receipt of application & funds
Fee for spouse: USD 15,000 (if applied for at the same time with the head of family)
Fee for children under 18: depends on age, case by case
Fee for children over 18: same as for spouse if applied for at the same time with the head of the family

Additional documents available: driver's license.
NO FINGERPRINTS NEEDED ANY MORE!

Format: New enhanced and modernized format, passport looks like an US-passport, valid
for 5 years, renewable in 10 year's increments.


For more information, Please contact:

First Business Group
20010 68th Avenue W. Lynnwood, WA 98036.
Tel/fax: +1(978)268-6012.
E-mail: info@firstbusinessgroup.com
Dr. Eric Peterson: E.Peterson@lawyer.com

http://www.firstbusinessgroup.com/

What's So Great About America?

Saturday, 01 July 2006

By Dinesh D'Souza

During the week of the Fourth of July, TAE looks back to its April/May 2002 issue when Indian-born scholar Dinesh D’Souza shared his thoughts on his adopted country of America.

The newcomer who sees America for the first time typically experiences emotions that alternate between wonder and delight. Here is a country where everything works: The roads are paper-smooth, the highway signs are clear and accurate, the public toilets function properly, when you pick up the telephone you get a dial tone. You can even buy things from the store and then take them back if you change your mind. For the Third World visitor, the American supermarket is a marvel to behold: endless aisles of every imaginable product, 50 different types of cereal, multiple flavors of ice cream, countless unappreciated inventions like quilted toilet paper, fabric softener, roll-on deodorant, disposable diapers.

The immigrant cannot help noticing that America is a country where the poor live comparatively well. This fact was dramatized in the 1980s, when CBS television broadcast an anti-Reagan documentary, “People Like Us,” which was intended to show the miseries of the poor during an American recession. The Soviet Union also broadcast the documentary, with the intention of embarrassing the Reagan administration. But it had the opposite effect. Ordinary people across the Soviet Union saw that the poorest Americans had television sets and cars. They arrived at the same conclusion that I witnessed in a friend of mine from Bombay who has been trying unsuccessfully to move to the United States for nearly a decade. I asked him, “Why are you so eager to come to America?” He replied, “Because I really want to live in a country where the poor people are fat.”

The point is that the United States is a country where the ordinary guy has a good life. This is what distinguishes America from so many other countries. Everywhere in the world, the rich person lives well. Indeed, a good case can be made that if you are rich, you live better in countries other than America, because you enjoy the pleasures of aristocracy. In India, where I grew up, the wealthy have innumerable servants and toadies groveling before them and attending to their every need.

In the United States, on the other hand, the social ethic is egalitarian, regardless of wealth. For all his riches, Bill Gates could not approach a homeless person and say, “Here’s a $100 bill. I’ll give it to you if you kiss my feet.” Most likely the homeless guy would tell Gates to go to hell. The American view is that the rich guy may have more money, but he isn’t in any fundamental sense better than you are. The American janitor or waiter sees himself as performing a service, but he doesn’t see himself as inferior to those he serves. And neither do the customers see him that way: They are generally happy to show him respect and appreciation on a plane of equality. America is the only country in the world where we call the waiter “Sir,” as if he were a knight.

The moral triumph of America is that it has extended the benefits of comfort and affluence, traditionally enjoyed by very few, to a large segment of society. Very few people in America have to wonder where their next meal is coming from. Even sick people who don’t have money or insurance will receive medical care at hospital emergency rooms. The poorest American girls are not humiliated by having to wear torn clothes. Every child is given an education, and most have the chance to go on to college. The common man can expect to live long enough and have enough free time to play with his grandchildren.

Ordinary Americans not only enjoy security and dignity, but also comforts that other societies reserve for the elite. We now live in a country where construction workers regularly pay $4 for a cappuccino, where maids drive nice cars, where plumbers take their families on vacation to Europe. As Irving Kristol once observed, there is virtually no restaurant in America to which a CEO can go to lunch with the absolute assurance that he will not find his secretary also dining there. Given the standard of living of the ordinary American, it is no wonder that socialist or revolutionary schemes have never found a wide constituency in the United States. As Werner Sombart observed, all socialist utopias in America have come to grief on roast beef and apple pie.

Thus it is entirely understandable that people would associate the idea of America with a better life. For them, money is not an end in itself; money is the means to a longer, healthier, and fuller life. Money allows them to purchase a level of security, dignity, and comfort not available in other countries. Money also frees up time for family life, community involvement, and spiritual pursuits, and so provides moral as well as material gains.

Yet even this offers an incomplete picture of why America is so appealing to so many outsiders. Let me illustrate with the example of my own life. Not long ago, I asked myself: What would my existence have been like had I never come to the United States, if I had stayed in India? Materially, my life has improved, but not in a fundamental sense. I grew up in a middle-class family in Bombay. My father was a chemical engineer; my mother, an office secretary. I was raised without great luxury, but neither did I lack for anything. My standard of living in America is higher, but it is not a radical difference. My life has changed far more dramatically in other ways.

Had I remained in India, I would probably have lived my entire existence within a one-mile radius of where I was born. I would undoubtedly have married a woman of my identical religious, socioeconomic, and cultural background. I would almost certainly have become a medical doctor, an engineer, or a software programmer. I would have socialized within my ethnic community and had few real friends outside that group. I would have a whole set of opinions that could be predicted in advance; indeed, they would not be very different from what my father believed, or his father before him. In sum, my destiny would to a large degree have been given to me.

Instead, I came to Arizona in 1978 as a high-school exchange student, then a year later enrolled at Dartmouth College. There I fell in with a group of students who were actively involved in politics; soon I had switched my major from economics to English literature. My reading included books like Plutarch’s Moralia; Hamilton, Madison, and Jay’s Federalist Papers; and Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. They transported me to places a long way from home and implanted in my mind ideas that I had never previously considered. By the time I graduated, I decided that I should become a writer. America permits many strange careers: This is a place where you can become, say, a comedian. That is very different from most places.

If there is a single phrase that encapsulates life in the Third World, it is that “birth is destiny.” A great deal of importance is attached to what tribe you come from, whether you are male or female, and whether you are the eldest son or not. Once your tribe, caste, sex and family position have been established at birth, your life takes a course that is largely determined for you.

In America, by contrast, you get to write the script of your own life. When your parents say to you, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” the question is open ended, it is you who supply the answer. Your parents can advise you: “Have you considered law school?” “Why not become the first doctor in the family?” It is considered very improper, however, for them to try to force your decision. Indeed, American parents typically send their teenage children away to college where they live on their own and learn independence. This is part of the process of forming your mind, choosing a field of interest for yourself, and developing your identity.

It is not uncommon in the United States for two brothers who come from the same gene pool and were raised in similar circumstances to do quite different things: The eldest becomes a gas station attendant, the younger moves up to be vice president at Oracle; the eldest marries his high-school sweetheart and raises four kids; the youngest refuses to settle down; one is the Methodist that he was raised to be, the other becomes a Christian Scientist. What to be, where to live, whom to marry, what to believe, what religion to practice—these are all decisions that Americans make for themselves.

In America your destiny is not prescribed; it is constructed. Your life is like a blank sheet of paper and you are the artist. This notion of being the architect of your own destiny is the incredibly powerful idea that is behind the worldwide appeal of America. Young people especially find the prospect of authoring their own lives irresistible. The immigrant discovers that America permits him to break free of the constraints that have held him captive, so that the future becomes a landscape of his own choosing.

If there is a single phrase that captures this, it is “the pursuit of happiness.” As writer V. S. Naipaul notes, “much is contained” in that simple phrase: “the idea of the individual, responsibility, choice, the life of the intellect, the idea of vocation, perfectibility, and achievement. It is an immense human idea. It cannot be reduced to a fixed system. It cannot generate fanaticism. But it is known [around the world] to exist; and because of that, other more rigid systems in the end blow away.”

But where did the “pursuit of happiness” come from? And why has it come in America to mean something much more than simple selfishness? America’s founders were religious men. They believed that political legitimacy derives from God. Yet they were determined not to permit theological differences to become the basis for political conflict.

The American system refused to establish a national church, instead recognizing all citizens as free to practice their own religion. From the beginning the United States was made up of numerous sects. The Puritans dominated in Massachusetts, the Anglicans in Virginia, the Catholics were concentrated in Maryland, so it was in every group’s interest to “live and let live.” The ingenuity of the American solution is evident in Voltaire’s remark that where there is one religion, you have tyranny; where there are two, you have religious war; but where they are many, you have freedom.

One reason the American founders were able to avoid religious oppression and conflict is that they found a way to channel people’s energies away from theological quarrels and into commercial activity. The American system is founded on property rights and trade, and The Federalist tells us that protection of the obtaining of property is “the first object of government.” The founders reasoned that people who are working assiduously to better their condition are not likely to go around spearing their neighbors.

Capitalism gives America a this-worldly focus that allows death and the afterlife to recede from everyday view. Along with their heavenly aspirations, the gaze of the people is shifted to earthly progress. This “lowering of the sights” convinces many critics that American capitalism is a base, degraded system and that the energies that drive it are crass and immoral.

These modern critiques draw on some very old prejudices. In the ancient world, labor was generally despised. The Greeks looked down on merchants and traders as low-lifes. “The gentleman understands what is noble,” Confucius writes in his Analects, “the small man understands what is profitable.” In the Indian caste system the vaisya or trader occupies nearly the lowest rung of the ladder—one step up from the despised “untouchable.” The Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun suggests that even gain by conquest is preferable to gain by trade, because conquest embodies the virtues of courage and manliness. In these traditions, the honorable life is devoted to philosophy or the priesthood or military valor. “Making a living” was considered a necessary, but undignified, pursuit. Far better to rout your adversary, kill the men, enslave the women and children, and make off with a bunch of loot than to improve your lot by buying and selling stuff.

Drawing on the inspiration of philosophers like John Locke and Adam Smith, the American founders altered this moral hierarchy. They argued that trade based on consent and mutual gain was preferable to plunder. The founders established a regime in which the self-interest of entrepreneurs and workers would be directed toward serving the wants and needs of others. In this view, the ordinary life, devoted to production, serving the customer, and supporting a family, is a noble and dignified endeavor. Hard work, once considered a curse, now becomes socially acceptable, even honorable. Commerce, formerly a degraded thing, now becomes a virtue.

Of course the founders recognized that in both the private and the public sphere, greedy and ambitious people can pose a danger to the well-being of others. Instead of trying to outlaw these passions, the founders attempted a different approach. As the fifty-first book of The Federalist puts it, “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” In a free society, “the security for civil rights [consists] in the multiplicity of interests.” The framers of the Constitution reasoned that by setting interests against each other, by making them compete, no single one could become strong enough to imperil the welfare of the whole.

In the public sphere the founders took special care to devise a system that would minimize the abuse of power. They established limited government, in order that the power of the state would remain confined. They divided authority between the national and state governments. Within the national framework, they provided for separation of powers, so that the legislature, executive, and judiciary would each have its own domain of authority. They insisted upon checks and balances, to enhance accountability.

The founders didn’t ignore the importance of virtue, but they knew that virtue is not always in abundant supply. According to Christianity, the problem of the bad person is that his will is corrupted, a fault endemic to human nature. America’s founders knew they could not transform human nature, so they devised a system that would thwart the schemes of the wicked and channel the energies of flawed persons toward the public good.

The experiment that the founders embarked upon more than two centuries ago has largely succeeded in achieving its goals. Tribal and religious battles such as we see in Lebanon, Mogadishu, Kashmir, and Belfast don’t happen here. Whites and African Americans have lunch together. Americans of Jewish and Palestinian descent collaborate on software problems and play racquetball after work. Hindus and Muslims, Serbs and Croats, Turks and Armenians, Irish Catholics and British Protestants, all seem to have forgotten their ancestral differences and joined the vast and varied American parade. Everybody wants to “make it,” to “get ahead,” to “hit it big.” And even as they compete, people recognize that somehow they are all in this together, in pursuit of some great, elusive American dream. In this respect America is a glittering symbol to the world.

America’s founders solved two great problems which are a source of perennial misery and conflict in many other societies—the problem of scarcity, and the problem of religious and tribal conflict. They invented a new regime in which citizens would enjoy a wide range of freedoms—economic freedom, political freedom, and freedom of speech and religion—in order to shape their own lives and pursue happiness. By protecting religion and government from each other, and by directing the energies of the citizens toward trade and commerce, the American founders created a rich, dynamic, and peaceful society. It is now the hope of countless millions all across the world.

Dinesh D’Souza, Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution, is author of What’s So Great About America (2002), from which this is adapted.