On this holiday, my mind is always drawn to thoughts of America and what it means, as well as how we got here. This nation has so many challenges. Today, I think that these challenges are more related to who we are and who we want to be as a people, as a nation, than perhaps at any time in our history. While I certainly can see that there are many specific problems facing us, I think that this national identity crisis (or more correctly, how it is resolved, if it is resolved) is going to have the most profound effects on how we deal with the rest of the issues -- or even our ability to deal with them at all.
Right now, I see this nation's government and related political and social discourse as a broken system. It is not functional. I am sure that it has always been somewhat this way, but we always seemed to find a way to muddle things together (historically) -- but it also seems that in the last 20 years it has become dysfunctional to the extreme that it doesn't function at all. We have lost so much of what made us "great" -- and if we are to survive in our present form we need to be able to see this for what it is, and also figure out how, exactly, to fix it. Our economy is in trouble, our government is in trouble and our people are in trouble -- not just in what is happening right now, but long term.
I had lunch with a "conservative" friend the other day (acknowledging that most folks today have absolutely no clue what a true conservative is or was -- they ascribe meanings to the term that it never had, meanings that describe the symptoms of some conservatives but which have no relationship to the traditional political description of conservatism). This friend vilifies anything he considers "liberal" -- rabidly attacking not only the political positions of anyone who disagrees with him, but their character, including the character of our current leader. Excuse me, but wasn't the almost-universally revered Thomas Jefferson a liberal? While we can certainly disagree with our political opponents, and should voice those disagreements, in the end, it is our ability to work together with civility and in compromise that is the only way a two-party system can effectively function and actually solve the problems that face it. This bitter, hating divisiveness (on both sides of the political spectrum) is crippling our country.
I don't know about you, but I don't see much civility and brotherly love happening presently. We need a modern-day Henry Clay. We need to realize that our political opposites are not Satan incarnate. George W. Bush is not the anti-Christ, and Barack Obama is not evil; so please shut up, all of you, and let our government work for a change! The inability to deal with our differences and the descent into personal attack on folks who have those differences is a function of ignorance. This is what is most frightening to me -- the evidence I see all around me that the American people are by and large ignorant and place no value on becoming less so. Since when should the unwashed ignorant have such a widespread and significant public voice? Right now, when the extreme radical fringe speaks, we listen and we often accept their nonsense as truth. And then we elect them. Why?
If that does not change; if we do not listen to those who can intelligently think through the problems we face; if we cannot put aside our philosophical differences and work together to find real and workable solutions to the problems, solutions that are somewhere between the extremes -- then the Grand Republic is lost and perhaps the world as well. I still believe my country is the world's best hope, but more today than ever, we need to take our place within a framework of global cooperation and understanding; we must recognize the rights of all peoples to exist and to be free, the same rights we vehemently voiced for ourselves in 1776.
So today, on this 234th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, I wish for my country and my people a new birth of good will and tolerance for each other and for our differences, and for others as well, in the sure understanding that our inalienable rights are, in fact, universal. I wish for us a new dedication to knowledge and education and a renewed appreciation for its over-arching value to a self-governing and informed people. Let us make ourselves worthy of the gifts of peace and freedom that we have been given, let us support these gifts for all peoples, and let us hand them down undiminished to our descendants. This is our birthright, our privilege and our responsibility. Happy birthday, America! I love you.
Right now, I see this nation's government and related political and social discourse as a broken system. It is not functional. I am sure that it has always been somewhat this way, but we always seemed to find a way to muddle things together (historically) -- but it also seems that in the last 20 years it has become dysfunctional to the extreme that it doesn't function at all. We have lost so much of what made us "great" -- and if we are to survive in our present form we need to be able to see this for what it is, and also figure out how, exactly, to fix it. Our economy is in trouble, our government is in trouble and our people are in trouble -- not just in what is happening right now, but long term.
I had lunch with a "conservative" friend the other day (acknowledging that most folks today have absolutely no clue what a true conservative is or was -- they ascribe meanings to the term that it never had, meanings that describe the symptoms of some conservatives but which have no relationship to the traditional political description of conservatism). This friend vilifies anything he considers "liberal" -- rabidly attacking not only the political positions of anyone who disagrees with him, but their character, including the character of our current leader. Excuse me, but wasn't the almost-universally revered Thomas Jefferson a liberal? While we can certainly disagree with our political opponents, and should voice those disagreements, in the end, it is our ability to work together with civility and in compromise that is the only way a two-party system can effectively function and actually solve the problems that face it. This bitter, hating divisiveness (on both sides of the political spectrum) is crippling our country.
I don't know about you, but I don't see much civility and brotherly love happening presently. We need a modern-day Henry Clay. We need to realize that our political opposites are not Satan incarnate. George W. Bush is not the anti-Christ, and Barack Obama is not evil; so please shut up, all of you, and let our government work for a change! The inability to deal with our differences and the descent into personal attack on folks who have those differences is a function of ignorance. This is what is most frightening to me -- the evidence I see all around me that the American people are by and large ignorant and place no value on becoming less so. Since when should the unwashed ignorant have such a widespread and significant public voice? Right now, when the extreme radical fringe speaks, we listen and we often accept their nonsense as truth. And then we elect them. Why?
If that does not change; if we do not listen to those who can intelligently think through the problems we face; if we cannot put aside our philosophical differences and work together to find real and workable solutions to the problems, solutions that are somewhere between the extremes -- then the Grand Republic is lost and perhaps the world as well. I still believe my country is the world's best hope, but more today than ever, we need to take our place within a framework of global cooperation and understanding; we must recognize the rights of all peoples to exist and to be free, the same rights we vehemently voiced for ourselves in 1776.
So today, on this 234th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, I wish for my country and my people a new birth of good will and tolerance for each other and for our differences, and for others as well, in the sure understanding that our inalienable rights are, in fact, universal. I wish for us a new dedication to knowledge and education and a renewed appreciation for its over-arching value to a self-governing and informed people. Let us make ourselves worthy of the gifts of peace and freedom that we have been given, let us support these gifts for all peoples, and let us hand them down undiminished to our descendants. This is our birthright, our privilege and our responsibility. Happy birthday, America! I love you.
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