We stand today at a moment of reckoning for America and for humanity.  We would do well to think carefully about the future in which we wish to live.  Whatever our personality, philosophy, or religious belief, we have an unavoidable choice to make. 

Either we retreat into ourselves, accepting what is given and assuming it is beyond our control, or we will step forward to engage with the challenges as constructively and responsibly as possible. 

The choice we make will be profoundly significant—for ourselves, for our communities, and for America. 

We have entered a time of severe and interacting crises.  We are confronted with momentous structural change—as well as the consequences of human error. 

Yes, many mistakes have been made, and many have resulted from our failure to understand what is happening.  Mistakes are inevitable when human civilization collides with its practical limits. 

We are confronted with the need to reconsider our assumptions, our way of thinking.  The present crisis involves wide-ranging technical, social, and moral challenges.

The world is experiencing structural change, which impacts our society and our lives in numerous ways.

Economic instability has been growing for decades.  The rich are getting richer while the rest are losing ground.

Social disorder is accompanied by irresponsible behavior and increasing violence.  Collapsing mental health reveals itself with mass-murder, suicide, and interpersonal conflict.

A steady erosion of trust has coincided with disorder and dislocation.  The widespread loss of hopefulness, compassion, and sense of personal responsibility are all emblematic. 

Social degradation encourages impulsive and sometimes aggressive behavior, often based on misinformation or unexamined assumptions.

As individual citizens we are limited in our ability to respond constructively to such extraordinary and disturbing conditions.

We can no longer depend on governments or institutions or organized partisan factions to provide for local safety and security.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed.  Yet there are many things we can do, and which each of us is capable of doing.

It will only be possible to respond effectively if we prepare ourselves with our neighbors.  Only in authentic community—true community—will security become possible.

Only in engaged personal relationships that transcend our differences can trust be learned and collaborative action become possible.

We have differences.  If we allow them to come between us, we will fail.  Diversity is our primary source of strength, and we must learn to make it work for us.

The greater the challenges before us, the more we will need a diversity of experience and perspective, knowledge and skills—to seek safety with our neighbors and to make it through hard times. 

We are capable of doing this.  But we can only succeed by doing it together, united by our humanity, regardless of our religion, our politics, or the shade of our skin. 

To shun diversity will be to invite total loss.

History testifies that the human soul has a purpose that transcends hardship and conquers pain.  We have the capacity to actualize the inborn promise of a just, dependable, and prosperous future.

I come to you with the premise that safety, well-being, and civil order all depend on the foundation of local community.  This is the ground of personal identity and the place where we belong.

The only future we can count on will be found in the communities we create.

Tom

My book is “Liberty and the American Idea: Rebuilding the Foundations” by Tom Harriman.  It is available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book sellers.  And, it will help.

You may watch for the next post on or about April 1.