“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
–Jeremiah 6:16
Tag Archives: conflict and society
A Conflicted Legacy
The emergence of modern civilization from philosophical roots in Europe generated ideas and social ferment that influenced the early American identity profoundly.
The new ethos was grounded in the belief that a rational humanity, freed to recreate the world through the power of reason, must be capable of discovering effectual truth. And, as noted in the previous post, this belief was accompanied by the expectation that human beings would soon master nature.
From these convictions there arose a faith that we would, in the words of philosopher and political scientist Michael Allen Gillespie, ultimately secure “universal freedom, general prosperity, and perpetual peace.”
It was under this dynamic influence that the American identity began to take shape.
The idea of a promising future for humankind was powerful, inspiring confidence in the potential to free ourselves from the shackles of an oppressive past. And, for the thousands of European immigrants disembarking in the New World, a working knowledge of philosophy was not required.
Everyone knew what America represented, and the promise, however primal and unformed it might be, came to root itself deeply in the emerging American identity.
Europeans were fascinated by the self-assured confidence of the American character, and Americans were energized by their freedom from the fetters of European cultures, institutions, and domineering governments.
There were ample crises and controversies, of course, to arouse and vitalize the new nation as it struggled to find its feet. We did not agree on much. The country was saddled with the unfinished business of its European past: the scar of slavery, the tensions between moneyed and working classes, and the prejudices of religion, race, and nationality.
Yet, a potent hopefulness prevailed as wave after wave of new arrivals powered the growth of a seemingly insatiable industrial economy. The ideas continued to generate a confident vision on both sides of the Atlantic throughout the nineteenth century.
But then things started to go terribly wrong.
Professor Gillespie has described the shock of events in the twentieth century:
“The view of history as progress was severely shaken by the cataclysmic events of the first half of the twentieth century, the World Wars, the Great Depression, the rise of totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. What had gone wrong? Modernity, which had seemed on the verge of providing universal security, liberating human beings from all forms of oppression, and producing an unprecedented human thriving, had in fact ended in a barbarism almost unknown in previous human experience.
“The tools that had been universally regarded as the source of human flourishing had been the source of unparalleled human destruction. And finally, the politics of human liberation had proved to be the means to human enslavement and degradation. The horror evoked by these cataclysmic events was so overwhelming that it called into question not merely the idea of progress and enlightenment but also the idea of modernity and the conception of Western civilization itself.”
We have admired the generation of Americans who prevailed during the Great Depression and World War II. We like to call them “The Greatest Generation.” They did not forget. They remained proud and frugal for the rest of their lives, though many of their children failed to understand.
They are mostly gone now. How many of us today know what they knew? …We, who have drowned ourselves in materialism purchased with debt.
What happened?
I believe we have tried to walk away from the past with little understanding of what had happened. Both the fear of debt and the horrifying perversity of the war have been largely repressed and lost to memory.
The practical limits of freedom in a complex world have started to close in on our lives, unforgiving in the absence of rational judgment and moral responsibility.
Are we ready to reflect on where we have come from and to confront the present confluence of crises with our eyes wide open?
Tom
Next week: The Will to Freedom
Freedom and Individualism
Colonial America was influenced significantly by philosophical ideas concerning freedom and the control of nature that many of us take for granted today.
One of the most influential of these ideas is the concept of independent human individuality, generally attributed to such thinkers as Petrarch and Erasmus, which emerged to form the conceptual foundations for the humanist movement.
Individualism has sometimes been associated with egotism and selfishness, but the concept was originally conceived as respect for the validity of the views and experience of the individual within his or her own sphere, and the ideal that each of us should be encouraged to develop our own natural gifts.
Humanism developed as a dialog among Christian thinkers and generated considerable controversy. Some of the resulting conflicts have never been resolved. The particular ideas that ultimately became most influential in the development of western civilization focused on the will to freedom and the notion of human control over nature.
Writing of this history, the American philosopher and political scientist Michael Allen Gillespie, a professor at Duke University, has observed that “modernity has two goals – to make man master and possessor of nature and to make human freedom possible. The question that remains is whether these two are compatible with one another.” (2008)
These ideas had a profound impact. First appearing during the European Renaissance, the historic transition from medieval to modern times, humanism gradually crystallized into the conviction that an ideal future civilization would bring freedom and prosperity to the world through the progress of science and rational governance.
To many the United States of America came to embody that promise.
The philosophical contradictions were, however, swept under the carpet and remain to this day. The fact that nature and the physical realm, (as well as the inevitable constraints of a complex society), impose limits to freedom rarely enters into consideration.
What limits? Well, we care for our families, whatever that requires. We cooperate with the necessary requirements of our employment. We commit ourselves willingly to civic engagements: athletic teams or dance recitals for our kids, charitable organizations and religious communities, all of which can take up most of our wakeful hours. And, we rarely fail to notice the impositions made upon us by government and the weather.
As with our social circumstances, the physical environment is an ever-present reality in our lives. We normally take these things for granted. But, there is more. The challenges to our sense of personal independence and integrity seem to be everywhere now. Even our principles are challenged.
By definition the word “freedom” implies that there is something we wish “to be free from.”
Many things can chafe in life, particularly the actions of others. Domineering and dysfunctional institutions are particularly aggravating in a time of deteriorating conditions. Yet, human beings have risen above the natural constraints in life to find meaning in a free society.
What is it that the world gained with the founding of the United States?
I believe we will find it useful to reflect on the development of our assumptions about freedom, a range of ideas that are central to the American character and have co-existed for 200 years with apparent ease, but which contain certain logical inconsistencies.
Clear thinking is of great importance today. A lack of clarity could subvert our best intentions, allowing muddled assumptions to fester behind the tension and contentiousness that threatens our self-confidence at the present turning point.
I suggest that we each reflect on what freedom means to us personally, not simply as a principle but in our immediate lives. We will explore this and related questions here in the coming weeks.
Tom
Next week: A Conflicted Legacy.
Grit and Grace
Americans today face a critical moment in time, arguably as profound as any in our history. Freedom of opportunity, social justice, and the preservation of our ability to seek personal goals are all at stake. The character of the nation appears to be in question. Our sense of identity as a people has been shaken.
We are experiencing the present adversity as an American crisis, and it is. But it is taking place in the context of a great turning point in the human story, a period of time when an unprecedented number of monumental crises are converging across the globe. Our own crisis is inextricably intertwined with the affairs of the world.
Never has there been a greater need for the stability of the American vision.
I have proposed a simple, yet demanding course of constructive action that can lead toward agreement concerning shared values and principles. If we have the will, it can also provide a platform for seeking a shared vision of the future, and drafting a strategy for getting ourselves there.
This will be extremely difficult for Americans to carry off. But, I do not believe we have a choice. Without a willingness to engage with one another in this a way, I do not expect this nation to survive as a democratic republic.
We must find our way with both grit and grace, navigating through complex, interacting crises. We face a transition that can be expected to dominate the course of the 21st century.
The outcome will depend on our character as a people, and our understanding of the fundamental structural change in social, economic, and environmental realities that will confront us each step of the way.
Necessity presents us with stark, uncomfortable choices. We can give free reign to anger and disillusionment, allowing ourselves to be dragged down to a demoralized helplessness. Or we can determine to stand firmly together as a people, rising above our differences to meet the challenges that confront us.
Are we prepared to preserve core values, even as we forge a genuinely American response to the evolving conditions of an unexpected and unprecedented series of crises?
Will we have the vision, courage, and fortitude to commit ourselves to principled means and constructive action?
I will not offer a political philosophy, nor will I speak of ultimate goals. Fundamental values and a shared purpose must be determined by the American people. Rather, I will propose the means for doing this.
Both this blog and the forthcoming book identify principles I consider necessary for undertaking this endeavor, and suggest the qualities of character, attitude, and responsibility that can bring us through a profound turning point in our national experience.
I ask that we turn away from the dishonesty and deceit of partisan politics to address the needs and problems in our local communities.
A practical approach is offered that transcends religious, philosophical, and partisan views. It leverages the strength of local communities willing to foster genuine unity while capitalizing on their diversity.
I leave the ultimate vision of the future to you: the American people.
In addressing the epic challenges confronting us in the coming years, it will be necessary to manage our relationships and responsibilities with honesty and integrity. These virtues must be sought determinedly and without faltering, however dark the prospect.
I ask Americans to rise above our differences in the conviction that however immense the tests we face, however the world changes around us, however diverse our personal circumstances, this nation must not be permitted to abandon its founding vision and ultimate purpose.
Tom
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A Different Kind of Nation
The United States Constitution holds a unique place in the history of the world. The framers devised a new model for governance in 1787, conceived with a vision that has endured for more than two hundred years.
Are we willing to overlook the subsequent missteps and mistakes, the rude and selfish behavior, to consider what is truly of value to us? Are we prepared to step forward to reconstruct and defend what we wish to preserve?
If we let this inheritance die, what will we have lost?
The record has not always been pretty, but how could we expect anything like perfection when we have gathered the human race together from across the world into the managed chaos of a democratic republic?
We are blessed with a brilliantly conceived structure for governance that has channeled the creative genius of the world’s people into a dynamic force for capacity-building and prosperity.
As I tried to illustrate in the previous post, the framers made a studied effort to see the end in the beginning. We now stand at another profound turning point in history, a moment that will require a similar visionary maturity from Americans of all colors, stripes, and viewpoints.
There are those who think 200 years is a reasonable age for a democratic republic to reach its’ natural demise. However, the United States of America is not just any democratic republic. And, I have yet to hear the voices of failure suggest an ultimate outcome.
I think it more reasonable to understand 200 years as the age of maturity, influenced in part by the affairs of the world, when this nation must necessarily come of age.
We have responsibility for a trust that is grounded in the heritage of the American idea. It is the responsibility to provide an immensely complex and now faltering world with the stability required to support the next surge forward by the human race.
This is a trust that no other nation has the vision, the strength of will or generosity of spirit, to embrace. Brought into focus by the vision of the American founders, it shines even now from the darkness, confident amid danger and hardship.
Imperfections remain. Those who point to the evils and injustices of the past are serving a necessary role. We must not forget what was ignoble or wrongly conceived. It is not helpful, however, to condemn the vision and good will that give character to what the world has admired.
Questions remain. Thoughtful citizens will consider the requirements that freedom makes in the way we handle our civil discourse, our disagreements and decision-making. Surely there can be no freedom for thought, for creativity, for economic advancement in the absence of a civil society that provides the space to engage freely and without fear.
Recognizing the necessity for the stable social order upon which all else depends, a practical reality confronts each of us every day. This is where the rubber meets the road.
Have we matured to the degree that we can listen compassionately to one another, explain our own views patiently, and, when necessary, live with our differences?
Do we have the capacity to approach freedom of expression responsibly, to work with one another respectfully? The crises-fueled tensions of the early 21st century leave us wondering.
Ultimately, freedom and prosperity depend upon our ability to engage in meaningful problem-solving, and to accept our differences within the supporting constraints of commonly held principles.
Why should we do this?
Because we are all Americans, that’s why.
Because we can resolve to regain our footing and get ourselves moving again in the right direction. And, because if we fail we could lose everything.
Tom
Next week: American Identity, American Heritage
Freedom and Stability in Governance
The structure of the Constitution is simple yet profound. It carefully restrains the passions of factionalism, however intense, from imposing destructively on either minority or majority. It limits the potential for regional conflict and ensures the strength to confront external threats.
It is the antagonistic divisiveness current among Americans that concerns us here.
“Give all the power to the many,” wrote Alexander Hamilton, “they will oppress the few. Give all the power to the few, they will oppress the many.”
To understand how and why we depend on the Constitution as we navigate through crises, it will be useful to consider both the carefully reasoned manner in which it was conceived and the negative reaction that it at first inspired.
The founders made a great effort to see into the future.
It can be instructive to review some of the numerous essays and polemics that were published in the American colonies during the period when the proposed document was being considered for ratification. Among these, a series of 85 commentaries was published in 1787 and 1788 for the purpose of supporting ratification by three members of the Constitutional Convention.
The three writers, who originally shared the pseudonym, “Publius”, were Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. Later consolidated into a single volume as The Federalist, the assembled papers were said by Thomas Jefferson, another participant at the Convention, to be “the best commentary on the principles of government, which ever was written,” a view many legal scholars agree with today.
The Federalist remains an authoritative text often cited in major court cases and has appeared in the debates surrounding virtually every constitutional crisis. Another collection entitled The Anti-Federalist Papers, edited by Ralph Ketcham, is also easily available.
Readers are encouraged to investigate the issues reflected in the debate that led to ratification.
In the end, the outcome turned out not to be in question except in New York, where the State Constitutional Convention passed it by only three votes. But, the debates remain instructive and bear a strong similarity to many of those we find ourselves engaged in today.
As an example, I refer you here to the way the framers of the Constitution addressed an inevitable challenge to both fundamental freedoms and effective governance.
In The Federalist, Number 10, James Madison argues that there is no more important purpose in structuring a sound government than that of limiting the “violence” of factionalism.
Responding to the issues prevalent in the colonies immediately following the Revolutionary War, Madison writes that: “Complaints are everywhere heard…, that our governments are too unstable; that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties; and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice, and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.”
Does this not sound familiar to the citizen of today?
Madison continues:
“As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed. As long as the connection subsists between his reason and his self-love, his opinions and his passions will have a reciprocal influence on each other; and the former will be objects to which the latter will attach themselves.
“The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society…. So strong is this propensity of mankind, to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions, and to excite their most violent conflicts.
“But the most common and durable source of factions, has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society. Those who are creditors, and those who are debtors, fall under a like discrimination. A landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a monied interest, with many lesser interests, grow up of necessity in civilized nations, and divide them into different classes, actuated by different sentiments and views.
“The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation, and involves the spirit of party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of government….
“The inference to which we are brought,” Madison concludes, “is that the causes of faction cannot be removed; and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects.”
Tom
Next week: A different kind of nation
Freedom and Stability: A Careful Balance
We are confronted today with increasing danger and instability. In rebuilding the dynamic balance between freedom and stability in the United States, there are many negative forces and potential threats to be acknowledged.
We must act carefully and not throw away our inheritance.
Americans have been provided with a simple and carefully considered model for governance that has protected us from most forms of excess for 200 years.
Our politicians have complicated things, but the basic principles are plain and straightforward. Where partisanship or bad judgment have corrupted good governance, the unique structure of our republican form of government has always guided the return to reason, however tough the medicine or jarring the upheaval.
Sometimes all we see are the threats to principle or the dysfunction of institutions. But the constitutional structure we have inherited has a durable balance that will always recover.
To correct serious problems such as we see today, it will be necessary to keep our purpose in perspective. And surely our immediate purpose includes the safety of our families and the ability to address pressing material problems in cooperation with our neighbors.
A balance is necessary between local and national. We have allowed our personal responsibility to slide and permitted distortions to develop.
Ours is a nation of both principles and laws. This provides a degree of stability and allows us to listen to one another respectfully – if we so chose.
The Constitution provides us with a structure within which to manage our affairs and restrain abusive behaviors. It was not intended to outlaw foolishness, and it has not. Rather it was designed to permit a nation to emerge and prosper while protecting minorities from the majority, the majority from minorities, and the government from itself.
The framers of the Constitution recognized that our liberties can only be defended by confronting the natural human propensity to impose ourselves on one another whenever possible. Without some degree of federal power, they believed that the natural rancor of politics would lead to the oppression of minorities, wars between independent states, and vulnerability to external threats.
However, this centralized power must be constrained by a vigilant citizenry. We must take responsibility for making the structure work as it was intended. A balance must be ensured by citizens who understand the meaning and purpose of this unique form of governance.
If we seek to build a world where prosperity is possible, where our children can be safe and personal freedoms are respected, it will be necessary to first create a stable environment for addressing problems, resolving conflicts, and building effective institutions.
In my view, this can only be done in the context of organized, self-possessed and forward-looking local communities — our own communities.
Community is the seat of civilization, made genuine because it is personal. It is in our local communities that we engage one another face to face, cementing trust, tending to needs, learning patience and responsibility. Here it is among friends and neighbors that we can find the confidence to envision the future and look forward from the disorder of the present.
Our strength comes with diversity and our readiness to rise above our differences to build a vibrant, welcoming and free-spirited society. This is the essence of our heritage, our humanity, and the source of the nation’s greatness.
Trust and responsibility don’t just appear by good fortune. They are formed in the trials of necessity and hardship, and inspired by commitment and purpose.
Beyond the boundaries of family, community is that place where immediate needs present themselves and must be resolved. As government loses its capacity to manage, we will have no one to look to except ourselves.
Americans have abdicated personal responsibility for this aspect of civilized life for a long time, and we have done so at our peril.
It was not always this way. Prior to the American Revolution and for close to 100 years afterward Americans gravitated easily, even impulsively, toward decentralized local governance and an independent frame of mind.
They managed their own affairs in cooperation with their neighbors and accepted regional autonomy as a natural condition.
I believe the time has come to accept responsibility for what we have been given by those who came before us.
Tom
Next week: Freedom and Stability in Governance
Compassion is hard…
“Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it….
“Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain…. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.”
–Henri J.M. Nouwen
Lessons From a Painful Past
The 20th Century brought an immense wealth of marvelous advances into the world – scientific, intellectual, cultural. Yet it was a century of appalling violence, the most destructive in all of human history. An estimated 167 million to 188 million people died at human hands.
The century that produced communism, facism, and nationalism also saw the invention of highly efficient weaponry, and a willingness to direct it against civilian populations on a massive scale.
Perhaps it would be wise for us to look at our current problems in historical context. Will we, as Americans still enjoying the relative isolation afforded by two great oceans, recognize how easy it is for terrible things to happen?
A balanced perspective would lend wisdom to our endeavors and offer important lessons. At the present historic turning point humankind can least afford to repeat the horrifying errors of the past. And how easy it would be to do.
In his 2006 book, The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West, the historian Niall Ferguson, who I have introduced to you previously, wrote that “the hundred years after 1900 were without question the bloodiest century in modern history, far more violent in relative as well as absolute terms than any previous era. . . . There was not a single year before, between or after the world wars that did not see large-scale violence in one part of the world or another.”
I believe Niall Ferguson’s analysis is of value to us because he departs from the typical explanations blaming weaponry and fascist governments, as significant as these were, and instead identifies ethnic conflict, economic volatility, and declining empires as the true causes.
In short, he reminds us of our human vulnerability to emotional insecurity, fear, and tribalism.
The “confluence of crises” I am writing about involves elements of all these things, but also a range of newly emerging concerns that have become apparent more recently, and are related more or less to the material limits of population growth, environmental and resource sustainability, and the capability of technology to maintain critical systems or mitigate major problems.
In every case, regardless of the particular nature of oncoming crises, the challenges we face as individuals and families come into focus as we respond to immediate threats. And, as Dr. Ferguson points out, it is the overreaction of people under pressure that leads to the most terrible violence.
It is my view, as most readers know, that our local communities are the only place where we have the capability and reasonable hope of controlling our lives going forward.
The difference between a violent past and a civilized future will depend entirely on the manner in which we relate to one another, approach problems, and organize our local affairs. In a word, the distinction between past and future will be our attitude.
Community-building is the context in which we can best respond, creatively and constructively, to the degradation taking place around us. It can provide us with the means to build trust with friends and neighbors and to take responsibility for meeting local needs and addressing local problems.
Here it is that we can undertake to work together for the greater good as loyal compatriots. Here it is that the real needs of real lives can be identified and addressed.
And, it is in the process of problem-solving and working shoulder-to-shoulder that we can begin to know, understand, and influence one another.
We must be realistic. Great numbers of people remain under the influence of ingrained prejudices of ethnicity, gender, religion and class. This will only change as we rise above our differences to address the felt-needs we face together in a difficult world.
Patience and determination make many things possible, but necessity brings everything sharply into focus. Interpersonal alienation wanes as we identify common concerns and develop a deepening sense of unity around common purpose.
Tom
Next week: Seeing the end in the beginning
A note to readers: You may find related chapter drafts posted on this site of some interest. See especially Chapter Six: The Ground of Freedom, and Chapter Nine: The Individual in Society.
Indulgence, pride, a lack of shame…
“Self-centered indulgence, pride, and a lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle.”
–Billy Graham
“Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.”
–Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1840)
A Confluence of Crises
The United States and the world have arrived at an historic turning point. We face a formidable array of complex crises. The challenges are diverse, profound, and mutually reinforcing. Some will impose themselves suddenly, others gradually, but all will ultimately converge as they impact our lives during the coming years.
Most Americans are aware today of certain dangers and other highly politicized concerns, which appear against the backdrop of deteriorating economic conditions and growing civil disorder. I do not question the importance of these issues. Rather, I draw your attention to additional significant, but perhaps less obvious threats that we should all be aware of.
I have posted a list of many of the dangers and dilemmas we face, (see June 26 blog: “Crisis and Opportunity”), which are emerging into view at virtually the same time: social and economic, moral and material. Some are specific to the United States, but most involve global socio-economic, financial, geopolitical, and environmental systems, which are essentially ungovernable and beyond our control.
Perhaps some might once have been governable – in theory. But, it is too late now.
Many are material in nature. One sobering example is the vulnerability of structural systems in the United States to cyber-attack or, in certain cases, power failure.
Such a crisis could easily cut off all telecommunications, broadcast media, the internet, air-traffic control, emergency services and hospital functions – without warning. It could disrupt distribution systems, leaving supermarket shelves bare. Damage to the national grid could be so severe that it would take days or weeks to repair.
In this confluence of crises, the fabric of civil society and economic order will be challenged. Systems and structures could come unraveled in a self-perpetuating chain of events.
The interrelated complexity of the world is the function of what is known as a “whole system”. We are experiencing a multi-dimensional crisis of the whole, possibly leading to a cascading collapse.
Our response must, of necessity, be rational, principled. Our salvation will be in our comprehension of the ultimate integrity of the whole, a reality both physical and spiritual. And here is the crux of the matter. Behind the material problems is a silent, central and transcendent crisis that is of ultimate significance.
This is a crisis of a different kind, and it will determine the eventual outcome.
I speak here of the loss of moral compass, the absence of ethical and spiritual grounding that precludes personal responsibility and accountability, and an abdication of reason that threatens the very foundations of civil order.
This is the most profound crisis – and the most dangerous — because it represents a subversion of the integral order of human culture and civilization.
Whatever our particular religious tradition or philosophical grounding, the difficult years ahead will demand a steadfast commitment to the highest ethical standards, to consistent moral responsibility and a compassionate readiness to cooperate with others.
Our ability to engage constructively with our neighbors will be essential. While there is much we will not agree on, we must learn to work together, to listen respectfully, and to translate our differences into language that can be understood and respected by everyone.
We will be dependent on our local communities to be safe and trustworthy.
A few days ago I posted an important quotation from John Adams. Scroll down and take a look at it. This is the bridge that must be crossed. When things get bad enough, this will happen again.
A quiet but courageous and visionary leadership will be called upon to facilitate this transit – to gather Americans together, to learn what needs to be learned, to meet local needs and resolve local problems.
We face a dangerous passage through a chaotic transition. Many will turn to violent rhetoric and extremist philosophies out of failure to recognize the integral order.
An American leadership that is true to its roots will stand firmly against such mental weakening, because the violence of sedition, whether it comes from above or below, will threaten the loss of everything this nation has meant to the American people.
The quiet American leadership I speak of is you, dear reader. We have no one to depend on but ourselves. If we prepare ourselves mentally and morally, the rest can be sorted out.
Tom
Next week: New dangers, intelligent responses
American Crucible
The extraordinary challenges confronting the American people mark an unequivocal turning point and, indeed, impose an unambiguous test of America’s place in history.
For more than two hundred years the United States has stood before the world as a beacon of hope, a source of creative vibrancy, imagination and ingenuity, and as a singular model of political freedom, social diversity, and economic vitality.
In the crush of crisis it is easy to forget the historic stature of the United States, and the role it has played and will continue to play in the progress of an ever-advancing civilization.
Yet, our confidence in the future is shaken by abandoned responsibility and collapsing institutions. Our economic well-being and social coherence as a nation have been weakened, and the generosity of spirit for which we have long been known appears dimmed.
In observance of Independence Day, and in honor of the many new readers who have joined the blog in recent weeks, I am stepping away from the current topic to revisit the central theme of the forthcoming book.
Blog posts usually appear each Friday, both here and on the Facebook page. You will find a proposed table of contents here, an introduction to the book, and full drafts of several chapters. This post is adapted from Chapter One, “American Crucible.”
Do we possess the vision and resolve to join one another in rebuilding the foundations of the United States based on its’ core values and ultimate meaning? Are we prepared to rise above our differences for the sake of “the American idea?”
I believe this is a time to consider our identity as a people.
My message is brief. It will be short on analytical detail and will avoid blame. There is more than enough blame to go around and we all know about it. Rather, it will focus on the essentials of mind and attitude, of moral character, and of our relationships with one another that will be required to turn things around – to turn despair into courage and failure into honor and self-respect.
The book will acknowledge some of the basic errors of the past that must be avoided if we are to forge a realistic course into the future. We will briefly consider the manner in which Americans have given up control of our lives and made ourselves vulnerable to the present circumstances.
However, we will do so not to fix blame, but for the purpose of understanding the steps to securing a free and stable future.
We all yearn for a less partisan and more civil national discourse. Let us accept that diverse views are needed, however divergent they may be, if we are to correctly identify effective solutions. Practical problem-solving best occurs with input from varied perspectives. And, I must point out that in the present dangerously fragile context, priority must go to ensuring the safety and well-being of our families and communities. This will depend on loyalty, cooperation, and teamwork – despite our differences.
There can be no freedom without trust. And, we cannot begin to address the larger issues in our future without first securing stable local forums in which to engage with civility.
Is this really possible? Yes, but only with great patience and a capacity to envision the end in the beginning.
The United States has gained its vitality from our diversity and the creative engagement found in the clash of differing opinions. Our differences must never be permitted to subvert the unity of purpose that secures the identity of the nation. This immense energy can only be productive if disciplined by civil discourse, steadfast commitment, and a shared vision.
At a time of extraordinary existential threat we are confronted with a stark choice.
Will we return to the founding principles of these United States as the foundation for building a free, ethical, and prosperous future? Will we defend and protect two hundred years of commitment, hard work, and sacrifice by generations of Americans who have given their lives to this unprecedented vision?
Or, will we give way to the emotions of uncompromising partisanship – and allow a great trust to disintegrate?
Tom
Next week: A Confluence of Crises
Liberty and the American Idea 