I’ve been working hard so far to keep things on this blog away from politics (despite it being my background.) But on this, the eve of our great National holiday, I’m going to take a moment and reflect on a few opinions about that state of our Union.
Our country is in turmoil. Today, we are more divided, more restless, and more segregated than we ever should be. We continue to allow ourselves to be torn apart by parties and people who profit from the arguments rather than lead the debates. We’ve lost statesmanship and compromise and instead entrench ourselves further into our own opinions and biases because it makes for good TV and a sense of tribalism that feels good to us as individuals, even as it tears us apart as a country. And most frightening, we’ve allowed ourselves time and time again to be distracted by things that matter little while ignoring (or being lead from) things that matter much.
For my own perspective, the problem is rooted in education; or specifically the lack thereof. In my many discussions of issues with friends, family, co-workers, and acquaintances, I find myself more often having to explain the issue than being able to discuss the issue. Our collective ignorance over such basic constructs as how our Constitution is written, how our government is supposed to function is staggering. No wonder we can so easily be distracted by nonsense; we don’t know what’s supposed to be happening to be able to check if it happening.
239 years ago this Saturday our forefathers set forth a profound statement about freedom and government. On what it meant to be taxed, to be ruled, and governed. But more importantly, that man was born free and that any restriction of those freedoms must be surrendered voluntarily- not taken by force of law. The ideas from which our government would be born began that day. Ideas so powerful that men would shed blood and give their lives in pursuit of making that dream a reality. For the next 12 years, these men dedicated their lives to creating a system of government that would come to re-define freedom in the world.
239 years ago, a small group of heartfelt rebels lit a fire that would become a guiding light for generations to come. And yet today, I sincerely wonder if that eternal flame is no more than a flicker. A monument so old that collectively we’ve forgotten it’s meaning. But there’s hope- because we still have it’s meaning made available to us.
So my challenge to you is this. Go read the Declaration of Independence. Read the Constitution. Read the Federalist Papers. Read Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Read not just the things that are, but the things that explain them as well. Take this weekend and try to understand, try to learn, how things are supposed to work. Go past the sound bites and the political rhetoric of today and look to what is really there. And then, maybe, we can all start having conversations about the issues the right way.
But that’s just my opinion...
God Bless America.
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