An Experiment Called Democracy

60: (June 2022)

If ever there was a time to remind ourselves that our country is an experiment in democracy, it’s now. Many of the lofty ideas and ideals that those in my generation grew up with as givens are being thrown into question — or thrown out altogether. But the most surreal part of what we are now experiencing is the lack of a collective view of reality; everything is up for grabs.

In watching the January 6 hearings, it appears that many people in authority in our country (past and/or present) simply rewrite facts, blithely turning them into fictions that they then choose to label as reality when it’s convenient to do so. But the most astonishing thing to me is that a lot of people don’t seem to care that this is happening. Truth-telling seems to be a forgotten value. Who have we become as a people?

We are a violent and divided country. We are a racist country. These are undeniable truths that are indeed hard to acknowledge. But face them we must if we are to become better – more peaceful, united, just. We cannot be complacent any longer. We cannot rest on laurels of the past, or believe that our country will magically be a great nation. We have to be engaged and put effort into preserving what is good while re-making the parts that have suffered from rot and neglect.

Let’s educate our youth. Let’s be politically engaged and join in peaceful protests when called to do so. Let’s make sure to exercise our right to vote each and every time we are given the opportunity. It’s up to us, because we actually are the United States. Our country is an idea made up of people. We continue to build this idea on the backs of all those who came before us, and in some cases died to uphold this idea. Let’s honor them by putting effort into making our country a place where truth can shine and justice for all becomes a shared reality.

40: (June 2002)

It is a time when we hear a lot of talk about our country. We tend to take pride in what is “ours.”  But is that pride earned? Most of us were born into this country; it became “ours” by birthright. But is that enough to lay claim to it? Unless we actively take care of the country, that pride becomes empty flag-waving.

What is our country? Is it a place? Sometimes I slip into thinking of our country as an entity, yet even if one walked its borders it could not be truly grasped as a physical thing. What makes our country real, what truly defines our country, is a collection of ideals, ever refined over time. It is where ideas are allowed, in fact, encouraged, to soar, ever pushing the imagination. That is its glory at its finest.

We must continue to strive, to yearn, toward the ideals upon which it was founded, like justice and liberty. Justice is not usually a black and white issue. We must constantly struggle to discern what is just within the complications of varied interests and points of view. Liberty can be equally confounding; one person’s freedom can appear to be another’s enslavement. As part “owners” of our country, we need to participate as fully as we are able in the creative process—the creative process is our country.

We must remind ourselves to be alive to the demands that our country makes upon us by responsibly participating in its life: voting, teaching our children what our country means, thinking about and debating issues, venturing opinions, risking new thoughts. Our country is a free-floating collection of ideals, a radical miracle. It is up to us to continue to keep it vibrantly alive through our words and actions.

When my daughters and I were in Pennsylvania, we took a 2-hour horseback tour over the battlegrounds of Gettysburg. Riding over that soil where a great many people lost their lives, I contemplated over what people were so willing to die for. Sometimes ideals can seem larger than life; they can give meaning to life. That is powerful. That is what our country is made of. And of that, we can be proud.

60-40:

The past two decades have certainly been tumultuous in many ways, but this particular point in time seems more so than ever. There’s an urgency to take stock of what we value most deeply about our country, of what we aspire for it to become. 

There’s no time to lose to do what we can to bring those values and aspirations to life. It’s not a time that can withstand complacency; there’s absolutely no time for that if this experiment in democracy is to survive.