These Are the Times That Try Men’s Souls-

Prophetic to say the least.  Famous words from Tom Paine’s “The American Crisis.” So moving, that Washington required it read to his troops at a time that the American cause was in doubt. Regardless, Paine’s inference was clear: the times have always tried men’s souls. Without dedication, without effort, there is no real allegiance, no true commitment. Personal interests can and do, routinely take precedence over greater needs.

…The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us – that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem to lightly. It is dearness only that gives everything its value.”

Whether on the field of battle or not, every era, every generation, has felt it, seen it, and ultimately lived it; that moment when that greater cause can no longer be ignored. There are those that show a true commitment and make the sacrifice to do something beyond one’s individual interests. Still, there are others that take it all for granted, rapped-up in their own stories. They would be accused of obtaining things to cheaply. From time to time, who among us have not been consumed by our own varying levels of selfishness?

We are a harried lot. It’s our continuous challenge, our human condition. The shear speed of our personal routines mixed with an accumulation of the world’s trials and tribulations overwhelm the senses.  In the age of our contemporary accelerations, we tend to lose track of what happened last week, let alone last year. Our own day-to-day comings and goings absorb our waking hours. Demands of careers, of the home, of family, and friends are all consuming. Who has time for anything beyond soundbites, snippets, and the proverbial time-tested catch phrase?  What is it this time? What have “they” done now? Who’s bombed who? Where was that earthquake? What little spare time I have, I’m not going to spend it on more negativity. 

Still there are those that apparently have too much time on their hands. I would call them the aggrieved armchair nationalists draped in the flag, dressed as patriots. Their warped ignorant sense of patriotism, socialism, capitalism, populism, tribalism, pick your “ism,” are used to incite. Whether conceptually understood or not, context is intentionally misconstrued. It’s a demonizing blame game steeped in prejudice. With the ease of distribution, fear mongering and finger pointing has become habitual; a continuous stream of manipulated ambient noise ever existing in the nation’s subconscious.

From time to time, the masters of fear, anger, and self-righteous indignation dominate the public discourse. One could argue these are one of those times. It purposefully confuses and conflates immoral with amoral behavior. By many accounts, the tenor and tone has changed, changed for the worse. I would posit, it trends as an induced turmoil that fades in and fades out. It’s a central part of our history. From John C. Calhoun to Joe McCarthy, the nation’s brands have always been nasty. National fatigue determines when respites are needed. Unfortunately, too many in society focus on their own visceral needs, a pervasive escapism shown by reality TV and celebrity worship. It’s a detachment, an avoidance to deal with what needs to be done. 

So–thank you social media. Thank you Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Tic Tok. Thanks for the distractions and assisting in the transmission of self-centered narcissism. Your platforms have been accused of facilitating distrust of everything outside of our own peripheral vision. One could certainly take the position that all of this, this overload, has brought out the worst in us. Who’s to say that the resulting skepticism and self-serving promotion would not have peaked before if today’s technology had been available earlier.  Ironically, cyberspace offers something else for many; a safe space, a comfort zone, an escape away from the pressures from outside their own spheres.

And thank you to cable news. Thanks for focusing on your bottom lines by increasing viewership through partisan sensationalism and controversy.  It’s now an addiction, no more, no less, than being hooked on nicotine. It’s always breaking news. Thank god the AP, Reuters, PBS and NPR, bring some sense to it all.

We consumers know there are big issues out there even if our propensity is avoidance, or at the very least, a sense of helplessness.  Buried in the recesses of our minds are the filing cabinets of memory, both good and bad. Cumulative overload coupled with a purpose of evasion can make the simplest recollection difficult to elicit. “What file was that in again?” In this instance, it takes effort to recall, to think of what has transpired before. Yet it still provides a framework, a perspective, to see through much of the superficial nonsense that clouds the true issues at hand. Try as we may, there are no simple solutions to complex challenges. It’s to easy to be “the sunshine patriot” and say, “Thank you for your service.”

Yet since we are in the mindset of remembrance, there was a time when individuals made the effort to separate fact from fiction. It was the six o’clock network news, back when reporting was considered a public service, not measured in profitability. What was considered journalism, is now the purview of talking heads measured by not only questioning facts, but to go so far to suggest alternative facts. Still others prefer to ignore the facts altogether thinking everyone that cites data always have ulterior motives. Although few in numbers, they are the self appointed political influencers hiding right out in the open or behind the veil of anonymity. The result is contemporary fiction motivated by ratings, advertising dollars, monthly subscription fees, and self-aggrandizement. Although the mode of communication has changed, the motives really have not. Mudslinging political commentary can be traced to the graffiti laden walls of Pompeii let alone the historic roots of partisan newsprint.  What’s changed is the means, not the purpose. For a myriad of reasons, our consumer republics have seemed to develop a peculiar form of selective memory loss.

The soul of America is steeped in the Declaration of Independence. The operating manual is the Constitution.

So, what’s the point of this wrist slitting diatribe? To ignite, or reignite, our civic self’s. Enough with the maudlin. It’s time to get past the middle-schoolyard bullying. Eventually the adults in the room reassert some authority. They remember that the American democratic republic requires a balance between personal interests and the greater good; that it’s much more than a narrowly prescribed “Constitutional Republic” that some would have us believe. To refute such commentary requires effort. Tenacity and resilience pays off. Intentional theatrical name calling and innuendo, becomes tempered by adult commentary. Solutions, usually incremental in application, slowly resolve issues that earlier had been considered unresolvable. In light of the human urge to resist change, progress does occur. Sometimes a nation’s back has to be up against the wall but in the end, enough is enough. Complacency is replaced by a call to action. It takes time, energy and courage; after all, “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.” Historically, the desire to do good and fight evil moves to the forefront. “It is dearness only that gives everything its value.”

After blaming earlier compeers for historic injustices, the majority of each new audacious generation finally gets over itself and rises to the occasion. Greta Thunberg and her eight contemporaries have picked up the climate change gauntlet. Their energy, their enthusiasm and yes their chastisement of their elders are reflective of an earlier time.  It’s a page from the ’60’s, a time and age before 70% of the U.S. population was even a twinkle in Daddy’s eye. The ’60s, when the nation was more about, according to Robert Putnam, “We” than “Me.” When the country was more concerned with economic equality, political compromise, societal cohesion and a more altruistic attitude towards varying cultural values. I’m taking the opportunity to use those times for comparison. After all, I’m a member of the 30% of the country that’s still around to tell the tale. As is now, the problems of that era seemed insurmountable. Peer perceptions and memories will certainly vary with accounts being influenced by even as little as a five-year variance on one’s date of birth. Color, creed, geographic location, socio-economic status, educational attainment and sexual preference, let alone the level of stability at home, will determine one’s remembrances of those times. Even so, it is history and there is a lot to be learned from it. Each generation has to come to the realization that time did not start the day any one of us hit the scene. As with many, the responsibility of adulthood sometimes comes too early, before one is either ready or willing to accept it. Regardless, Edmund Burke and others have tried before to remind us that:

“Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”

 Following these random thoughts, there will be at least two more essays, or parts. One will focus on the ’60s and early ’70s. What were those times like? What circumstances were emerging adults facing? What were their diversions?  The more comparisons provided depict a similarity between the times and generations alike. It is not my purpose to make this a poster board for complaints, a nostalgic walk down memory lane, or jam those that haven’t covered the same distance. It is rather a generalized portrait of an earlier time that clearly is relevant today. Much was accomplished during those turbulent times. 

If those of the modern-day take the time, they could discover some usable epiphanies.  God knows we need them. If nothing more, a comparison of periods should serve to give a level of optimism. We got through it didn’t we? Things are mostly better aren’t they? Although debatable by some, the quality of life has indeed improved for the majority of humanity. Information and knowledge has grown almost exponentially. But, our collective capacity to truly understand the data has not kept pace. A lack of Socratic thinking, a creeping acceptance of amoral behavior and the nations obvious diminishing capacity for empathy are causes for concern. Yet solutions are at hand.  There will always be lessons to be learned. As such, it would help to review the actions and circumstances of times gone by. After all in the wake of the Great Society, some 60 years is just not that long ago. There were leaders, there were those engaged, there were those that did not “shrink from the service of their county.” Their actions were a demonstration of civic responsibility, a validation of patriotism. Across all generations, we must once again take up the challenge. Want to be an influencer? Quit patting yourself on the back and do something worthy.

Today, In many corners of society, patriotism has been replaced by an aggrieved warped sense of nationalism. They are not the same thing. A true sense of patriotism is about pride in one’s nation, not in the notion of its moral superiority. Patriotism values egalitarianism, democratic pluralism underscored with an educated understanding of the constitution and the rule of law. It is not proven by gratuitous flag waving. The term is not meant to serve as a punchline. It takes effort to understand it, and even more to live it. We have urgent needs. There is just no time for “Summer Soldiers.”

Some added thoughts!

Pax Americana and the American Century are gone. There is no Marshall Plan for the U.S. on the horizon. The damage to our nation and the world is unmeasurable. A large segment of our own population has allowed this to happen. Since our founding, we have battled between our liberal patriotic and illiberal national selves. We are once again, facing the harm this divide continually renders. As a result, the country is facing yet another time of reconstruction. Hopefully we will actually have the opportunity to do so. Way beyond the upcoming mid-terms and the national election of 2028, the rebuilding process will be long and arduous. But rebuild it to what? The first question to ask of ourselves:

Is the nation committed to stay a “United Democratic Republic?

If so, it is imperative to elect individuals that are also committed to do so. Reconstruction, actually new construction, will require a committed citizenry willing to legislate a new contemporary vision for the country combining the inspiration of the Declaration of Independence with what has been referenced as the nation’s second founding as outlined in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Secondly, we will also need to undue the irreparable damage created by the Supreme Court’s validation of Citizens United. Big money has to be removed from the political process. Teddy knew this more than 100 years ago.

Thirdly, the nation will need a Constitutional Convention to amend our almost 250 year old manual in order to meet the needs of a contemporary America. As Madison knew, it cannot be fixed in time. It needs to be an amendable living code of conduct, subscribed to by all.

If the nation as a whole is unwilling to travel down this incredibly difficult path, then what exactly are we saving? A place, an idea, a way of life, our consumerism? Are we truly willing to find balance between individual liberty and egalitarianism, or are we to tribal, to obsessed with our possessions, to self-righteous in our individual positions? Alexis de Toqueville recognized these American traits some 200 years ago. After all, the Constitutution itself was a forced uncomfortable compromise primarily predicated on the preservation of property rights.

If common purpose and values cannot be agreed upon, does the nation divide? Does it need to divide? Do we separate between those that are commited to pluralism and those that are not? Do we draw new national and even state boundaries? Do we cause a voluntary migration of peoples from one part to another? Do the parts need to be contiguous? Huge questions to say the least. Still, there is a bigger question to consider:

Can a nation as large and diversified as the United States continue to function as a Democratic Republic?

Is there a limit to a nation’s size and complexity that can democratically operate with so many interests and moving parts? Does democratic governance only work with smaller demographics as found in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada? Do democracies have to be homogenous? These, and many more, are the foundational questions for a continuance of the intent of the Declaration of Independence. Maybe an updated American experiment is in order? Maybe the form and structure of the Europen Union provides a starting point. We have no more time to only be “Summer Soldiers.” We have our nation’s soul to save.