#88 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Wednesday July 14)
Good morning and Happy Bastille Day!
DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA
In honor of Bastille Day, a few prescient comments by that great student of the American experiment, Alexis de Touqueville:
“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.”
“Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it. Democracy attaches all possible value to each man; socialism makes each man a mere agent, a mere number. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.”
“Society will develop a new kind of servitude which covers the surface of society with a network of complicated rules, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate. It does not tyrannise but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.”
“There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.”
“I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all.”
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL (YET FLAWED)
I’ve been thinking about the self-indulgent self-flaggelation about American history (in fact, history generally). I was doing a row on my Hydrow (a great indoor rower, if you’re interested). I’ve taken the Juneteenth celebration ride several times. In the chatting by the instructor came some truths I thought I’d share:
Juneteenth is a big deal and a source of pride
Among its lessons are self-reliance
The country is a great, yet imperfect country
We need to focus on the good and the bad
In the constant pendulum swinging of public discourse and our school curricula, we are now in a period of “wearing the hair shirt.” Gone are the myths our generation were taught (yes, I know, George Washington did not throw a coin across the Potomac, nor did he “not tell a lie” after chopping down a cherry tree). But there are other myths—about a more perfect union, about equality, inclusion, and opportunity. While these myths may be aspirational, they are no less true. We need myths. Stories are parables to teach lessons. Documents, like the Constitution, are not only legal documents but statements of principle.
At the risk of offending those more religious than I, religion is loaded with myths that, while unlikely factually correct, are no less real or “true.” I’m pretty sure G-d didn’t create the world in seven days, nor was the Red Sea parted, nor did a burning bush speak to Moses. But it doesn’t matter. Literalists can accept that these miracles actually happened but for many of the rest of us, they are valuable lessons.
Current revisionism of American history is a sorry tale of slavery, oppression and conquest. These things are true. But so are the more positive aspects of our history. No one side of this can be studied without the other.
Let’s remember that the founders didn’t say, “in order to form an absolutely perfect union” and they didn’t promise “the most perfect union.” They said “in order to form a more perfect union.” Their aspiration didn’t even consider the idea that anything can be perfect. [Aside: This always bothered me, as there isn’t such a thing as “more perfect”—to wit, perfection is binary, in that it either is or it isn’t, much like the equally irritating phraseology of “very unique.” There is no such thing. Unique means one of a kind. You can’t be very one of a kind…but I digress…]
We try. And it’s important that we try. We stand for values and, in striving to achieve them, often fall short. But to show little respect for the myriad accomplishments of this great nation because of its flaws is to demean history and elevate the present beyond its rightful place. There is great wisdom in the past and great accomplishments in the past. Learning of them—and celebrating them—can help lead us to a more perfect union.
It is perfectly okay for the youth to redefine the American ideal and continue a long tradition of questioning and midcourse corrections to form a more perfect union. But they ought not abandon our history, the myths that bind us in common purpose and valuing and building upon our achievements along the way.
Have a great day,
Glenn
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