It is a tough time in which we are living. There is little doubt that the COVID19
OMICRON strain is creating a crisis that is crippling our public health system,
including physical and mental exhaustion of the personnel who provide direct
care in our hospitals. The over-crowding is an extreme concern as is the politization of vaccinations,
mask-wearing and other mass societal responses needed to fight and to subdue this
virus. It is tragic that our democratic
system is so infected with narcissism and individualization of freedoms that the general welfare is thrown
aside as though there is no such thing as community rights or human relatedness
and interdependence, or mutual responsibility for each other.
The democratic ideals of equality, fraternity, and community
are being ripped apart as we speak, not only in terms of health and well-being
but in terms of the most fundamental values of its own Constitution and
governmental systems.
We are living in a time when too many misinformed and
misguided leaders and voters are touting the basic flaws of our system to
threaten the entire structure of democracy.
We are rapidly losing that fundamental idea on which our democracy was
founded, and to which we are called by our Founders and our foundational
documents to not only maintain, but to strengthen in each generation. We are called to seek and to strive for “a
more perfect Union” and by means of that Union “to establish Justice, ensure
domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general
Welfare and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…” And that is why the Constitution was ordained
and established, according to its Preamble.
And that is the guiding principle, the ideal and the promise to which
each generation of citizens must aspire to maintain and to strengthen this
government “of the People, by the People and for the People.” This “last great Hope of Mankind.”
But here we are amid not only a viral pandemic but a
pandemic of division that threatens the very existence of our democratic system
of governing and the hope and the promises that it portrays. Let us count some of the major causes of
those divisions, in brief:
1.
Voter suppression and oppression
2.
Racism
3.
Sexism
4.
Class or caste system; segregation; apartheid
5.
Unequal justice and selective law enforcement; lack of
guardianship
6.
Political Partisanship
7.
Corporate control
8.
Religiosity and intolerance
9.
Fear and loathing of strangers and ‘aliens’
10.
Exclusionary nationalism; patriotism
11.
Authoritarianism
12.
Elitism
13.
Dishonesty and misinformation; propaganda
14.
Lack of training in critical thinking
15.
State nullification of federal law
16.
Lack of fundamental and exemplary qualifications
for public officials
17.
Lack of citizen training, participation,
advocacy, and oversight/evaluation of ‘politicians’
18.
Poverty and homelessness particularly centered
on children
19.
Unequal heath care
20.
Donald J. Trump and his captured Republican
Party
Twenty causes for divisiveness are enough for now but do not cover all the
divisive characteristics of our current society. There is more but time and
space dictate a halt at this juncture.
It is necessary now to take a different direction on this bumpy road to
a more perfect union. It pains me to
have to say it, but as we have done in the past when imperfections and crises
threatened our grand experiment is to recall our fundamentals, our ideals, our
promises and our values to once again make that vision of a ”more perfect
Union” come alive for the greatest number, not just for the few.
We already know what it takes to make that happen. It takes courage and fortitude; it takes
honesty and integrity; it takes the persistence of a Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the
‘causing of good trouble’ by a John Lewis and M.L. King, Jr.
But it also requires something we don’t emphasize enough –
it takes Individual initiative and actions that promote the virtues we always
need to strengthen ourselves and our Union.
Building unity, community, fraternity and equality of opportunity always
comes back to the simple actions we value and promote when we aim to advance
our version of democracy. It always
comes back to practicing what we preach; valuing others, protecting others,
caring for others, advocating for others, mentoring others, and more.
It comes down to acting as though we are a vital part of a
human family destined to make it as vibrant and as all-embracing as we hope
such a family might be, respecting the worthiness of each member’s potential
contribution. Building a more perfect
Union finally comes down to caring about and for each other as family members
who are interdependent and thus mutually responsible for each other’s
well-being.
THE STORY:
Yesterday, I was aided by a stranger in a most unexpected
way. I was at my mailbox across a
moderately busy road trying to fetch some mail that had fallen out the small
rear door of an admittedly unstable backward-leaning mailbox. The box is situated on a narrow berm behind
which a drainage ditch of about 3–4-inch depth is usually actively carrying a
flow of rainwater or melting snow. A
good number of pieces of mail were scattered in the ditch and just beyond it,
including several wet pieces that had frozen together in a considerable lump in
the ditch. There I was trying my best to extract some mail pieces from that
ditch (and beyond) by using a long cane that guides my noticeably impaired and
feeble gait. I must have been a pitiful
sight hanging on to a dilapidated mailbox, standing on a narrow strip of icy
and snowy ground, reaching precariously for scattered mail that kept falling
off the multi-pronged end of a “hikers” walking stick. (Did I mention that the mailbox is close
enough to the road that one must be cautious about where he is standing
when traffic roars by).
Out of nowhere came a man’s voice asking if he could
help. Before I even answered, the young
man had jumped across the drainage ditch and was picking the mail up from field
and ditch. He even extracted the frozen
lump of mail and magazines. He then jumped across the ditch and headed for my
driveway asking where I would like him to put the mail. I answered, “on the porch chair will be fine”
and he proceeded up our lengthy driveway to put the mail on the porch rocking
chair. By that time, I had hobbled
across the road into the driveway as he was on his way out of it. He smiled and
said he was glad to have happened by at that time and hoped I was okay, and then
wished me a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
I thanked him profusely and told him I appreciated what he had just done
after which I returned his holiday greetings.
He disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
He did not get into a car but simply walked away up the road which heads
up a gradually steepening incline to the North.
He was out of my sight in a few moments.
He never shared a name or anything but a bit of unexpected human
kindness to an older disabled man on the side of a road. His kindness and benevolence were neither
solicited nor expected. It was freely
given with no strings or payments attached.
It was simply the act of someone who knows the value and the essence of
living as a caring member of a larger family.
People are wondering how we will work our way out of the divisions that have been created by the selfishness and the non-caring attitudes that engulf us in these desperate and trying times. Most of the answers involve complicated political, philosophical, or economic theory and social engineering.
But underlying all those machinations there
is something we know is necessary and some say is an imperative without which
we are diminished as a group and as individuals.
We know from experience and teachings and from leaders of
special note that it is our attitudes and behaviors toward other human beings
that matter and that create and recreate a vibrant and meaningful existence for
all of us. The gifts of Unity, of
Kindness, of Beauty, of Peace and Tranquility, the Well-being of every member
of family and community matter, because without them there is no Peace and no movement toward a more perfect Union.
Our Purpose as individuals and as a nation should be clear: we must act with the freely given compassion of family members and perform neighborly Acts of Kindness toward friends and strangers. It all comes back to a question of morality; to behavior; to bringing something good to others.
However, we cannot heal divisions and promote more perfect Union by ignoring accountability for acts and rhetoric that lead us far away from those ideals. We must not confuse accountability with divisive actions. They are quite different. Voting to reject those who act contrary to our Constitution and who act as if the law does not apply to them, who act to corrupt or to deny our votes, must be held accountable for their illicit and illegal offences.
We must totally
reject those who seek public office to deconstruct our democracy. It is time to live out the essence
of life in a social context. We must
choose to pause what we are doing for ourselves, and act on behalf of the
family, the community, our nation. A
more perfect Union (or close-knit community) does not materialize out of thin
air; it rises from deliberate acts that we perform to bring Goodness and
Justice and Fulfillment to the rest of our human family.
The Christmas season is meant to bear that universal message. May you receive it and experience its blessings throughout the New Year!
