A comment on the public discourse

The tenor of our public discourse in this election cycle is unusually pessimistic. Every campaign brings a certain amount of name calling and negativity but this is usually aimed at a candidate’s positions, morals or values. This cycle is different. The negativity is aimed at the nation itself. Never before have I heard such pessimism around where we currently stand as a nation.

I reject the notion that the United States is on the wrong track or that the country is no longer what it once was. The United Sates in 2016 is the greatest nation the world has ever known and there is no better time to be a citizen of this great nation than right now. We have greater diversity, more opportunity, a better quality of life, better access to healthcare, better schools, stronger national security, safer communities, and better infrastructure than at any point in history. Are their exceptions to each of these statements? Absolutely. But in aggregate the exceptions are not the rule.

It is very true that our nation has many challenges that should not be discounted or ignored. I agree. We face threats to our security abroad. We face economic uncertainty and social change at home. These are not new problems. They are constant challenges forever taking on new forms. We will rise to meet them as we always have, which is precisely what makes America great.

Ronald Reagan was fond of referring to America as John Winthrop’s “shining city on a hill”. Whether you believe that America is that shining city likely depends on where you are standing. For people standing outside looking in, America is absolutely the shining city. For those of us inside it is easy to focus on our challenges and lose sight of what we really are.

Why is that? Why are we so pessimistic in the face of all that we have? I have a theory on why we, on the inside, struggle to see all that is positive in our nation. I believe it comes down to faith. Americans, all of us, have faith in what I will call “America the idea”. America the idea is the greatest of all ideas and we all believe in it, pursue it, and even demand it. But America the idea is unattainable and I hope that it always remains unattainable. The reason is simple, America the idea is ever changing, ever expanding, ever improving. Our nation, in 2016, would have been unimaginable by the founders. Our nation would be unrecognizable to even Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Johnson.

We don’t need to make “America Great again” because America is an idea that is already great and continues to get better. We hold sacred our personal freedoms. We have shared goals for health, security, fairness, and shared opportunity. We have a common belief in individual liberty, personal accountability, and shared responsibility. And we all want the idea of America that our children see to be even greater than the idea that we see. Which means we all desire social progress. And we all have faith that the great idea is within our reach, even while we see different paths to get there. Those different paths are no basis for pessimism. The current candidates for President would do well to refocus on the positive, on the future, on America the idea.

I think the past Presidents of my formative years shared this faith in the idea of America and they were uniquely positioned to leave us with a vision of the future of that idea. Rather than look back at what America was when they were in office let’s look back at their vision of the idea when they left office. What were their hopes and instructions as they stepped away from the office. There words are telling and worthy of consideration.

G. W. Bush:

“…we must continue to engage the world with confidence and clear purpose. In the face of threats from abroad, it can be tempting to seek comfort by turning inward. But we must reject isolationism and its companion, protectionism. Retreating behind our borders would only invite danger. In the 21st century, security and prosperity at home depend on the expansion of liberty abroad. If America does not lead the cause of freedom, that cause will not be led.

I have confidence in the promise of America because I know the character of our people. This is a Nation that inspires immigrants to risk everything for the dream of freedom. This is a Nation where citizens show calm in times of danger and compassion in the face of suffering. We see examples of America’s character all around us.”

W. J. Clinton:

“…we must remember that America cannot lead in the world unless here at home we weave the threads of our coat of many colors into the fabric of one America. As we become ever more diverse, we must work harder to unite around our common values and our common humanity.

We must work harder to overcome our differences. In our hearts and in our laws, we must treat all our people with fairness and dignity, regardless of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation and regardless of when they arrived in our country, always moving toward the more perfect union of our founders’ dreams.

As for me, I’ll leave the presidency more idealistic, more full of hope than the day I arrived and more confident than ever that America’s best days lie ahead.”

R. W. Reagan:

“ …there is a great tradition of warnings in Presidential farewells, and I’ve got one that’s been on my mind for some time. But oddly enough it starts with one of the things I’m proudest of in the past 8 years: the resurgence of national pride that I called the new patriotism. This national feeling is good, but it won’t count for much, and it won’t last unless it’s grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge.

An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didn’t get these things from your family you got them from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school.

… We’ve got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom-freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare.

…I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it, and see it still.”

These men each led us for 8 years, they likely witnessed more heartbreak, more injustice, and greater challenges than most of us will ever see. Yet each of them emerged with a greater vision of America than they entered with. We should share their optimism and consider the guidance they left us with.

My faith in America continues to fill me with optimism for the future of our great nation. I hope we see some of that optimism find its way back into our public discourse.