Action.
For the first time, our generation is being called upon to act. Up to now, little has been asked of us. We have enjoyed the fruits without hardening our hands in the picking.
Even after 9/11 — an event that surely would have compelled other generations to make great sacrifices — we were asked to do little but consume, consume, consume, as if nothing was wrong, while the government hired private contractors to help prosecute a war it couldn’t justify.
We have savored this country’s richness or criticized its corruption; we have prospered from its booms or struggled to survive its busts — but we have never defended it. The word “defend” implies military action, and though it is true that we have not physically defended America en masse as previous generations have done, that is not what I mean. Rather, we have never defended it — never been asked to defend it — spiritually. To defend the idea of it.
We have forgotten how precious and fragile democracy is, how unnatural. Our ideals fly in the face of human history in its millennia. Surely, those of us who study history understand how often, and how egregiously, America has failed to honor its ideals. But we also understand how rare those ideals are.
Setting the ideal of equality as the foundational principle of the nation was an act of revolution. As such, it was never about the failures of the past or the present, but the potential of the future. Today that future is in danger because of several self-inflicted wounds.
Worst among these wounds, we have entrusted our precious country to a demagogue, a man who has shown minimal understanding of our ideals and negligible interest in defending them. Just as dangerously, we have allowed our government to build a colossal apparatus to spy on us, and we might not be capable of tearing it down or even moderating it. We have allowed local police forces to become armies in miniature. We have inched closer and closer to the greatest fears of our founders.
It has been the work of generations, from the Civil War to WWII, to stand up to the greedy, selfish, fearful, hateful, violent impulses inherent in our humanity and to confirm once again that, though we have failed miserably in the past, we still believe certain truths to be self-evident, and we are still compelled to fight on their behalf.
We are now called to action — not reaction, but action. Action in our communities, not on the Internet. We must do the physical and intellectual and spiritual work of keeping safe what deserves preserving and perfecting what has fallen short of the ideal.
While it is important to operate at the national level — calling Congress, participating in protests, voting — that is, for the most part, reactive. We must not allow others to set the terms of our engagement. We must act. Volunteer. Donate to a food bank. Find something broken within hand’s reach and fix it. We must act with a ferocious love, an uncompromising respect. We must avoid vulgarity, avoid hyperbole, avoid cynicism and despair.
We are now called to prove what Abraham Lincoln called his country to prove more than a century and a half ago — that a nation founded on the ideal of equality can survive long enough to see its words come true in action.
Looking to do your part? One way to get involved is to read the Indivisible Guide, which is written by former congressional staffers and is loaded with best practices for making Congress listen. Or follow this publication, connect with us on Twitter, and join us on Facebook.
