I read an interesting diary today by someone I consider a colleague who talks about doing the right thing. OPOL is a kos favorite to those who know him. I hope every kossack does. His writing today had, I thought, some really good points. His passion was palpable, and his intent clear. I highly recommend this writing to you.
I do, however, disagree with some of the points which he, and some commenters made. Follow me just below the squggledoodlethingey fold, and I'll tell you what, and why. Because I'm the one doing the writing, you can expect perhaps a story to help illustrate my points.
I, too, believe, as does OPOL, that it is not merely our human nature, but our American nature, to do the right thing, in-so-far-as the best right thing can be done. Sometimes, however, we are, both as a nation and as a species, locked into only certain 'right" options.
Sometimes, the options are even more stacked against our doing the right thing, and we are, as President Eisenhower was known to say, limited to only that option which is available to us, right or wrong--save that we do nothing at all, which is most often the wrongest thing we can do.
I think we often forget that, as a people, and as a species, we do have limitations. That is, after all, where dreams and great passion come from. To do better. To be better. To be, perhaps, even better than we can imagine. And, we tend to forget that we in the United States have not been isolated away from those dreams and passions by a government threatened by the dreams of her people.
History is replete with clear examples of those peoples and nations who HAVE been treated differently by governments bent on oppression, or repression of dreams and better imaginings. They are not us. Not then. Not now.
When i was but a Lad (yes, I once WAS a lad!), I was given treats, or snacks, or toys because of positive behavior. Those same treats or snacks, or the occasional toy from the "Five and Dime" were withheld because of negative behavior. I was a child. I lived by parental rules. Our home was not a democracy. It was under totalitarian, autocratic rule. We knew it without doubt.
We learned, in time, that rules exist for reasons. Some rules permit. Some rules restrict. Sometimes, as we grew, the rules changed. Old rules were cast away, and new rules were put in their place. For instance, "You may only play in the yard!" was, in time, cast off and replaced by "Be home in time for Dinner!". There even came a time when that rule, too was done away with, and replaced by "Don't leave the County, and be home by sunup!" (That's when we children knew that we had ARRIVED! :) ) It is very true as well that rules could go the other way when negative actions, attitudes, or behaviors required. We might change. Our responsibility for, and to the rules did not ever change. This mattered then. This matters now.
Then came the day when we longed to be home, safe in the rules of our youth. One of the important things we might have failed to appreciate in our ever-growing independence was that we had changed roles.
This reality usually (but not always) comes when we have our first child. No longer the recipients of the comfort and safety--and manageable expectations of Totalitarian rule, we suddenly find ourselves thrust out into the universe, and those rules no longer were ours to receive, but to direct, control, and give. We had, somewhere along the way, not only become the Authoritarian of our own lives, but now we were the sole source of authority for another.
CRAP! When did that happen?
It happened early in my family, and never later than our first privilege to vote. Thankfully, because of our heritage, our culture, our society, our community, and our family, we did have a clear sense (to at least the limits of our understanding at the time) of what the "right" things were. Sometimes, we knew because of the comparisons life required us to make when the "wrong" things showed up. Sometimes, the "right" thing to do was tested, and challenged, and once again required to prove itself.
The trouble with all this is that it was not "them" or "they" responsible for proving the "right" thing to do: it was "I", "We", and "Us".
What we missed along the way is that we didn't just learn such things, we were given these things, at some point--some amazing moment. We were given them in trust. They were now OUR responsibility. Now we had to make certain that we chose the "right" thing, to create the nominal option, the very best possible result--and not merely for ourselves. Sometimes, those decisions would necessarily impact the entire nation, or even the entire world.
The pendulum between what is best for us, and what is best for us all suddenly found us riding along, singing "Wheeeee!".
As we grew, from children to adults, so did our citizenship grow. From being the pure recipients of the privileges, duties, obligations, and responsibilities of citizenship, we grew into more mature citizens, given the extreme privilege of being the protectors of that citizenship, and even the definers of that citizenship.
It is yet another example of why so many think we live life backwards. First we get the toys and snacks, then we have to pay for them. To many, that is a prospect that seems unfair. Perhaps it is. But, through our very short history, America has proven this disparate reality to be superior in preference to any other available option.
We have, as a nation, always considered the might of our nation to be our definition of what is "right". This is true today, as well. It is not limited by some notion of "multi-national global community", "markets" or anything else. It, "the right thing to do" is limited only in how we choose to define ourselves as a nation, and as human beings. I believe and agree with OPOL on this point.
The great tendency is for us to look into a mirror, and determine the "right" by what WE want, or perceive ourselves to need. This is dangerous and wrong thinking--at least for Americans. Here, we have since our founding working tirelessly to determine what is the "right" by staring into the eyes of our fellow citizens, especially the least among us. This is not a political philosophy. It is a national character. That character is in grave condition, because it is being attacked by citizens who cannot stop looking into the mirror.
Citizenship requires better of us. But, citizenship requires better of US! Not someone else. OPOL says he isn't rooting for the home team any more. Shame on OPOL. Commenters say they are proudly leaving our country. Shame on them.
I think it is a good thing for those who cannot handle the heat that is generated by genuine citizenship to get out of the kitchen, and let those who are the true and deep patriots of our nation get in there, get their hands dirty, and actually do the work their citizenship requires of them. I just don't know of any citizen that wouldn't, given the opportunity, NOT do the right thing.
It is not the "right" thing to fail to answer the call of your nation when the citizenship you define needs your hand on the plow. I do not think leaving the plow, or the unplanted field for that matter, is an appropriate response to the call of citizenship. Nor do I think spending all your time cursing the ground yields useful results.
Do I think OPOL not a citizen? No, I do not. I think he is weary. I think OPOL believes himself to have the only hand on the plow. I think, given the panorama before us, he has a fairly good reason to believe as he does. But I also believe OPOL is wrong.
Furthermore, there are millions, hundreds of millions more who are searching for a path to the plow that their citizenship is requiring them to tend to. Millions more are searching for the opportunity to have the privilege to simply touch the plow, and stand in the field. Who are we, as a nation willing to consider worthy of the task?
You do not prove your citizenship by speaking against it, working to disassemble it, or make it the object of international scorn, ridicule, and derision. That's not what citizens do; well at least that is never something Americans have done. If we have no American citizenship, what do we have to offer such a sick and hurting world? You cannot give away what you do not own.
There is a vast difference between the world watching democracy at work, and the world watching in sadness or horror as the hope of the world is undone by those within who refuse to understand what they have been given in trust. It really is time for us to understand, as well.
Citizenship is hard work. Men and women throughout our short history have exhausted themselves to the point of death doing it. But, they knew that, through their work, and their active citizenship, others would take their place at the plow. Dare we prove them wrong?
No. We must not. Not because of some imaginary "global community". Because what we are talking about has been the beacon of hope in a sick and hurting world for a very, very long time. Not because we control the world.
Because of our unfailing willingness to BE citizen--even when it was so very, very difficult. We do not have to make a President, or the man or woman standing beside us into an enemy. We are required by our citizenship to look into their eyes, know them, and agree that they are as human, and as deserving as we.
That is, I have found, always best done while my hand is on the plow. I'm asking, as I do believe OPOL and others are asking, for every citizen to join us. I thank OPOL for causing me to think, and care enough to elicit this response to his diary today. I hope you will respond as well. My dream is that all citizens would respond.
I hope you will. I know I must.