SOBERING TIMES

The call for true grit

Save Freedom of Speech, by Norman Rockwell, from U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. [1]

Since my Civics classes in Junior High School, the myth of an exceptional America has been engrained in me: “I/we can make a difference” “Government of, by, for the people” “Informed voting” “We are all in this together” “The rule of law”. How successfully has that myth withstood world scale scandal and corruption?

The mask of propriety and decency in government has been removed— and the face is not pretty. In grade school my daughters looked up to the POTUS— one of them wrote to him. Who will today's children admire and try to emulate? How comfortable will parents be in allowing their children to contact government leaders? That idea troubles me. How compromised is the future of the nation?

As people we let each other down. Institutions, civic and religious, are aggregates of people, and let us down even worse. The political process and government, with a huge sway over our lives, are infected by corruption.

The TV show “Finding Your Roots” always highlights the grit of our ancestors in the face of all kinds of corruption and challenges. I find those reminders inspiring.

Our descendants deserve no less grit from us.

The sands in your way beg for your song and your movement, dancing water. Will you carry the burden of their lameness?—

RABINDRANATH TAGORE

I need to recognize our character weaknesses yet compassionately persevere in joining with others to resist oppression and corruption, and to build a better world, a better tomorrow, one brick at a time, one direct human encounter at a time.

20250117

[1] This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1930 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. I slightly cropped the image.