America at 250 Yrs
An homage to July 20th, 1969
City on the Hill
"Nations reel and stagger on their way; they make hideous mistakes; they commit frightful wrongs; they do great and beautiful things. And shall we not best guide humanity by telling the truth about all this, so far as the truth is ascertainable?"
W.E.B. Du Bois
Yes, there was a time when America was seen as the glittering City on the Hill. I mean it wasn’t perfect - nothing is - and it didn’t glitter for everyone but it was there nonetheless. A city that made sacrifices for others in the Civil War, WWI and II and even our misguided wars since. It was a city where we were sure tomorrow would be better than today and parents could expect their children to have better lives than theirs. Despite our flaws, it was a country that worked; a country that made great promises and kept them.
Promises like putting a man on the moon.
I remember that night very clearly even though it was fifty-seven years ago, July 20th, 1969. I was a 21-year- old dude working at Donaldson’s department store downtown MPLS between my junior and senior years in college. Life was pretty simple and living really was easy – the girls smiled often! (It was a very good year!) There was a war raging far from home and I was likely headed there in a year or so when I graduated since I was in AFROTC. But that was okay because on that night, watching on a tv sitting on a picnic table outside a friend’s house in south Minneapolis as Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, nothing else mattered . . . because I lived in the greatest country in the world.
Promises like putting a man on the moon.
I remember that night very clearly even though it was fifty-seven years ago, July 20th, 1969. I was a 21-year- old dude working at Donaldson’s department store downtown MPLS between my junior and senior years in college. Life was pretty simple and living really was easy – the girls smiled often! (It was a very good year!) There was a war raging far from home and I was likely headed there in a year or so when I graduated since I was in AFROTC. But that was okay because on that night, watching on a tv sitting on a picnic table outside a friend’s house in south Minneapolis as Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, nothing else mattered . . . because I lived in the greatest country in the world.
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| "One small step for man, One giant leap for mankind" |
We recently celebrated our 250th birthday as a nation. A big deal for us but as many nations go we are barely a teenager. A privileged one, but a teenager - with all the teen struggles - nonetheless. Yet we deserved that celebration (although forget the embarrassing events in our nation's capital.) Our 250 yrs is full of "frightful wrongs" and "great and beautiful things" - and we're still standing.
With the celebrations over perhaps this is a good time, as W.E.B. says, to seek the truth: How do we measure up to our lofty expectations from so long ago as residents of the City on the Hill. Are we still that shining city?
In all honesty, I don't even know what the criteria are for that lofty position: Freedom? Wealth? Opportunity? Faith/Hope/Charity? Must we have all of them? Perhaps it is some mystical brew of positive things that one just believes in - not unlike religion?
Whatever they are, something is off.
Despite my sometime cynicism, I've always been a closet optimist about the future and that optimism has always been rewarded. I still retain an appreciation for my own good luck in life - the luckiest man in the luckiest generation in the luckiest country - but something has changed, something fundamental in our country. Perhaps other people have also sensed an ill wind as well. I hasten to add, however, that as bad as the last few years have been, this sense of . . . dissipation? . . . goes back many years. No, whatever we're feeling did not happen overnight.
In fact, America is still a big, wealthy country. People are living their everyday lives, going to work, kids are playing, folks taking vacations; everything seems to be normal. Until it isn't.
Look deeper and there are many flashing red lights. A partial list: An economy that benefits only the top income tiers, out of control healthcare, education and housing costs and a dangerously dysfunctional federal government. More recently, denial of science and climate change, reversing hard-won rights for women and the LGBTQ community and immigration laws reduced to violent imprisonment/deportation.
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| Worst of the worst? |
Most dangerous of all, we tolerate leaders who endorse white supremacy, feel free to violate centuries of civil behavior and assault Constitutional norms and democracy itself.
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| Sure she feels safe surrounded by all those cosplay "patriots" |
So, are all the "frightful wrongs" we've made over our two and half century life finally catching up to us now like a slow growing tumor? Or is it our complacency and sense of entitlement?
Wherever the truth lies, that’s why I feel that we're no longer a country full of hope, big dreams and big accomplishments. We have become - or driven to become? - small, petty, fearful people retreating into tribes, intent on grabbing everything we own and hugging it to ourselves like some paranoid old person living alone in a cardboard box.
Whatever the case, I am certain the light of the shining city on the hill is dimming.
Yet all is not darkness. We are still a rich nation with smart, hardworking people and this dreadful administration won't last forever (we hope.) There is still much to love - just ask all the soccer fans!
And there are positive signs . . .
Chief among them, this past winter we watched a powerful movement here as neighbors helped neighbors during the ICE invasion. This provided a jolt of human strength and kindness that shot throughout the country and around the world. Now more Americans than ever are finally paying attention to our nation's ills and getting involved to change things. Perhaps best of all, the younger generations bring great hope - they are smart, engaged and know what they want. (It may not be what you or I want but it will be their country soon.)
July 20th and that moon landing stands as a reminder that there once was a shining City on a Hill. It wasn’t perfect but we knew it wasn't and always strove to be better. We now face a stark choice: start the long, hard work to reascend that hill . . . or prepare for even more darkness.
Choose wisely.
For our belated 250th birthday, some positive music!
Thank you for this thoughtful article as always, Papa. It really highlights the gap between American ideals and reality. Personally, I don't want us to reascend the old hill, I would like to build a new one (with a big rose garden and a diverse human-centered administration) that actually considers everyone.
ReplyDeleteFor me it seems that our history hasn’t changed that much. As you said, the prioritizing of the rich and the unobtainable costs of basic needs have always left people out of the American dream. Even the word "tribes" makes me feel edgy, because it feels unfair to tribal nations who have bore the brunt of white supremacy since this country's inception. I always feel a heaviness about this within me.
While I want to be optimistic about younger Americans, I’m not there yet. The cycle of hate is powerful, and misguided "patriots" are already passing it down to the next generation. I find myself doubting if this country is truly capable of becoming a place of universal love and acceptance, but I appreciate you pushing us to think about it. I want to be hopeful!