Yesterday the Iowa Caucus was held…finally. I think the 20+ candidates have been burning up the Iowa roads for about a year now. Makes my head spin and think about the wonderful opening to A Music Man where the salesmen are singing about their work, and in particular the difficulty of selling anything to Iowans. Professor Harold Hill figured out a way to do it, the song tells us, though some think he is just a “flimflam artist” who lies and steals. Hmmm….sort of sounds like politicians.
It didn’t used to be that way…not really. Or, maybe “just not that bad.” Aaron Burr certainly was like our modern politicians, and my students know that I think Thomas Jefferson was too. More than willing to lie to get his way, using leverage, friendship and coercion to get his way. There’s probably a difference between Jefferson and Burr. As Alexander Hamilton suggested, at least with Jefferson, he is focused on trying to do what he thinks is best for the country…whereas Burr…. Of course if you know your history, eventually the feud between Burr and Hamilton boiled over into a duel, leaving Hamilton dead and Burr on the run.
I suppose most politicians believe they are in Jefferson’s footsteps. Trying to fix the country. That’s where we are today. This nation is looking for answers. Most of my friends–liberal and conservative, Democrat or Republican or Libertarian or NoneOfTheAbovetarian, Christian or Atheist–feel like the country is in peril. Concerns abound internationally and domestically, and on the domestic front, the worries grow as more and more issues emerge about violence (police, guns, protestors, sports star husbands, etc), about economics (minimum wage, fair tax system, what is a living wage, who decides what is “need” vs “want”, etc) and about culture (abortion, decency, education, etc). These people, both the supporters and the politicians, believe deeply that their path towards wholeness, towards a solution is a good plan. They want to do good, as they see the good.
From where I sit, there are two paths being offered, and our choice in coming days, not just an election next November but other choices we face both as a nation and as individuals, is to decide which path to take. To be clear, I think most of the candidates, including Democrats and Republicans, all actually agree on the SAME PLAN. Yep…you read that right. Their version of a plan is the path that would be more in line with the Progressive movement that emerged in our country in the 1890s and “took over” the country by the 1912 election. This is the path where the expectation is that many people cannot help themselves (either because of some innate weakness in intellect or an unfair system or basic economic poverty) thus elites have to structure a system to counteract the inability. Doing so, though, has proven historically to set up people, becoming reliant on the “helpers” (typically government). Worse, to build any aid system, the liberty and/or possessions of others must be curtailed. My favorite economist, Friedrich von Hayek, called this “The Road to Serfdom”; in case you’ve forgotten your history, to be a “serf” was little better than a slave…controlled by the “noble elite” who provided everything for you, from health care to basic housing to a job….but still, a person with little to no choice.
On the one hand is the path that would be more in line with our pre-20th century history, a path of self-reliance tied to personal responsibility, but that leaves many people with no “safety net” or obvious assistance in trials. The Founders believed in this road which is why they constructed the country this way; in fact, they would have believed the other road as very similar to the feudal system of limitations that their own forefathers had left in the 1600-1700s. To me, very few of our current politicians are talking about this plan of self-reliance, of choice, of liberty. That’s because nationally we’ve become addicted to luxury and ease, sick with a gluttony for more and more (and yes, almost everyone in the USA has wealth and luxury, even if you think you don’t have as much as the “rich person” you know). Liberty is hard. Self-reliance is tough. On the other hand, the Progressives of the early 20th century saw this road as being cruel and unfair, especially as we moved to being a more urban-centered country.
Both groups, and their supporters today, believe deeply that their road is the best road for improvement. Neither group is supporting their view, or candidates who hold such view, with any aim to intentionally harm or hurt another person. Of course, people who would be most impacted by choosing one road over the other WOULD say “those people” are picking that path “in order to” harm them. But in the end, most people voting these days are concerned about the country and see their plan, their road to our national success as not intended to harm anyone else.
As I have written elsewhere, we are facing a deep philosophical divide that precedes a “Great Crisis.” I still assert that our real crisis has not hit, and things like the economic issues of the past 7 years, ISIS, race relations, or Presidential decrees are merely steps on the road TO the crisis. But it is coming. When it comes, the deep divide could prove so problematic that choices get made that could lead to violence and harm to one another.
My prayer is that as we disagree, we can at least acknowledge that the “other person” isn’t trying to harm or trying to “ruin things.” Rather, they just believe in a path forward different from you. We get no where by accusing “the other person” with hateful words or disparaging terms.