BACK TO BASICS- A CHRISTMAS WISH- SYDNEY WILLIAMS
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Ambrose Bierce was a Civil War veteran, newspaperman, wit and satirist, not well known today, but appreciated in his time for his sardonic humor. Now in this age of political correctness, “cancelled” history, “hurtful” words and “safe” places, levity, when exercised by the Right, is disallowed. Nevertheless, Bierce’s definition of “Idiot” reminds me of administrators and faculty that populate our universities, members of the press who forsake reporting for advocating, and Washington’s politicians and bureaucrats.
A last Saturday Wall Street Journal article, “Why Are Americans So Distrustful of Each Other” by Kevin Vallier, was sobering. In 1968, 56% of Americans “believed most people can be trusted.” In 2018, “after a half century of increasing [political] partisan division, only 31% did.” Perhaps not surprising, the level of social trust is lowest among young people – not a good sign for our future. Professor Vallier, who teaches philosophy at Bowling Green State University, wrote that social scientists have found three factors behind a country’s level of social trust: corruption, ethnic segregation and economic inequality. But none explain fully the decline in social trust in the United States today. He added: “Some social scientists are convinced that polarization increases political distrust, and it may play a role in increasing social distrust as well.”
In my opinion, there is truth in that statement. My conservative views, in “Blue State” Connecticut make me hesitant to offer opinions when in a social setting. In the same edition of the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan wrote of the divide that separates elites from owners of small businesses, like restaurants and bars: “The professional class of politicians, media people, scientists and credentialed chatterers care about business in the abstract…But they have no particular heart for them.” For Democrats, this is particularly true. In their bar-bell approach to the electorate – wealthy, global, coastal elites on the one hand, and so-called “victims” of oppression on the other – they have no room for middle class Americans, who love their country and who value their families, religions and the virtue of success through hard work.
While I vacillate between being registered as a Republican and Independent, I treasure the principles and values inherent in conservativism, starting with the value of family and the critical importance of individual freedom. I know dependency leads to subservience. However, I am not an anarchist. I believe in government and in James Madison’s words, in Federalist 51: “If men were angels no government would be necessary.” But because men and women are flawed, I also believe in its corollary: “If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” Thus, I believe in government with reins: “…you must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” The latter is difficult for arrogant politicians, which is why I believe in the rule of law, not men. But I am concerned about bigness – big government, big business, big tech companies, big unions – as their future relies on government as a partner, not as a referee in disputes and guarantor of our rights.
If the election taught us anything, it is that we all need to return to the basics of what is necessary for a participatory civil society to function: honesty, diligence, patience, humility, kindliness, mutual respect and tolerance. We need to encourage the formation of traditional families, the importance of volunteerism and the value of religion, as the latter provides our moral and ethical foundations. We need to teach rules of conduct and manners, as they lubricate the wheels of social interaction. It is vital to know our Country’s true origins. Students should be required to take a course in civics, in which they read the founding documents of the United States: The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Federalist Papers. They should learn how totalitarian regimes, like China, Russia, Venezuela and Cuba, differ from our democratic republic. They should realize the great good fortune they have to live here.
Youth should be taught the basic principles of economics, to understand how and why revenues and incomes must balance. They need to understand that governments have no source of revenue other than what they take from citizens in the form of taxes and fees – that all income is generated within the private sector and that, while rules and regulations are important, they impede profitability, so regulations must be weighed for the positives they bring against the economic and social costs they entail. Students should know that low interest rates encourage borrowing while high interest rates encourage savings, and the obvious, but too often forgotten, precept that borrowed money must be repaid.
Among the basic tenets to which it would be healthy to return is to admit what we do not know and what we cannot know – that life is the constant pursuit of knowledge. Whether it is COVID-19 or climate, we are told to “follow the science,” yet mixed messages are delivered because scientific research is inexact. It is not a sign of ignorance to admit we cannot measure precisely how many meters reflect proper “social distancing,” nor can we measure with precision what is man’s effect on climate. In our data-driven world, experts are expected to be precise. Agnostics are not allowed. Yet, skepticism and humility are signs of strength, not weakness. As well, there are sensations we cannot define exactly. In his letter to Virginia O’Hanlon, in 1897, the editor of the New York Sun, Francie Pharcellus Church, wrote: “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.” Mr. Church did not define the words love, generosity and devotion because their meanings are personal. We know what we mean when we express or experience them. But your definition of love may not be precisely mine.
How do we return to basics? How do we get rid of the idiocy Ambrose Bierce described? I do not pretend to have the answer, and this essay may be no more than an exercise in wishful thinking. But I believe that introspection is healthy, as well as acknowledgement that none of us have all the answers. I do have one year-end political wish, and that is term limits for members of Congress. I have long had an instinctive bias against limits, as I have felt people should be able to vote for whomever they choose, including the rascal that now represents them. However, I believe Washington’s swamp has become too familiar, with people moving seamlessly from elected office, to bureaucracies, to lobbying firms, in closed-knit fashion that is difficult for outsiders to penetrate. Thus, I think term limits are in our interest. Members of Congress no longer see themselves as servants to the people, but as masters of the governed. The Christmas season, with its promise of charity, forgiveness and love, is a good time to look in the mirror and take stock of what we have wrought. What we see reflected is not pretty. We could do worse than going back to basics.
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