I want to live in a world where people are kind and decent and we’re not utterly bewildered by honesty and shocked at thoughtfulness and impressed with selflessness.
When did American politics turn into an 8th grade recess playground where angry, resentful bullies run amok mocking and ridiculing everyone not like them, dragging them by the legs through the dirt until they cry and beg for mercy?
How is it that the vast majority of us go to great lengths to instill in our children common values but no longer demand that others adhere to them once we reach adulthood or get elected to office?
Why have we allowed the rich and powerful to divide us into fierce rivals in an endless game of dodgeball and when someone from the other team goes down, the “winners” stand proudly and sneer and jeer and point and name call?
Your neighbors are not the enemy. Your friends are not the enemy. Your brothers and sisters are not the enemy. Our enemies are greed and vanity and misplaced pride; envy and anger and resentment.
I long for leaders with integrity and courage and honor who are honest and decent; patient and strong, resolute and open. I pray for leaders who understand the concept of “for the common good,” who believe that a healthy and educated and empowered, free people can and will create a better world for all of us; not just a few of us.
If all people are indeed created equal as promised by America’s founders in the Declaration of Independence, it’s time we elect leaders who understand this bold but simple pledge and work tirelessly to uphold it.
We cannot turn back the clock. The America of the 1950s and ‘60s and even the relative civility of the 1980s doesn’t exist anymore and to vainly try to rekindle the culture or zeitgeist of a bygone era is a fool’s errand.
But make no mistake: we can and must find our humanity – and humility – again, and soon.
