Sharing America

It’s always inspiring to know, or nowadays mainly remember, the “Greatest Generation”, those who served in the military during WWII or waited at home, full of hope for their sailor’s or soldier’s return.  Talking with them revealed the many bonds they shared, not the least of which was their common readiness to serve their country in dangerous places everywhere.  New York City punks and Alabama rednecks and African-American homeboys had grown together into Americans.  Of course, there had been the “first generation”, those who served in the same way at Valley Forge and Saratoga and Yorktown, and the generations that served in 1812 and the Civil War and WWI and all the troubled times in between.  From the Sons of Liberty who responded to Paul Revere to the men and women of today’s armed forces, the unity of the United States has been shaped by shared service.  Stirring people together in the great “melting pot” to form a nation includes those common experiences that unite people who would otherwise be alien to each other.  Apart from military service, these shared American experiences have also included things like the upcoming Independence Day, railroads and highways that link us all, arguments about horse races and baseball teams, popular tunes, and, yes, what we read.  They contribute to everything from a unified patriotism to civility in the streets.

Unity was relatively easy for Sam Adams, the Boston merchant, and Tom Jefferson, the Virginia farmer/lawyer.  They read the same authors and were soaked in the same “literary canon”, the collection of writings familiar to all.  As a consequence, when either spoke of liberty or the common welfare, the other understood what was meant.  It contributed to responsible politics.  While the Constitution was drafted, flamboyant orators like Patrick Henry and Tom Paine and yes, even Tom Jefferson, were politely shooed away in favor of cooler heads like Madison and Franklin.  Even in 1858, when Lincoln said “a house divided against itself cannot stand”, most of his audience could immediately put their finger on the passage he was quoting.  It is much harder these days when we’re constantly bombarded by thousands of messages from newspapers, social media, books, the internet, wildly in conflict, coming from people talking past each other, separated by a common language without common referents. Speakers are often using word meanings from cultures so different that a translator would be appropriate.  Internet comments on practically any news item are more a trading of shallow insults than a sharing of understandings.  When controversies erupt like the current wikileaks and Snowden issues, or the Zimmerman trial, or gay marriage, or voting rights, or internet freedom, or whatever, Silicon Valley and the Midwest can disagree violently without either realizing they are not really talking about the same things.  When talking about liberty or equality or discrimination or justice or respect, they don’t understand how what they’re saying to others will be understood.  The common experiencing of McGuffey’s Reader is no more.

The controversies, the congressional impasses, the displays of violent incivility, are all signals of a growing lack of mutual understanding prompted by our diversity and polyglot cultures.  We need to consciously seek ways to strengthen both our unities and our understanding of our differences.  The redevelopment of a core curriculum of foundation documents in our schools would help.  Just the controversies that would occur over defining such a curriculum would be enlightening.  So would Michael Gerson’s proposal to reinstitute a program of a required two years of national service, military or civilian, for young people, male and female, coming   out of high school.  I cringe when I say that because I have six grandchildren who would be subject to that.  But the draft, when we had it, was the greatest mixer in our American melting pot; it helped us understand and respect each other.  We need an updated version of it back.  They can teach, like AmeriCorps, or build parks, like the CCC, or staff homeless shelters, or do military service.  The important thing is just to learn to be together carrying out shared responsibilities and learning to cope with each other’s differences.  We need to talk to each other, respectfully and with understanding.  We need to share America again.