Common Ground And American Possibilities

There is no country in the world that has nurtured more free people than America. For Americans that were born in this country, the ideas of persecution, repression and even real poverty, remain abstracts concepts and nothing more.

America is the destination of choice for most of the world’s immigrants. The vast majority of those immigrants, understand that America is not just a haven from repressive and tyrannical regimes- though that alone would make America a most unique and wonderful nation. In fact, what sets America apart from other nations, are the possibilities. It is true that immigrants from other places find respite and relief from persecution. It is even more true that people come here with dreams. America is the only country in the world where dreams came true for millions and millions of people- and the possibilities in this country have barely been tapped. It because of that truth that immigrants still clamor to reach our shores.

Unlike gold rushes of the past, no one in this country or those who come to this country, are too late or have ‘missed the boat.’ The very first opportunity to strike it rich happens every morning of every day.

How is it possible then, that so many Americans, children of privilege and raised in freedoms that are the envy of the world, have come to hate the very freedoms they claim to value. In fact, there are those who would make freedom conditional- agree with us, they say, or otherwise, expect to be disrespected, insulted, excoriated and sometimes, even physically beaten for your beliefs (as some soldiers returning home from Iraq will attest to). There is no debate, no discussion and and no negotiation. This is the stand and the reality of many who claim certain political allegiances.

Politics has become more of a bloodsport than ever before. It has become that way because the citizens of this nation are no longer able to deal with dissent and refuse to find common ground.
The story played out in the political arena,  is the one played out every single day on the home front, in neighborhoods all over the nation. Women- and some men- are beaten, children abused and as a result, families are broken and people are forever scarred by viciousness that has become part of t. Why? the answer can be found in single word. Control.

People are driven to hate and violence when they realize they cannot control others or the beliefs of others- without resorting to violence. In doing so, they highlight the reality that they cannot control themselves. They want what they want, when they want it- and woe unto anyone who gets in the way. More on that in a bit.

Cultural compulsions feed upon outside influences that range from religion to advertising to politics. Adults and children are urged to buy, because if they don’t they are marginalized. We are told by TV evangelists that they will happily define and decipher what it is God really wants from us, and we had better ‘toe the line.‘ Carefully crafted political machines tell us that if we vote for the other guy, we are racists or we want to destroy the family unit. There is no middle ground.

Now, to be clear, ‘we the people‘ know there is a middle ground. We live with our neighbors, day in and day out, and despite differing views, we still meet at the BBQ or at the pool. The paid hacks, however, hate that reality because it dilutes the message that we are in a crisis. Politics, religion and advertising are all geared towards the creation of a crises. A crisis demands action without thinking or accommodation. The hacks understand that the only way to push an agenda through is to present that product or agenda as the answer to a crisis- because if there is no crisis, we will find a way to common ground and render them, their product or agenda, irrelevant.
Every day, the message is ‘crisis.’ We have been conditioned to react quickly, mindlessly  and forcefully. Of course, part of that conditioned response is to hate the things we can’t control. As a result of the ever increasing ‘hate’, some people are driven to blind rage, violence or the condoning of violence. Common ground, accommodation and the appreciating of the dignity of difference, are the last thing they want. In fact, too many people don’t even know how to reach common ground or accommodation with someone of differing ideas.

The Anchoress has made plain her disappointment with the political status quo. In The Immigration Speech she plainly reminds her readers that the President leads a nation and not just who voted for him. The President’s ‘base’ is upset that he isn’t responding to their ‘needs.’

In a more recent post, The Anchoress notes that

…President Bush has never surprised me, and that is probably why I have never felt let down or “betrayed” by him. He is, in essentials, precisely whom he has ever been. He did not surprise me when he managed, in August of 2001, to find a morally workable solution in the matter of Embryonic Stem Cells. He did not surprise me when, a month later, he stood on a pile of rubble and lifted a broken city from its knees. When my NYFD friends told me of the enormous consolation and strength he brought to his meetings with grieving families, I was not surprised…

There were no surprises in President Bush’s invasion of Afghanistan to battle Al Qaeda. There were no surprises when he went after an Iraq which everyone believed had WMD, an Iraq that had tried to assassinate an American President, an Iraq whose NYC consul did not lower its flag to half-mast after 9/11.

Actually, there was one surprise. He did surprise me by going back to the UN, and back to the UN, in that mythical “rush to war” we heard so much about. But then again, the effort in Iraq was never as “unilateral” as it had been painted…

President Bush did not surprise me when, faced with the scorn of “the world community” …condemning him and Tony Blair, he stood firm. A lesser man, a mere politician, would have folded under such enormous pressure. I was not surprised when Bush did not .

It never surprised me that Yassar Arafat, formerly the “most welcomed” foreign “Head of State” in the Clinton White House was not welcomed – ever – to the Bush White House.

President Bush’s immigration policies have not changed materially since he was Governor of Texas. You folks knew that when you elected him, twice. He has not changed, cannot change, because his policies arise not from his poll numbers but from his convictions and his conscience. You used to love that about him. Can everything, everything that needs to be done BE done, and all as you would have it done, in the real world, a world of bitter bipartisanship and a corrupted press?

With that, The Anchoress notes one great truth. In fact, declarations by Madeline Albright notwithstanding (oddly, Ms Albright mentions no concern about wahabbi influence), the decisions Mr Bush makes are not influenced by religion, advertising and politics. He has a long and demonstrated capability and capacity for seeking common ground and finding a path wide enough to accommodate all- and perhaps that is the reason he is so hated. He will not buckle and he will not bend to do what is politically expedient. He cannot and will not be controlled, nor will he abandon those fundamental values that have shaped and come to define him.

He will not allow himself to be beaten up by political hacks or opportunistic agendistas.

Real love is not conditional- or controlling. All the ‘If you loved me, you’d do this,‘ or ‘If you loved me you’d buy me that,’ is not real love. That is a controlling, obsessive love, that can have no happy ending.

The love for real democracy cannot be conditional. In a real democracy, institutions are in place that guarantee freedom for all. We need to relearn how to find common ground and make accommodations even as we honor the freedoms that are afforded every citizen.
If we cannot or will not rediscover that truth, the fate and future of our nation is risk.

Dignity Of Difference, Division Of Dogma

Last night, Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Britain and the Commonwealth (bio here), noted scholar, author and religious authority, delivered the Kenan Institute for Ethics lecture at Duke University. The lecture was attended by almost 4,000 people.

Dr Sacks is the author of The Dignity of Difference, in which he argues that faith and belief in God are elevated by the pluralism of various faiths that find new ways and expressions to worship. He believes that it is by examining our differences, we can come to better understand ourselves and others.

An overview/abstract of the book can be found here, on the website of Chief Rabbi.

In his lecture at Duke University, Rabbi Sacks noted

…that in today’s globalized world, the Internet has provided the opportunity for conflict anywhere to become conflict everywhere.

The Internet is the fourth key moment in literary history, Sacks said, adding that it was preceded by writing, the alphabet and the printing press. Just as printing revolutionized Christianity by bringing the Bible into individuals’ homes, predictably the fourth moment would affect Islam, the youngest of the Abrahamic religions, he said.

Sacks mentioned the Danish cartoon mocking the Prophet Mohammed and the papal comments about Islam as events that instantly went from local to global, sparking protests. Religious revolution within Islam is what is needed to resolve the current conflict, he said. Just as Jews were bystanders during the Protestant Reformation — in some sense Jews and Christians will be the bystanders this time, he said.

Another article noted these insightful remarks by Dr Sacks:

“We are living at quite an extraordinary juncture of history,” Sacks said. “We have no idea where the world is going, except that it is going there very fast.”

Sacks went on to highlight several examples of the rapidly changing world, including globalization, the fight against terrorism and the divide between the United States and Europe. He added that religion is at the bottom of these issues.

“Every suicide bomber, every terror attack, the language of al-Qaida, the president of Iran and the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah are accompanied by messages… each one of which is profoundly religious, unmistakably so,” Sacks said. “And that means that we have to stop and take stock. Why has it happened and what is its consequence?”

The Rabbi’s question addresses some very profound issues, some of which we have discussed, not the least of which is the necessary integration of all citizens into our American mosaic.

Our nation is the most ethnically diverse nation on earth. Conventional wisdom would easily conclude that by every standard of measurement and by examining the experience of nations, societies and cultures in the past and present, this ‘experiment’ in democracy would fail miserably.

Clearly, ‘E Pluribus Unum,‘ is more than a slogan.

There was a time when leaving the ‘old country’ really meant leaving. In choosing to immigrate to America, immigrants were also choosing to leave behind much more than familiar geographical surroundings. They were also choosing to leave behind much of what they knew and were familiar with, in exchange not only for a new address, but also for a new way of life.

To stay connected to home was restricted to the exchange of mail, often taking weeks or months. All the while, the integration into the American melting pot was a reality. Leaving home, by definition, meant just that and forging a new life was by necessity, a reality. Becoming American and adopting American values was all part of the immigration experience.

Nowadays, things are very different. There is far less integration and assimilation into a common ‘American melting pot’ because there is no need to integrate and assimilate. The ‘Old Country’ is as far away as an Internet connection and ‘Old Country’ ideas, values and principles are there for the taking for free or shared with a loved one for 2 cents a minute.

Today, for a few hundred dollars a plane ticket is purchased and the racism, bigotry and hate can be imported from countries where these things are part of the daily existence. Clerics, community leaders and teachers can make their way over and infect a whole generation- on our shores and in our backyards. Immigrants no longer need to assimilate into their surroundings. In fact, if they voice a desire to do just that, they are put under tremendous pressure and are at times even considered ‘traitors.’

If we voice our concern over these issues, we are ‘racists’ or bigots.

Immigrants usually opted to ’stay close’ and remain ‘tribal,’ because as a group, first generation immigrants were unsure of themselves and exactly how they fit into the American mosaic. Usually, by the second generation, the children of those immigrants are were very comfortable in their surroundings. Their ‘loyalties’ to their heritage and culture were determined by their community surroundings, family, and the social and/or religious values they were exposed to.

That is no longer true. Entire communities, real or virtual, facilitated by technology have an many cases, supplanted the influence on children that was once the purview of parents and local communities. That is what is disturbing to so many- even the children of integrated immigrants, educated and integrated into society, have turned to ‘outside’ influences- with disastrous results (Eteraz has alluded to this on many occasions. See this, too).

One of the great lessons of the American experience is that we are all equal- all of us, with no exception. Race, creed, color and sexual orientation are not acceptable excuses for hate, racism and bigotry. Hatred is an interesting phenomena. If allowed or tolerated, even a just a little, it will grow and flourish. No one has ever been able to contain hate. We noted in Democracies Don’t Care

…in a free society, we don’t care about your beliefs. We do care about your actions and behavior. You are free to integrate and to assimilate into our society in whole or in part. We really don’t care. Do not tell us we need to care about your beliefs and your concerns above all else and above our own beliefs. If you do try to make that assertion, you will soon be surprised at how easily you will be marginalized and resented- not for your beliefs, but rather, for your attempt to jump to the head of line. You are not more important than anyone else. We don’t care if you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu. You are free to worship as you believe. In fact, that is the last thing we worry about. America and free nations have long ago dispensed with the notion that what you believe or how you believe is relevant to peaceful existence. Notwithstanding some religious voices from the pulpits and the media, America has learned to live and let live.

We want to know if you are a good neighbor or an honest business person. We want to know that you’ll make sure to keep a watchful eye on your kids and ours, in the neighborhood we live in. We really don’t care how you dress (any more than you care how we dress) and we don’t care what language you apeak in your home. We don’t care which newspapers you read or which TV broadcast you watch. In fact, you are free to change the channel…

You are not free to react violently or to threaten those you disagree with. Western democracies are just that- free societies and we do not operate under the ‘laws of the jungle.’ If we did, we would not take kindly to even the first display of barbaric behavior. Your dissent is a right. But it is also a privilege, contained in the same way a painting is contained in a frame. You are free to paint the canvas as you please- as long as you stay within the borders of what is deemed acceptable behavior- that is, behavior that is non violent or destructive.

Those immigrants who challenge the status quo of their communities are almost always excommunicated from the group, by those who insist the criticism is an assault on their culture or religion. What are the principles, values and beliefs of some of the most dysfunctional and failed regimes in the world, are kept and guarded as if they were the stone tablets of truth in the Ark of the Covenant (see Shrinkwrapped here for an look and deconstruction of a virulent and self destructive pathology).

For example, may regarded Wafa Sultan as an apostate for challenging others to be free to choose their own beliefs. Her critics portrayed her as denigrating religious and cultural values. They portrayed her as a ‘religious reformer,’ a kind of unwanted Martin Luther (King, even), when in fact, she was no more than a kind of Bill Cosby, telling it like it is and stripping away the colored lenses of hate and failure (See Dr Sanity here and Neo-neocon here). Dr Sultan was portrayed as having insulted Islam, whereas in fact, she criticized what Islam had become- a reflection of dysfunctional, racist and bigoted regimes. She never insulted those who believe- in fact, she made it a point to not to- rather, she excoriated the bigotry and hat, and it was for allowing that bit of sunshine that highlighted those realities, she was shunned.

Think about that.

Imagine the contempt our adversaries must have for those of us who who can’t- or won’t even be bothered to defend our own values.

Imagine the always present, but never spoken contempt our adversaries must have for the weakest of us, that willingly choose the dysfunctional behaviors, attitudes and beliefs that would lead them to assist in causing great mayhem and harm to our nation.

To be an American is to be more than someone who comes here to benefit and participate in our economy- and that applies to everyone, equally, no matter what your politics, beliefs or ideology.

Parts of this post were published September 5, 2006