As we wave bye-bye to America’s 250th July Fourth, we should note that we’re in Year One of the country’s second 250 years. As bad as the country’s shape is today, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to . . . let’s say “make it better again.” That starts now.
In the Bay Area, we have a double reason to double-down on democracy. San Francisco’s own founding — when it was established as a mission — was in 1776, making this also the 251st year of the city’s life.
Now as then, nationally as well as locally, we have a lot of work to do.
The American Founding Fathers didn’t bequeath us an inheritance of a finished product; they bequeathed us a never-ending process of improvement toward high ideals. Those ideals of “created equal” and freedom from tyranny are good things, despite how often we failed to meet them. Those who suggest replacing those goals with trendy neo-neo-Marxism or racial nationalism would just be compounding the problems they claim to address. Millions of people have been inspired by those original ideals over the past 250 years and have made the country better by seeking to realize the ideals.
In the spirit of starting our second 250 by doubling down on what was right about the first quarter millennium, here are some suggestions for all of us to make sure future Americans don’t look at us as the generations that messed it all up.
First, learn to forgive. Regardless of who wins the next election or the next series of elections, there will still be tens of millions of people in this country who disagree with you. Live with it. And more important, when people become disaffected with the other side, welcome them to your side; don’t do what Jon Stewart did when he heard that former Vice President Dick Cheney was voting for Democrat Kamala Harris. He went on a foul-mouthed rant, telling Cheney to “f— off” and “Seriously, f— that guy. You came this close to destroying the entire world.” We desperately need more people to stop actively supporting the other side, so either welcome them with grace or at least stay quiet. Unfortunately, the Stewart reaction has been replicated numerous times by folks on the left who are only too ready to roll out a list of reasons to hate Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, Bill Kristol, et al. You might remember who won the Trump-Harris election.
Now as then, nationally as well as locally, we have a lot of work to do.
Second, do your homework: read the Declaration of Independence. Go back and read the classics that inspired the Founding Fathers — the Roman and Greek historians who chronicled their own failed attempts at self-government. If those bore you, read the livelier accounts by historians Mary Beard and Tom Holland. History is filled with parallels to current events.
Third, reject the sugary extremism. Don’t give oxygen to extremists on the left or right offering quick answers.
Fourth, focus on reinvigorating democracy (nationally and locally). When the United States was founded, only a small portion of its population could vote. (There actually were a few states where women or free Black people could vote, but for the most part, we’re talking about white men.) Today, the franchise is rightly broad, so let’s draw more people into figuring out the basics of how we live together in this big and bustling country. That means including more people in our discussions of how things should be run — and not just people who agree with us.
Fifth, don’t look for the government to do everything. I think everyone would agree that there are certain things the government needs to do. But when people want to solve a problem, they should first try to figure out if it’s something that people themselves can handle, individually or through private organizations. Another bonus of this would be that if government has less control over our lives, then when the opposition gets elected, they have less control over our lives.
Sixth, be patriotic. Don’t let the extreme right get away with co-opting the flag, patriotism, and love of country.
And, finally, don’t let the fear-mongers win. Yes, freedom is in peril. But it has been before — we had the Civil War, Jim Crow, the surge of American support for fascism in the 1930s, and so forth. Things always look terrible if you list the current problems. The fundamentalist preacher Billy Graham was very successful with his schtick, which was to begin his sermons listing various frightening news of the day and telling people it was time to get saved because clearly the end times are nigh. The problem with that is he could give that same speech any year of any century and never run out of contemporary tales of murders, wars, famines, and diseases. But this is the time we were born into, these are the problems we have to deal with, so let’s deal with them the best we can.
In a July 4 statement issued by the Clinton Foundation, former President Bill Clinton made much the same point. He wrote that “our Founders embarked on a radical experiment and declared a new nation rooted in the ideal of equality, with an elected government charged to advance life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. … Our road from 1776 to today has been, in Abraham Lincoln’s words, ‘piled high with difficulty.’ At every turn, there have been forces of reaction seeking to claw back the extension of our rights and liberties to more people. But by and large, thanks to celebrated leaders and everyday Americans alike, we have stumbled in the right direction — widening the circle of opportunity, deepening the meaning of freedom, and strengthening the bonds of our community.”
He added that we should celebrate the 250th birthday, but “tomorrow, wake up, and ask yourself what part you will play to keep making our union more perfect by keeping our country in the future business.”
The 251st is just as important as the first.
