First let me acknowledge that today, we are saddened by the sudden and tragic passing of one Tim Russett, noted NBC journalist. At the tender age of 58, Tim has now gone on to his post-temporal spiritual home. Like us all, that is where he came from, and that is where all of us will return.
I've observed so many journalists in my life who have not stayed true to their oath of objective dispensation of the so-called "news" --- that is, reporting on events as they happen in the most accurate and truthful manner possible. Tim always struck me as one who did respect his profession and seemed to honor its code of ethics. I can't really say whether or not Tim was a liberal or a conservative, and in this moment of somber reflection, it does not matter. No matter that he's the one who came up with "red" and "blue" states to define the political divide in America. Just labels we either ascribe or that are ascribed to us by others. Convenient, but often inaccurate. In Tim's case, we have to lend credence to his insight.
So as we reflect on the present Presidential Campaign of Obama v. McCain, political labeling seems more and more true but in my opinion -- absurd. This, while so many are advocating unity for all Americans. I wonder. There's a lot divisive rhetoric being spewed about that dishonors reasonable discourse. Shameful, pitiful, and dreadfully immature. And the worst offenders seem to be the most "religious" of us. So much for the divine premise upon which this nation was presumably founded. The premise of religious freedom . . . the idea that we are all free to express our religious beliefs, no matter how different from others. (I'll discuss America's early political theocracy in a future blog).
More personally, this commentary comes from a perspective of my own tradition of conservatism. A tradition not so different from most Americans, but one colored by the dynamics of my own socialization. Particularly, I'm speaking about my childhood stint as a welfare recipient and public housing resident, my good fortune to break the bonds of poverty and obtain a reasonably good mix of formal educational experiences, my own revelation that I needed to pursue a career of public service as a repayment of a debt of gratitude for those unheralded servants who help me and family survive, and the sustaining power of faith borne out of my religious indoctrination and conversion. My socialization provided unique perspectives that legitimizes my voice as an emerging thought leader in the arena of faith-based empowerment.
As a political scientist, I realize (if more sensitively) that the disaggregation of Western philosophy and its varied disciplines shows itself distinctively as the result of European values transferred to America throughout its tortured history. This makes America a confusing place for so many of its citizens. A country that stands at once as both a democratic federalist republic and a free-market capitalist economy.
These seeming contradictions portend pernicious effects in American society in particular. To wit, we deal with the prevailing "isms" --- sexism, racism, classism, regionalism, narcissism, and all of the other "isms" one can imagine and proclaim.
Now I realize that there are continuums in life as well. They are present in all disciplines, appearing as constants in the scheme of human rationalization. My early political training taught me that in American we have the "right" and we have the "left". And we have the "center". We are led to believe that conservatism means nationalism, patriotism, family values, self-responsibility (in one's personal and professional life), law and order, statehood, and racial homogeny. Supposedly, liberalism means ethnocentrism, reliance on government, and diversity. Divisions, divisions, divisions.
But conservatism has taken on a new meaning that corrupts the essential righteousness of the label. For me and too many others, it has come to mean fascism, militarism, clanism, greed, penalism, parochialism (e.g., state's rights), and a clear enmity towards racial integration and respect. "They" are often called "radical right-wing conservatives" who unwittingly have come to behave like the disaffected anti-Federalists who shepherded this country to near obliteration with a bloody Civil War. I see the same attitudes rising but without the dastardly system of slavery they justified through the scriptures to deny humanity to others for the sake of their own development and inevitable greed.
Regrettably for them, those mechanisms of oppression have slowly but surely evaporated through the blood, sweat, and tears of the so-called "radical left-wing liberals" who sacrificed their lives in the quest to make America true to its creed that "all men (and now, women and children) are created equal". But there are forces that would sacrifice their quality of life to sustain the evil they feel most comfortable with.
Strained co-existence now becomes the denominating usurper of the American dream, while irrational fear numerates the decline of too many aspects of our society. What a travesty. In these troubling times, our very survival and hope for restored prosperity demands a personal deference to our differences and stereotypes. This is not a task that others can either do for us or make us do. We must reconstitute our faith and resolve based on our greatest virtues to make it so for ourselves.
0 comments:
Post a Comment