Happy Citizens in an Unfinished Republic

Our personal lives are teeming with examples of what to be thankful for as we reflect upon the Thanksgiving season, even if it is for the small pleasures of living another day or the friends and family we share a table with. Unfortunately, politics feels less exuberant and conservatives in particular can point to example after example of what not to be thankful for. From policy losses, cultural drift, and captured institutions, including government and its bureaucracies, it seems like an almost Herculean effort to pinpoint one thing that is headed in the right direction. Even when we win it seems as if the politicians that seem capable of ushering in the needed change eventually fall prey to the scandals and power vacuum that inevitably suck them all in. It would appear then that the real battle is letting hope and ordered optimism lead us as opposed to fear or anger. Perhaps, we need to look at our founding ideals as an unachievable goal that will illuminate the twisting roadway that we forge.

Our founders gave us a wonderfully noble idea to establish our country upon and yet that standard is so high that at every twist and turn of our country we seem to fall short of it. This standard of Liberty and self-government at first appeared to be the pinnacle upon which we were founded but we sometimes fall prey of looking back on history with rose colored glasses. Many of our founding fathers fought bitterly with each other over the direction and policies that our fledgling government was trying to enact. Hamilton and Jefferson, both intellectual giants upon which our country relied, could not seem to agree on anything during Washington’s first or second term. Oddly, the Constitutional Convention itself seemed to come to the same conclusion that the country would not be founded upon a perfect Constitution, which is why they inserted Article 5 so that the Constitution could be amended and changed. They even enacted this amendment within 4 years of writing the Constitution. They knew that chasing ordered Liberty was an iterative affair; that chasing perfection was an unachievable but enviable task. This should give us reason for hope and not despair because it shows that when the standard is high enough it will expose flaws to be fixed. The gap between the ideal and reality is not proof of hopelessness but rather that the standard is a goal worth achieving.

While this may be easy to be thankful for, losing elections begins to take its toll. Whether it is to socialists in New York or radicals taking over a school board, what can we be thankful for when losing elections? Losing elections proves the fact that we lost an election within a system that gives us a voice and tools. We can see the fruits of their labor, voice how terrible the harvest is, and then vote them out. We have the opportunity to move, to pull our children from schools, and so many other actions that those in a totalitarian regime do not have. We have the right to sue, petition, organize, and speak. The fact that we know that our rights are potentially being violated is proof that we have the highest of standards protecting those rights. Anger and fear are the natural first reaction to a loss and those can slowly harden into cynicism or apathy if given a chance. Gratitude for the challenge keeps us engaged instead of checking out. Even in loss we can find solace and comfort in the fact that the system we have allows us the opportunity to turn the tides and swing the pendulum back towards freedom.

It is very easy on the other hand to be thankful for elections and policies that align with what we believe. While it is ok to celebrate these victories, we must make sure that we are celebrating the right actions while not forgetting the victory and turning instead toward nitpicking and cynicism. It is a tale as old as time that a politician is elected with high hopes and expectations only to eventually do or say something to let down their constituents. Elected representatives are human after all and will inevitably fall short of the perfection demanded by each of us. Or we can fall on the other side of the spectrum and allow complacency to overtake us because we heap all our trust into one person and their victory. Neither extreme is what this country was founded upon. The government was never envisioned to be filled with perfectly virtuous citizens, and neither were they planning on citizens waking up to a perfectly run utopia that required no further engagement from citizens. When citizens disengage from politics when things are “good,” they cease to encourage the behavior and habits that encourage that good growth. Likewise, when citizens only engage when things are going bad, they equally must realize that patience is required to see change happen. We must be thankful that our call to self-government calls for consistency of engagement rather than a one-time plea for change. We can celebrate the wins and each step towards Liberty while also celebrating the fact that we are setting ourselves up for another step in the right direction.

Gratitude does not require us to pretend that everything is perfect or that nothing needs to change. It is instead working on our opportunity to be happy and engaged citizens while choosing to banish the emotions that would work to guide us towards anarchy or totalitarianism. Anger and fear have their place but not when they are the guiding emotions behind our actions instead of reason. Cynicism and apathy can feel sophisticated especially when the inaction is wrapped in conspiracy theory or the specter of a giant apparatus controlled by others. Hope and gratitude require the faithfulness of knowing that by merely doing the right thing at the right time, we can slowly change our Republic. We have been given a voice, an action, and a standard. We have an unfinished republic, and we must choose thankfulness for what we have, hope for a future, and settle for doing the actions that are required.