There are times in our lives both as individuals and as a collective when we need to take stock of who we are, what we want to become, what do we owe to ourselves, our communities and the world.
I am a parent of a teen who is on the cusp of adulthood. This summer, my husband and I have been having deep and meaningful conversations with our teen as she begins to define her life. We have encouraged her to think about who she is and what kind of person she wants to become as an adult. As her parents, we have asked our teen to contemplate what values she holds, whether those are ones we have taught her, or she has picked up along the way. Our conversations have also included topics like what it means to be a good friend and a part of a community, and what it means to live with honor and integrity. Most of our conversations began with open-ended questions to open a dialogue and encourage reflection.
America is also at an inflection point. Some of those same conversations need to be taking place within our larger society as America decides how it will redefine itself. To open a dialogue and encourage reflection, here are just a few questions for Americans to chew on. What values does America still hold or want to hold? What does it mean to be a friend to our nearby neighbors and allies around the globe? Do honor and integrity still matter?
The winter of 2020-2021 was certainly bleak in America. For the first time in our history, we did not experience a peaceful post-election transfer of presidential power. Instead, we experienced an insurrection in the very seat of our democracy. The peaceful transfer of power has always been a central tenet of our democracy. The election of 1800 between the incumbent, Federalist John Adams, and his Democratic-Republican vice president, Thomas Jefferson, provided us with the first test of this tenet.
During his inaugural address, Jefferson acknowledged that “every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have been called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all republicans: we are all federalists.” Ever since the election of 1800, presidents have been transferring their presidential power peacefully. That is until 2020. Can we agree with Jefferson that there is no difference in principle? What are those principles?
A community is a group of people with common interests living in a particular area or a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic and political interests. Notice the words common and interests are used in defining a community. How is not doing everything in our power to protect our children as they return to school not in the common interest of every person residing in our communities?
Last week at a St. Louis County Council meeting, several residents protested a proposal to require masks in public places and compared the measure to the inhumane practices under the Nazi regime. What have we become when this type of talk is acceptable?
How do we see America’s place in the world, and what do we owe our allies who stood by us? I wonder whether America still bears any resemblance to Ronald Reagan’s “shining city upon a hill.” It’s unclear anymore what are America’s foreign policy goals.
The last three administrations have all promised a withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. The withdrawal may be popular, with recent polling suggesting that 70% of Americans polled favored pulling out of Afghanistan, but the way in which President Joe Biden’s plan was executed is a mess. It is difficult on a human level to watch what is happening to the tens of thousands of Afghans who supported the U.S. mission and were unable to be removed to safety. I shudder to think of what will become of the many women and girls left behind.
Biden, who remained mostly silent as this tragedy unfolded, finally addressed the nation on Monday in response to the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. The president said he stands “squarely behind” his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan and that the Afghan government’s collapse, clearing the way for a Taliban takeover, was quicker than anticipated. “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves,” Biden said. While all that may be true, I have to wonder whether America has abandoned its allies. Have we broken our promises?
There are more questions than answers right now. The path toward redefining America may very well lie in how we answer them.
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