Are We Really The Ones We Have Been Waiting For? Or Was Hamilton Right?

by David Yancey, FA, AFT 6157 President

 

We have all heard the rousing words of politicians and orators espousing the power and the wisdom of the human heart and in particular the wisdom of the American people. The assumption is that as time passes we are making progress. We are, after all, Americans and we are the best thing since sliced bread. From Gandhi to Obama we hear these inspiring and motivational words meant to awaken in all of us the inner spirit of “doing the right thing”. But has it? Or, was Alexander Hamilton right when he said, of these same American people, “the masses are asses?

 

We all would like to believe that the evolutionary processes, over the decades, surely must have expanded and improved the American people’s ability to learn, think and make rational decisions. Furthermore, they surely must have reaped the value of collective experiences of the past. And of course these experiences have informed their wisdom and made them more critical in their analysis and more informed about the world around them. But has it? Or, again, was Hamilton right?

 

You would think they must know by now that there is no such thing as bi-partisanship anywhere in this country over the topic of budgets or health care. Political ideology is allowed to trump the advancement of the commonwealth and the people who live there. They must know that there are no true conservative or liberal thinkers in our country if there ever were. By now the majority of the people must know that many of our fellow citizens see the world through a very narrow prism and for the most part what vision they have is focused on their own self interest, and if that helps others then that is well and good, but it must serve their needs first if it is to be tolerated.

 

If this sounds like a rant then I plead guilty.

After decades of teaching students that participation in the political process is a civic duty and the only way to ensure their own success in our society is for them to become players in this great play. I prod them into participating because to not play the game just means you get “played”. However, given the recent events in our state and our nation I am hard pressed to give them the successful examples that I easily found in the past. I am now teaching a sort of “role reversal” methodology by highlighting the bad examples that confront us daily. You do not have to look very far to see bad examples of people and events in our country that illustrate the issues raised above.

 

You can look at the ineffective political actions of the state legislature and the governor in California as bad examples, or by looking at the unending political grid lock that has produced a disastrous state budget. Or you can point to the “political terrorist” that has hit the streets in August to protest health care reform by drowning out political debate or threatening the safety of elected officials at town hall meetings as examples of how not to act. Or the outrageous arrest of a renowned African American scholar for being “disorderly” inside his own home by a police officer who would not admit he lost his temper and made a judgment error.

 

Whether it is a small minority of far right wing Republican lawmakers in California who have seen their caucus slip to a small minority but have just enough members in the state’s legislature to block any reasonable approach to deficit reduction except their mantra “cut, cut, cut,” or groups, like the so-called “birthers,” that do not believe the President of the United States is a natural born citizen of this country or lately, the demagogues spreading the rumors of socialized medicine and/or government takeover of Medicare or Social Security, or the even more laughable establishment of “death panels” as part of health care reform, they raise serious questions about our country’s political discourse.

 

Worse yet is the political corruption of money in our system. Here we must be fair and call for a pox on both political parties for selling their influence. So, the answer to the initial question seems obvious, right? Not so fast.

 

Is There Hope After What We Have Seen?

In spite of the many, many examples of behaviors I have listed above and in spite of the continuance of the right wing clap trap that pollutes our air waves and our discourse, a different conclusion can be reached.

I was recently reminded by one of my top advisors that in the larger picture we, the American people, at least most of them—you might even say “the masses” —have made some great strides forward toward that more perfect union.

 

In November of last year we elected the first African American President of the United States. Something many of us never thought we would live long enough to see. We saw over a million people attend his inauguration in January although he had been essentially running the country since his election, trying to deal with the great mess he had inherited from the outgoing administration; including two wars, an economy in the free fall, and a financial system that was on the brink of total collapse.

President Obama has re-established our standing in the world as a leader of nations. Did you see that speech in Cairo? We have also just seen the first Mexican American woman Justice appointed and confirmed to the United States Supreme Court. I agree, a little “wise

Latina” judgment is what we need, and there is a litany of other accomplishments to his credit in less than 200 days.

 

So the answer may be a bit of both Gandhi and Hamilton. We surely have shown some moments of great wisdom and judgment by electing President Obama and yet there are those amongst us who do not want to accept that the world is still turning and that the right side of history is the side that accepts the inevitable progress and change that the future holds for us all. So do not despair or become faint of heart. We will endure as we have always endured and we will make it through these times of peril and difficulty.

 

So Don’t Despair We Will Endure

Welcome back to a new semester and a year of challenge and change that will require all of us to rise to the tasks that lie before us and do it with the wisdom and thoughtfulness that has highlighted the first few months of this new era. We must all strive to be what Gandhi wanted us to be and we must endure those who resist the change.