First Principles

 I choose to read all sorts of material to try to remain informed. Amazingly, I never cease to be amazed at what I do not know. I was not familiar with Thomas Ricks, but the reviews of his book, “First Principles” struck me as most important. How he was able to extract from history the endless disagreements over serious matters persisted from the start of our nation. I always thought that there was universal agreement regarding the contents of the Constitution. That and much else were most enlightening and placed current political differences in a broader context. Surely, it does not make the current problems more amendable, but at least I know that these problems may never end.

Thomas Hicks closes his volume with a series of recommendations for us. I took the liberty to copy verbatim his suggestions 

1. Don’t Panic

Madison’s checks and balances have thus far worked. We need to ensure that the system works. This begins with ensuring that eligible citizens are able to vote. The ballot box is the basic building block of our system.

2. Curtain campaign finance

We should drop the bizarre American legal fiction that corporations are people, enjoying all the rights of citizens, including unfettered campaign donations as a form of free speech. Corporations today possess greater rights than do people, as they cannot jailed or executed. The founders would have considered corporate campaign spending the essence of political corruption.

3. Re-focus on the public good

Health is a public good which is a reason everyone should have access to health care. In the long term, so are education, transportation infrastructure, the environment, and public safety. These are the things that come under the “general welfare” of the people that is mentioned twice in the Constitution. The idea has its roots in an assertion by Cicero that “salus populist suprema lex esto”, i.e., Welfare of the public is the supreme law. With that in mind, Americas need to put less emphasis on the property rights of the individual and more on the rights of the people as a whole. As Michael Sandel’s puts it, “to be free is more than a matter of pursuing my interests unimpeded, or satisfying my desires, whatever they happen to be. It is to share in self-government, to deliberate about the common good, to have a meaningful voice in shaping the forces that govern our lives”.

4. Promote, cultivate, and reward virtue in public life — but don’t count on it

The next step is to treat people who think differently from you with courtesy. Hear them out. Try to understand their points of view. Ask yourself how they came to those views. Even better, ask them —not to score debating points, but to learn.  At the very least, you may come away with a better understanding of where your own side has erred or overlooked aspects of the problem. As part of that dialogue, when members of your own side violate American fundamental principles, speak out against them.

5. Respect our core institutions — and push them

Even at their most bitter moments, the founders all believed that government had a central role to play in American life, even if they disagreed how that should be manifested. They generally held a respect for inquiry, for the establishment of facts, and the intense debate about their meaning. 

We should question the view that the government is almost always the problem. Sometimes it is the solution, especially when it serves the common good.

6. Wake up Congress

The branch of the federal government that has failed most in recent years has been Congress. Two of its major functions are to be the voice of the popular will and a check on the executive. The framers of the Constitution would be surprised and chagrined by the passivity of Congress in recent decades, and especially its failure to assert firmly its role as a co-equal of the government with the executive. 

7. Enrich the political vocabulary 

The Revolutionary generation had a mixed record in discussing political issues, and we can learn from by both their successes and shortfalls. They devised ways to speak about independence and equality, but struggled to develop a political vocabulary that addressed the persistence of partisanship. Do we have an adequate vocabulary for the issues of our own era — political decency, global warming, dealing with terrorism, the growing inequality in income and wealth? Do we need to “make America great again,” or rather do we need to make America more American?

8. Reclaim the definition of the “in-American”

Someone who became an American citizen yesterday enjoys all the rights of a person whose family landed here three centuries ago. Political freedom begins with the freedoms of conscience, assembly, and speech. So speak out on behalf of our rights, and remember that doing so begins by protecting the rights of others, even when we disagree with them. Especially protect repugnant speech, no matter how ugly. When in doubt, remember that someone might one day try to label your own views as too offensive to be allowed public expression.

9. Rehabilitate “happiness”

We need to appreciate the Enlightenment’s broader, richer notion of happiness and make it again about finding one’s place in the world, enjoying what we have and what we see in it, and appreciate the beauty of the Earth during our short time on it.

10. Know your history 

Remember the founders made huge errors and decisions, most notably by writing slavery into the basic law of the land, with catastrophic consequences. Slavery was not a stain on the country, it was woven into the original fabric. The nation was founded in part on the acceptance of slavery. American slavery in turn was constructed on racial lines — that is, a belief that black people were inferior to white people, which is the core of white supremacism. Slavery no longer exists in this country, but that belief system remains alive. As the nation moves forward, we need to be clear-eyed about where it came from. 

In studying the founders; struggles and then thinking of where the country is today, we should recognize that the American experiment is still underway — and can be lost if we are not careful. In moments of doubt, we should focus on finding ways to continue and improve this experiment. Despite its flaws, it is worth it.

Thankfully, I am old

 Entering life after WWII, I innocently dealt with relative success, thanks to playing sports all year long. Based on my younger years of fear of marriage, given my experience as a child, I decided at the last moment to turn down my college acceptance and entered the seminary.  Finding others more learned than I, studying was a necessity and then, a most satisfying experience that has persisted life long.

Even though I had experienced my father’s biases, I could never understand how he saw other nationalities with such anger. It made no sense. I can recall his watching me play baseball and then telling me his perception of certain players with foreign nationalities. I had learned early in life not to argue with him. It would be hopeless.

When my experiences in the priesthood resulted in my joining others in demonstrating for justice and equality for all, I ultimately experienced all sorts of sessions with diocesan officials, trying to make me more aligned with their thinking. Eventually, it became clear that I could not survive in this environment and decided to leave and go to graduate school. That decision resulted in an unbelievable turn of circumstances. I shared with Joan in March my plans to leave for California in June and told her that I would love her to join me, but I could understand the problems associated with my plans without much savings. Lo, and Behold! She said yes!

Over time, life could not have been better. A wonderful life with Joan, beautiful children and, now, grandchildren.

I became aware with the election of President Reagan that there was a change in emphasis on political policies. But it was not until Gingrich surfaced that I recognized that we were dealing with a different political calculus. Obviously this phenomenon only became more pronounced over time.

I read all sorts of sources of information and watch news from various sources, albeit not from what is considered Right Wing, e.g., Fox News. I get totally depressed with the phenomenon that is prevalent now throughout the world with possibly a few exceptions, including amazingly my mother’s homeland, Ireland. To observe how people perceive others who do not look that same as they is more than disappointing. Whether it is racial discrimination in our country or elsewhere, e.g., Poland, Hungary, China, Japan, it was once disheartening and, has become, despairing. Reading now about France’s issues with Muslims becomes only another nation unwilling to deal with differences. One can understand that perpetuated violence, regardless of its origin, must be addressed. But to extend the behavior of some onto the whole population of a minority is ridiculous. 

Surely, I am depressed with the situation. I never cease to express with Joan my sadness at what I reference as gross stupidity. Every one, to me, is like me. Granted our experiences have been different, our level of intelligence varies, and our support systems range from the sublime to the ridiculous, but underneath it all, we are all both saints and sinners. None of us are perfect. Why we cannot see each other as brothers and sisters trying to make the best of life is now tragically becoming just a dream. I have no idea how this situation will develop. At the moment, I could see our nation itself become split with four political parties, Right Wing Republicans, Traditional Republicans, Liberal Democrats and Traditional Democrats. Whether our Constitution survives is open to question. I have hopes in the younger generations, but time is now less open to the infinite. Global warming will place enormous hardship throughout the world within the life times surely of my grandchildren. I am sad to even think this and only hope that my vision is miscalculated.

Life has been so good and, now, I am aware how blessed my experience has been.

Interesting Moment in the History of Being a Priest

 I rode to my first parish in Concord, MA in 1963. Everything was admittedly new, but nothing causing concern. Within a short time, maybe a week or two, the doorbell rang and I came to answer it. A woman wanted to talk and went into the office. She quickly voiced her question why she could not practice birth control. After taking a breath resulting from the pointed question, I voiced the moral theology taught repeatedly in the seminary. She was not moved and contested what I was saying. The conversation eventually ended with my feeling sorry that I could not convince her.

To my utter surprise, she cam back within two weeks to continue the discussion, resulting in the same outcome. I felt badly for not being able to “set her straight”, but felt justified in what I said.

In a matter of another week or two, a middle agreed male parishioner wanted to talk to me. He was a teacher in a Catholic school and had, as I recall, five children. For whatever reason, he too wanted to discuss the church’s position on birth control. This time, though, the issue was not what the church’s position was, but rather to “educate” me that the church’s position was wrong. In great detail, he cited all sorts of reasons why the church’s position was not only outdated, but wrong.

I don’t recall the details of the conversation, but I surely remember how different I became virtually overnight.

I started to become involved with other clergy in the town, Episcopalian and Jewish. Talking with them about whatever allowed me to see their wisdom. I started then to question other views of the Catholic Church. Before long, it became clear that I was a problem. I recall my fellow curate telling me while having coffee in the kitchen, “Ed, you are clearly a sincere priest, but you are under the control of the devil!” 

Admittedly, that caught my attention.

Struggle to Survive

 I have had such a hard time dealing with the political divisions within our nation and the world at large. It is hard to fathom the progressive change from the period of what I considered national unity, symbolized by the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower. I look back at the change starting with Ronald Reagan, and then hastened by Newt Gingrich. At the time, I assumed that this would be a wrinkle in the fabric of our democracy. Needless to say, I could not have been more wrong.

It depresses me to consider our political environment. Given my age, it is immaterial. But, I fear for our children and grandchildren. It is difficult to image what the future will bring. For me, I foresee that both political parties will splinter. The Republican Party will maintain a strong Trumpian orientation, resulting in the creation of a more traditional center right party. In addition, I foresee the Democratic Party splitting because the very liberal wing will be politically be incapable of capturing sufficient support to secure their role in the government. There will be then two new parties: the Liberal Democratic Party and the “Trumpian” Republicans. The end result would be our nation will end up with governments controlled by a coalition that can breakdown, as often happens in European nations and Israel.

While my future scenario could be hopefully totally mistaken, I cannot imagine how this scenario would materialize.

Today’s Washington Post’s column presented arguments shared by others that the Republican Party is split. This seems so evident. https://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?artguid=46bbc8b0-6492-40db-a4c3-1f781967dc3e&appid=1165)

My ultimate problem is trying imagine a future unlike most nations throughout the world where political unity is always a step away from disaster. The United States was “different”, but now it seems that we have joined others.

The Wonders of Grandchildren

Our oldest granddaughter, Nora, shared with me her composition that she submitted to her teacher. The experience of reading such a well composed paper, meticulous in its literary structure, was such a wonderful experience. 

Writing has always been a most meaningful activity. The joy of communicating one’s internal experience is virtually a most spiritual act. Only our words, whether spoken or written, can extend beyond our consciousness. To observe Nora’s ability makes me so happy. I would have hated to miss it. May she progress in her talents.

“In IF by Rudyard Kipling, I believe the line “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat these two imposters just the same,” would be advice that Atticus would give to Jem. When Atticus chooses to take the Tom Robinson case, he is given lots of backlash for his possibly very bad decision. Many people believe that it was unwise to take the case because he could bring lots of danger to his family. After the trial, Atticus gets a harsh greeting from Bob Ewell, who is furious. Ewell walks up to him and spits in his face, and proceeds to say nasty words and hurtful comments. Atticus is unbothered by his rudeness, and he brushes it off while Jem is worried for the safety of his father and is angry. Atticus tells him calmly, “ Jem, see if you had can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does. So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’d gladly take.” Atticus does not let Bob Ewell’s ignorance and unkindness affect him, and advises him to take the good with the bad. At the trial, Jem is outraged over something Miss Gates has said, “time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they thought they were gettin’ way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us.” Miss Gates’ hypocritical ness and racist phrases make Jem boil with anger. He sprouts off his bed and grabs Scout, yelling at her to never bring up the trial to him ever again. Although he is not irritated by Scout directly, he takes out his stress and anger on her. Even though Scout confides in Atticus and Atticus gives her advice, I believe if he were to advise Jem, he would give him the advise from IF. Jem has a tough time processing everything that has happened all so quickly, and the advice. If you can meet Triumph and Disaster. And treat those two imposters just the same, would help Jem to adopt a new mindset. A mindset where he can accept the change around him and take the good with the bad.”

Never Ceased to be Awed by the Ocean

 We have lived along the ocean for 24 years and remain lovers of the gift. Knowing full well that global warming will only continue to destroy much that it is essential to our planet, we can only treasure the moments that have been ours. We hate to think of the implications of our area in Scituate while considering at the pace of planet’s struggle to survive.

The ocean teaches us the simple lesson that we have to care for the planet and must rapidly change much of human behavior. Based on the political struggles that are currently occurring in our government and throughout the world, the future looks filled with pathos. Would that we could love Mother Earth as the gift that it is!

I could not have been more awed by the video of the Weather Channel that captured our beach. Our granddaughter, Nora, has been visiting us this week and has shared this special experience. On the way to swimming at the pool, we drove alone Surfside Rd (pictured in the photo) which is next to our street. It was awesome to see the effects of the power of Mother Nature.  

At times, I feel that I witnessed some pain and struggles in  the world. The Vietnam War, Civil Rights, the Vatican Council were  issues  that got me into personal struggles, but I came out of it thinking that matters would be aligned with peace and justice. So naive!

We have gone through so much only to find us in a nation so politically divided that it is impossible to conceive of the constitution’s viability, far less the nation leading other nations to address global warming. It is hard to look elsewhere for hope. No nation is leading the way. They are all struggling to survive!

I am sad to think that our grandchildren will be left with so many problems that they will inherit. We have to trust that they will do their best and hope that they will succeed. O