There is a quiescient American life rarely visible to the world at large. It plays out in homes, neighborhoods and small towns and cities over this vast country. We value our family life, the landscapes that make us who we are, and the pulse of democracy that beats in our chest like a second heart. Afterall, we have committed our lives and futures to a grand experiment in the world as it were: that all people are equal in their right to self-determination and self-governing by majority. A government for most of the people.
Over the last 247 years, we’ve more or less kept democracy working. It’s not for the faint of heart. Everyone of voting age has to strive year to year to protect its fragile nature which by and large depends on the character of the people we elect. Yet how curious that this essential element of leadership in a democratic society is rarely examined and may even be ignored when outright unlawfulness is proven in courts of law. We elect crooks and schemers.
It is in the home, the extended family, the church, the schools and universities and in civic clubs and convergences in public spaces where character is discussed, defined, and bulwarked among us. Children learn by observation, through the influence of elders and friends and the public institutions such as libraries and public spaces where community celebrations and historical remembrances take place regularly when and where we renew our devotion to democratic principles. This local democratic practice is like a heart pumping blood through the body politic, removing harmful substances and reoxygenating democratic life. It must be continously reinvigorated among all of us.
I recall fondly how my family of origin discussed the affairs of our government over a meal, taught and retold historical events chronicalling the country’s continuous work to keep democracy healthy and relevant to the Time. In school we were taught basic civics so that all of us knew how our government works. Much of this essential work of democracy has nearly disappeared like an ephermeral stream appearing only where individuals make efforts to revive it.
Yet, I know that stream, that current of American life, runs close to the surface and only requires a quorum of citizens working together in their everyday lives to make it rush again across this land, a bright current against darkened skies.
National Constitution Center – The NCC regularly sponsors zoom educational sessions about American history and constitutional law and lore. Highly recommend this site for contemporary topics that challenge us today. (See video to the right from a recent discussion by two historians about partisanship during Jefferson/Adams govenment, Sedition Acts in particular.)
The Founding Fathers and the Politics of Character
PBS Interview with Jill Long Thompson, former Congresswoman from Indiana.
Susan Feathers 
I agree that the foundation of a society is all the connections between us and the people in our lives, in the context of all the institutions we are part of. Unfortunately, the basic structure of our cities, economy, and government, does everything possibly to separate people from each other.
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Well done. I too recall conversations over dinner, especially Federal given we lived in Washington DC. Today I find us being careful around small children around hate talk and such. That concerns me.
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Being a parent today is an awesome challenge. So much of our social and political structures work against raising healthy and mentally strong children. Your sons have done an admirable job there and I believe that many of our children who recall and benefitted from a more intact social environment can help their communities restore some of it. The issue you bring up is a concern. Now is a time we need firm response to hate speech of all kinds. I like how Biden and Blinken and the current administration is clear and has remained stubbornly failthful to getting their jobs done for the American people. Each one of us needs to stay above the fray and keep the messages clear and frequent: hate has no place in civil discourse and the nation is built on that principle. Our generation of elders needs to speak up much more because we may be the last to remember a saner time! And ours was replete with all kinds of civil unrest but the difference was there were many leaders and societal institutions that kept a clear head and message to get us safely through those times. I love that we are still players in creating the civil society for our families and friends!
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