Is America headed toward a good society or dark days again? Your thoughts?
In the decade after the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution granted freedom, citizenship, and voting rights to former slaves. Reconstruction programs, such as Freedman Bureaus and public schools, attempted to empower four million newly freed individuals to realize their human potential.
Politics is a zero sum game that is inherently divisive. On election day, in each political race, one person wins and everyone else loses. The presidential election of 1876 was contested, resulting in the election of Rutherford B. Hayes despite Samuel J. Tilden winning the popular vote. Reconstruction ended and the political class dominated society. The economy declined, and political demagogues playing on people’s fears and anxieties led the country into the dark period of Jim Crow. People of color were denied their civil rights for another century. Failing to empower millions of people to realize their potential is one of the greatest tragedies and lost opportunities in American history.
We are at a similar inflection point today. We have the opportunity as a society to help hundreds of millions of Americans realize their full human potential. To do that, we must all recognize that it is in our enlightened self-interest to live in an educated, affluent society, from the skilled mechanics who service our cars to the skilled surgeons who operate on our hearts. Or we can descend into another dark period by allowing demagogues on the right and the left to divide us. The leadership for creating an innovative and dynamic economy must come from outside the political class. It must come from each of us seeking to empower those around us in our work, in our families, and in our daily lives.
It is in no way certain which path as a society we will choose. How do we inspire all Americans as individuals to accept responsibility for creating a good society. Is the image a sunset or a sunrise for America? I’d appreciate our thoughts.
