The American Spirit

Last week, Easter Sunday, I wasn't feeling it. I didn't want to write. I just wanted to rest. In my theological viewpoint, resurrection means rest. The end of attempting to earn favor with God. That is a treadmill that will run the soul down. Just rest, just receive. My dad thought my lack of blogging meant that I was cracking up.  

In general, I don't get too worked up about writing this blog. I don't spend hours pondering words and sentences, or constructing over-arching outlines on paper in terms of logical digressions. God loves a cheerful giver and if I can't have fun with this and maybe make a few points worth considering, then I wouldn't do it. I have enough stress elsewhere just to add another burden. So, I sit at the keyboard and write. I surprise myself a lot on the direction the blog takes. It is like the wind. Or breaking wind. You be the judge. I did have WiFi issues while writing this so I had to take a break, eat lunch, and return.

I am not asserting that I am a genius on the level of Mozart here or anything. But, I have written a lot of words in my lifetime. More than most. So, I have worn down some grooves in my brain with the literary mojo. And when I was preparing for the Ph.D. program, I forced myself to learn to type the right way which was breaking bad habits that had become ingrained and developing the correct way to approach the keyboard. It was excruciating to force my fingers into the "rub, dub" exercises. But, over months and months I did it. And my typing is pretty much from thought to screen with zero resistance from the fingers (O.K. maybe, 99% finger to keyboard transmission). I had correctly surmised before the Ph.D. that if I didn't learn how to type properly, I would quite possibly sink the doctoral ship and I was right. It was hard enough to row without having a broken paddle.

I was too hard-headed to learn typing correctly to start in high school, a curious combination of snark and insecurity that I would embarrass myself in a typing class with my poor skills in mastering the keys. So, my mutated typing skills just got more pronounced. A good point to remember is that snarkiness and know-it-allness are just covers for ignorance and insecurity. Being loud can be an indicator that one is shouting in a lame attempt to convince oneself.   

Well, onto the topic at hand. But, I will circle back in an incredible feat of literary nautical skill. 

I have become a big fan of podcasts. About ten years ago, a friend was talking about podcasts and I envisioned something like that creature in Alien popping out of Sigourney Weaver. I have no idea why I associate "pod" with that movie. I supposed I see the Alien gestating in a pod and then rearing its fearsome face upon being birthed. I may be way off here. So, podcast sounded sinister, a birthing of creaturely ideas that would hatch in my mind. Since then, I have become a podcast devotee. I listen to probably 15 hours week of them, even before the quarantine. I am pretty much on a normal schedule now, albeit virtual. Old age and the doctoral program fried my vision and it is just easier to listen than read. Even though, I do still read a decent amount. I just have to put on my high-powered specs and attach my LED reading light to the book or read in my iPhone app which probably is hurting my eyes over time, too. 

A topic of interest for me is the American Revolution and that whole era of American history. So, I listen regularly to a couple of podcasts on this topic. I know more about that time than probably 95% of high school Social Studies teachers in our land. Part of my interest is driven from growing up about ten minutes from Valley Forge Park and in the Philadelphia region. I was coming of age during the Bicentennial and it was a fun time to be a kid. And I really caught the spirit of the American Revolution. I saw Americans as being good and the British as being bad (not so simple, Junior). In my own little way,  I became a kid historian on this era of American History. I even gave a little talking tour of Valley Forge Park to my German relatives, highlighting the contributions of Prussian General Von Steuben to the American cause. He is pictured above schooling the rag tag Continental Army on military tactics. I didn't know what I was talking about but boy was I authoritative!  

I think I was trying to make the point that Germans weren't all bad. Remember, 1976 was only about 30 years after the conclusion of WW II.       

My dad reminded me of something that Von Steuben had said about the American soldier. I had already heard it from a Valley Forge Park Ranger when I was poaching on her presentation but not officially part of the group. She recounted his quote of the difference between the Prussian soldier and the American soldier:

As he stated himself: 'You say to your soldier, 'Do this' and he does it. But I am obliged to say to the American 'This is why you ought to do this' and then he does it.'  Not much has changed. 

So Americans are a "why' people and we have an anti-authority streak. Most of our ancestors essentially were turning their backs on their native land in search of opportunity. That is pretty rebellious if you think about it. Often, they were desperate. A good motivator.    

Yet, our Republic is based on some core values, constitutional and otherwise. And theses norms are fraying at the hands of those the specialize at divide and conquer rather than seeking common ground. And I am not blaming Right or Left here. Both are guilty. However, each side operates in carpet-bombing of political opponents. A solid reading of the history of our country shows that contentiousness in politics and elsewhere is part of the American story. A Free Press, Religious Freedom, Freedom of Assembly, Separation of Powers, etc. are all premised on the concept that we will not always or even often agree.  It is not always easy to find the why. It takes hard work.   

I think that our 24-7 news cycle and social media have handled some powerful tools to malevolent people. We can fight with sticks and stones or nuclear weapons. Technology matters. Going viral does sound more ominous now than what we used to imagine.    

And this Corona outbreak pandemic is illustrating the fissures. Is it possible both sides are making some valid points in the debate? If the economy crashes and kills off thousands of small businesses (50 percent of the employment in our nation) and if people can't pay their bills and feed and clothe their kids, that is just dying from a slow asphyxiation rather than the hangman's noose. Yet, what we can't have happen are know it alls who have absolutely little expertise in the matters at hand opining a perspective that is based on ignorance. Combine that with power, and we have a Shit Show. See current situation.  

So, how does typing on a keyboard typing relate to this? We have chimp-like pundits and politicians pounding the keyboard with little technique (sure they are slick and good-looking but often lazy and poorly-informed) and what comes out on the screen in nonsensical gibberish. They lack tact and diplomacy and their bombastic nature is smoke and mirrors for ignorance and ineptitude. Setting off firecrackers and smoke bombs to distract us and gain market share. Even Trump is crowing about his ratings. We can do better than this. We need to listen, we need to consider, we need to weigh, we need to be wise, we need to admit that maybe all of us are not as smart as we think we are.    

A lesson from the Founding Fathers, as remarkable as they were in the annals of history, is that they were flawed people much like us. Yet, they shared a common goal--and even though they had harsh disagreements and hurt feelings towards another that lasted a long time, they did pool their common gifts for the good of the country. Can't we do the same?