Reconciliation

To my friends who follow different political paths than mine:

I think it is time we talk, and I’ll take the lead. Our country needs for us to seek reconciliation and find shared goals, instead of concentrating on our differences. I'd like to use this blog in the coming days to pursue this dream. Please feel free to comment or disagree. Anyone who knows me understands that I can be wrong at times. Dead wrong. I’m the one, remember, who didn’t follow my wife’s advice in 1973 and buy stock in a company called Walmart.

First, I do not believe that you are bad or cognizantly-impaired because you don’t believe in the same approach to world order as I. I know that many of you are well-educated, honest, sincere, and unbiased, all traits that I have tried to achieve, with varying degrees of success.

I know that some of you have the feeling that you have done all that was expected of you in life. You have worked hard. You have gotten an education. Some of you have served our country in its military. You have supported your families, paid your taxes, abided by our laws, and avoided scandal. You have reared exemplary children. You feel, and rightfully so, that you should be left alone to enjoy the fruits of your labor and let others do the same.

I understand. I really do. Please allow me to add, though, that I have known countless people who have done all these things, same as you, and were denied the success they deserved because of race, gender, health, natural disasters, unforeseen epochal events, or a breakup of a marriage that they did not instigate.

I believe that government can, and should be, a force for good in helping those sidetracked from achieving the American Dream. The degree to which a person should subjugate the welfare of her or his own family to helping others is a personal decision, and, for many, a tough one.

Though I have tried, I cannot imagine a vision in which no government at all would result in a functioning society for Americans. James Madison, with perhaps a slight bit of hyperbole, offered this memorable quote in the Federalist Papers:

“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”

So, for today, if we could simply agree that some form of government is necessary, then we can work together on what form best suits our country and its place in the world.

Shall we?

Today, a new Jimmie replaces the old.