by Irene Daniel
Last week I lamented the great American dialogue that is not taking place as we prepare for the next presidential election cycle. What we have is a dramalogue.
Merriam Webster defines dramalogue as the "reading of a play to an audience;" while thefreedictionary defines it as "a dramatic monologue." As there is nothing inherently threatening about reading a play or experiencing a dramatic monologue, I find these definitions insufficient to describe the manner in which Americans discuss political and social issues with one another these days.
It's not that our political discourse has always been one of deferential and compassionate treatment of one's opponents. Our beloved democracy has a very long history of political opponents being most uncivil towards one another. Let us not forget that during the Civil War era, a United States Senator was literally beaten to death by another United States Senator on the very floor of the United States Senate. Certainly not the best example of democracy at work; not our finest hour by any stretch of the imagination.
We don't want to go back there, do we? Do we? We don't have to go back there, or back anywhere else in our imperfect, yet glorious American past. Isn't forward where we want to go? Can we get there with so much misinformation, deceptive spin and conversation-stopping name-calling and vitriol that is way in excess of zeal?
I am a lover of history. In our history, I see not only our present, but our future. I see the unfulfilled promise made to the American people nearly 240 years ago. A promise born in times of great upheaval, tremendous risk, extraordinary courage and violent revolution. That promise of liberty, equality and opportunity for every American has been a taller order to fill than our founders could have imagined in their limited understanding of those words when our nation was in its infancy. While it seemed perfectly logical in the 18th century that only propertied white males had the right to vote, or any meaningful decision-making power; we have evolved greatly past that limited perspective. It is our constant evolution toward that ideal, that "more perfect union," that has created the nation that we are today.
Our American ideal of freedom is so great, so mighty and so expansive that it has taken us nearly two-and-a-half centuries to grow into the mature and evolved democracy for which we all yearn. Americans are a restless bunch by nature, it seems. And we are again restless and yearning for something we believe to be eluding us. And that "something" is different for everyone.
Some yearn for an illusory perfection that is behind us. Others yearn for inclusion in that "more perfect union," from which they have been previously excluded. Their yearning is palpable.
All we have is today. Whether we want to reconstruct something of the past, or to construct something entirely different for the future, all we have to work with is today. This day. This year. This election cycle.
Illusions of past glories and dreams of a brilliant future can be given life only today and only by us; all of us Americans living here in the land of the free and the home of the brave. We give our dreams life with our voices and wings with our efforts.
So, what kind of voices and what kind of effort do we want to breath into our American dreams for the 21st century?
Watch this space.
Copyright 2015, Irene Daniel, all rights reserved.
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