Sooner or later, the subjects of politics and social criticism inevitably creep into our conversations across the dinner table, over the backyard fence, in a circle at a church fellowship hour or during a chance encounter in the grocery store. Often, these conversations include opinions that the country is in serious trouble.
David Brooks noted in his recent New York Times column that, “Only 13 percent of young adults believe America is heading in the right direction. Sixty-nine percent of Americans say they do not believe in the American dream.”
However, in the course of our conversations, I can predict that I will hear the complaint: we know about the problems but we are never given any ideas about effective actions we can take to solve them. There are a few exceptions: write to members of Congress, join a demonstration, write a letter to the editor. But, for some reason, these actions do not seem to be enough for the person to feel they have made a difference.
This feeling that I must make a difference is often the result of extreme individualism which, according to Brooks, has become a widely accepted guiding principle for many people. He writes, “You need a shift in thinking before you can have a shift in direction. You need a different spiritual climate.”
Holding tight to one’s individual rights does not take into consideration others with differing positions. A collection of individualists creates divisions and inhibits the possibility of agreeing upon solutions for the country. Demanding individual rights may lead to an ego-driven posture, selfishness and an effort to accumulate power.
Therefore, to answer the question of what can we do, we must join what Brooks calls, “The Great Conversation.” This is the tradition of debating the marks of humanity, the essence of human thought and creativity. The humanities offer a plethora of information that can inform the present and the future of human interaction. In other words, before we can answer the question of what can we do to confront social degradation and the government antics that seem so harmful to the country, it will be necessary to get in touch with what Brooks calls “our humanistic core.”
The studies of the humanities are a way to reinforce the sense of empathy, care, and love of neighbor. Interaction with human history, literature, philosophy, psychology, theology, the arts, all help to infuse our individuality into the human community.
I ran across an example from the arts that may help to illustrate a reality about the relationship between individualism and the community. The PBS program, Horizons, recently reviewed an art exhibit at the Harlem Studio Museum. Coincidently, I saw it while on a break from trying to write this My Turn piece. The art piece that caught my attention was a 2007 painting by Glenn Ligon. It is simply two words, ME / WE. WE is the upside-down form of ME. In the painting, ME sits on top of the WE. The description explains, the painting is “a call and response … a request for communion … the individual to the process of collective.” I see the painting as speaking for itself, humanity equals individuals within a collective.
So, what can we do about the troubling situation of the country? It seems that there may be much we can do if we first become grounded in learnings from the humanities. Brooks writes that the process includes nurturing character development and moral formation, training in citizenship and civic thought, learning to reason across differences and acquiring practical advice on how to lead a flourishing life.
Among the many ways to gain proficiency in the humanities is to go to museums, attend concerts and the theater, read history, philosophy, poems, and novels, attend sessions of the legislature, visit your Senators and Representatives, talk to people with other points of view, be open to new ideas, take an ethics class or a comparative religions class, and listen, observe, and practice showing an interest in others.
As more people acquire these skills, the more likely the nation will become a crucible for action to seek justice for all, recognize good neighbors, and hold the shared value of a benevolent humanity. “The Great Conversation” and the conjunction of me / we may reveal many options for action.
John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds
Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com.