Dear Editor:
In the wake of the senseless carnage in Tuscon, many pundits have called for a toning down of the inflammatory rhetoric that has defined American politics in the first decade of the 21st century. Fair enough. But why not also ponder the creation of spaces to learn the art of civil political discourse, both in classrooms and the community, since our media provide few good examples of it. In addition to cleaning up our rhetorical acts, though, we might also consider a deeper ethical makeover of both our political system and society—to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future.
Let’s begin with a badly needed spiritual transformation. The other day, while channel-surfing on the couch, I nearly fell off the couch when I saw that Pat Robertson is still on the air. For those who may have forgotten your history, the triumph of the political Right in America (which has been inflicting economic violence on the poor and middle class for the past 30 years) was facilitated by religious extremists who believe, in complete defiance of scripture, that God is on the side of the rich and that unfettered free markets (without pesky regulations to protect people and the environment) are the best way to structure a society. This, despite the fact that Jesus himself was clearly on the side of the poor. He even tossed the money-changers (the financial elite of their day) out of the temple.
In her 2009 book, Invisible Hands: The Businessman’s Crusade Against the New Deal, NYU professor Kim Phillips Fein documents the rise of this right wing movement, from a coup attempt against FDR, to a 1980 religious pep rally for Ronald Reagan in the Houston Astrodome. Given a disorganized progressive movement fractured by identity politics that failed to embrace spiritual values, the Right—bankrolled by Big Money—eventually triumphed. As a result, we now live in a meaner society, where concern for the poor is considered a weakness, our once proud workforce has been downsized and outsourced, and the hyper pursuit of wealth is glorified over good citizenship and being kind to our neighbors.
We need to get back to, as the great teacher-activist Paulo Freire once said, “educating for a world in which it’s easier to love.” One approach might be to adopt philosopher Michael Lerner’s idea of a new bottom-line that values the expansion not only of money and power, but also of love, kindness and caring. This would include taking Big Money out of politics, and adding a “Corporate Responsibility Amendment” to the U.S. constitution. By taming our ruthless corporate culture, and creating a more humane politics and society based on real spiritual values like love and caring, we can begin to drain the swamp of civic nihilism which breeds the violence that claimed six lives in Arizona last week.
Reactions to this essay are welcome at jfbredin@hotmail.com.
John Bredin