Gleanings from Meacham’s, The Soul of America, The Battle for Our Better Angels

If you find yourself concerned on any level about our political tensions in the US today, you will find something in this book to bring you hope for our national condition, but with that hope you will also find a challenge.  Wherever you find yourself on the political spectrum, left to right; or wherever you find yourself on the scale of involvement in our political process; from participant to subject to parochial, you will be able to take away something from Meacham’s book.

There are so many well developed examples in this book, I could discuss any number of them. It would, however, be better to let Meacham’s words speak for themselves. Here, then, is a compilation of quotes directly from his concluding chapter which, at least in my opinion, capture the core of what he attempted to communicate in this engaging book.

So what can we, in our time learn from the past,…?
That the perfect should not be the enemy of the good. That compromise is the oxygen of democracy.
Which brings us to the moral utility of history. When we condemn posterity…, we ought to pause and think: what injustices are we perpetuating even now that will one day face the harshest verdicts by those who came after us?
How is it that men who want certain things done by brute force can so often depend upon the mob?
The better presidents do not cater to such forces: they conquer them with a breadth of vision that speaks to the best parts of our soul.
“The country has to awaken every now and then to the fact that the people are responsible for the government they get” (Harry Truman)
In our own moment, fears of American decline are pervasive.

How then, in an hour of anxiety about the future of the country…, can those with deep concerns about the nation’s future enlist on the side of angels?

Enter the Arena:
“The first duty of an American citizen, then, is that he shall work in politics” (Theodore Roosevelt)
One need not become a candidate or a political addict…But the paying of attention, the expressing of opinion, and the casting of ballots are foundational to living up to the obligations of citizenship in a republic.

Resist Tribalism:
“We know instinctively, that as we grow contemptuous of our fellows and consciously limit our intercourse to certain kinds of people whom we have previously decided to respect, we not only tremendously circumscribe our range of life, but limit the scope of our ethics.” (Jane Addams)
If we are to cop intelligently with a changing world, we must be flexible and willing to relinquish opinions that no longer have any bearing on existing conditions.

Respect Facts and Deploy Reason:
“Wherever people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government.” (Thomas Jefferson)
Being informed is more than knowing the details and arguments. It also entails being humble enough to recognize that only on the rarest occasions does any single camp have a monopoly on virtue or on wisdom.


Keep History in Mind:
A grasp of the past can be orientating. The past and the present tell us, too that demagogues can only thrive when a substantial portion of the demos-the people- want him to.
The cheering news is that hope is not lost.
“The people have often made mistakes but given time and the facts, they will make the corrections.” (Harry Truman)

Reflection on 41 years

41 years is not a particular milestone for a career. 40 years would be a more appropriate time to stop and reflect, but quite honestly, I just now did the the mental math and realized this term ends 41 years. The time has slipped by quite quickly, so if that indicates anything, it likely suggests that I have enjoyed a “good” career to date. So, what have these last 41 years teaching meant for me? Why have I continued in a career that many would never consider? Did I just never get over the idealized view that “teachers can change the world”? Did I just not feel prepared to take on any other career? Was it just easier to stay with the known, “don’t rock the boat”?

For me, it has been something deeper than those over-trivialized questions we tend to ask ourselves about careers. So what was it that drew me to teaching and has kept me in it? How have the last 41 years been?

To be honest, the initial draw was probably the safety of doing something I knew and something that was approved of by my immediate family. Lutheran teaching, what could be more safe than that? It didn’t take long for me to realized that there was nothing more magical about teaching in a parochial school than anywhere else. There were parent issues, “problem” students, and even issues within faculties and between pastors and teachers, and the pay was not great in the beginning. But…no matter what those other issues might bring, when I walked into my classroom, 99% of the time they all were forgotten. Here, it was just the kids and me. Here, I got to exchange ideas with my students, I got to expose them to new ideas, watch them as they confronted those new ideas and made them their own. I got to watch them grow in ways their parents might never get to see.

To be honest, there have been times when I thought of getting out of the classroom, but those feelings never lasted for long and I always came back to it, not with a sense that I had nowhere else to go, but rather with a renewed energy. At the end of the day, I have loved the challenge of working with kids, teaching them academics but also how to be in this world with each other, how to be their better selves. Many look for education to simply be an avenue for a good job. I see education being an avenue for having a good life, for growing an individual into someone who will make the world he or she inhabits into a better place, someone who will advance humanity just by being there.

So…I guess I have never gotten over the idea that good educators can change the world. And, as I look towards the end of my career, whenever that may be, I think that is what I will have the hardest time giving up. Working with kids and ideas and helping them to be their better selves so they can make a better world.