What Happens When the City Upon A Hill Quits Shining? By Al Sikes

It is astonishing! At times deeply disappointing. But inevitably, it reflects how we think and act.

It, in the overarching sense, is the quality of elected leadership in Washington. And, It is paired with the commercial drumbeat to borrow and drink more and if you are watching games, bet on them—making money justifies any means. And It is underwritten by the decline in the importance and value of truth in a world where everything seems up for grabs.

It, is the highjacking of the family by social media and celebrities. It, is the rush to secure our iPhones from being breached while acting like guns are toys. Or, is this just me thinking that it is too bad today is not more like yesterday?

I was struck recently by the criminalization of irresponsible parents who have just begun ten-year prison sentences. This was the penalty phase of the James and Jennifer Crumbley cases. The Associated Press reported: “Michigan school shooter’s parents sentenced to ten years in prison for not stopping a ‘runaway train’. Was the runaway train the Crumbley’s son or the gun culture carried along by incessant stimulation and frequent glamorization? But I stray.

A companion subject is America’s constitutional foundation. Its weakness was highlighted in a report several weeks ago in The Economist magazine. The headline: “America’s Trust In Its Institutions Has Collapsed.” The article noted: “Twenty years ago Americans had the highest confidence in their national government of people in any G7 country. Today they have the lowest. Americans are tied with Italians in having the lowest trust in their judicial system, and come in last in faith of honest elections…..” The polling was done by the Gallup organization.

There will be a few who read this column who will want to get into the demographic details. But, I am going to stay on the top line: plunging confidence in our most important institutions.

The judicial system is layered and my guess is that local trial courts are not the problem. Abortion policy is certainly part of the distrust. When Roe v Wade was overturned the importance of legal precedent took a hit. And the reversal came after decades of well-funded hardcore political contention. While constitutional scholars will analyze the words and phrases that resulted in the reversal, I suspect most people simply saw this as a political act—the ultimate court of the United States subordinated to politics.

Elections? Election laws are definitive and administered by laws that not only emphasize but assure bi-partisan oversight. Donald Trump didn’t like the outcome of the 2020 election and to maintain his self-importance engaged in an hyper-emotional assault. I hear over and over that a given person likes his policies. What about his policy to undermine the lynchpin of democracy? Is there a more important policy?

America’s values, embedded in her constitution, have almost always been stabilizers. Perhaps the best way to think about this is nautical. I sailed across the most treacherous stretch of water in the world—the Drake Passage just off Cape Horn in the Southern Sea. My sailing adventure was challenged by 40 feet waves and came with seat belts on the beds. The ship was designed and built to withstand extreme pressures, and the crew was deeply experienced. I was on the way to Antarctica.

I believe in the design of America and until recently the challenge has been to ride out inept Presidents (history serves up a few). Our democratic and judicial institutions have been the envy of the world and a tried and true basis for our national confidence. But, even the best design can be corrupted by self-important people whose biases exceed knowledge and common sense. I cannot imagine going across the Drake Passage with a fool at the wheel.

It is tempting to go from metaphor to more disturbing particulars and they can be recounted on both sides of the partisan aisles. But let me take a turn. Governments by the people are just as strong as the people. We depend on those who vote just as a ship is in need of ballast. Little ballast, little stability.

Can a society enthralled by social media and its many manic and self-absorbed practitioners be stable?  Can a political culture subordinated by money escape the inevitable protectionism that results? Can a culture that disavows truth select a meritorious governing class?

Reflecting on truth, we should all be bothered when the new head, Katherine Maher, of our public radio network NPR, says: “Perhaps, for our most trickery disagreements, seeking the truth, and seeking to convince others of the truth, might not be the right place to start.” In fact, seeking truth is an animating principle in our Constitution. In centralized governments truth arrives by edict from the ruler.

America has thrived on optimism. Immigrants, and keep in mind that virtually all of us are either immigrants or descendants of ones, arrived here with an optimistic attitude.  They arrived to make a new life and while some were foolish few were fools.

So today, more often than not, that is where I look with some optimism. Keep in mind, those who become citizens have to pass a test about America which many Americans could not pass—an essential reason why immigration should be an orderly process.

First and second generation leadership is beginning to emerge; bring it on. We need to be pushed and that is one role newly minted citizens have performed—take a look at history. And today take a look at the relatively new citizens that help create and sustain our country’s technology leadership.

Yes, we need better control of our borders, but maybe more importantly we need more Americans who take our challenges seriously and who are willing to become leaders more interested in America’s future than themselves.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.