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The Spirit of ‘21
Thoughts and perspectives on the second American Revolution
Just after the close of both the Democrat and Republican Conventions in 2016, I reread Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” and used it as a springboard to try to make sense of the growing political-philosophical divide our nation was undergoing. The conclusion I drew was that at that point in 2016, our republic was at a crossroads not unlike the experience of American colonists in 1776.
I have just reread the Declaration of Independence, which I don’t suppose is even required reading in government-run schools these days. What students are missing in terms of who we are as a nation is not only a tragedy, but events of the past year are proving it to be a possible death knell of this “Great American Experiment.”
“They never expected her to lose”, referring, of course, to Hillary Clinton. The political party and philosophy which advocated a “kinder and gentler America”, the party of compassion, where every voice was to be heard, lost the election. And it was a telling thing, this loss. For what did we see in the aftermath? Hateful, riotous mobs of Americans, one supposes, some wearing silly hats, making speeches about “blowing up the White House”; while others chose to destroy the property of their fellow Americans, closing businesses and cutting off the livelihoods of dozens upon dozens of people whose only…
