sleepwalking for passion
thoughts from the lead up to the U.S. civil war
I mentioned last week that I am learning from Jon Meacham’s, Let there be light (New York: Random House, 2022). It’s not my period of history, though I am of course familiar with so many of the points of discussion as you likely are. I most appreciate Meacham providing so many detailed quotations from authors and orators on issues primarily surrounding slavery and the moves to eradicate it.
What is so striking, if not original, is how apparent the path of a country fracturing was. Lincoln’s election in 1860 was only the final match on a bundle of dry kindling igniting war but the national project, as we have largely called this country for centuries, strained for decades. The war itself was an incredibly violent conflict that ripped apart families and the nation. We certainly have never entirely forgotten it.
The Civil War occurred 160 years ago. Lessons were learned and incorporated but it strikes me that the passions leading to personal conviction on unwillingness to reconcile principles are as strong now as they were in the 1850s. Devotions to a range of causes today mix with the media exhortations to set into motion polarisation comparable to what we saw before Lincoln’s election.
Principle is something all of us celebrate but everyone’s principles do not coincide. Some of the passions are frankly odious and deeply held. We should not dismiss occasional cautions about the inflamed political rhetoric in the United States. There are voices on all sides of each of the several political divides seeking to differences brought to a head. That could be far worse than people realise, probably because we too seem to be sleepwalking.
Holding our individual views is both crucial and an entitlement in a democratic society. We are lucky we have the ability to develop our own views but we should not dismiss the dangers of inflaming those passions to rip this society apart. The consequences can be devastating and enduring.
Participating in a democracy means more than voting. It means participating, being aware, learning, exchanging ideas, and thinking. We will rue our future if we sleepwalk in this volatile time. FIN