Restore America Now– A Sign for the Times

A thoughtful reader [editor's note: all of our readers at this point qualify as "thoughtful"; apparently we are not attracting the "TMZ" crowd. Although I shouldn't presume. You may confess your secret TMZ obsession confidentially, offline] writes the following regarding Ron Paul:

His message is generally that we should not be locating power in political institutions, and especially that America should not be militarily intervening abroad (much to the embarrassment of the other Republicans at the debates).

This thoughtful reader gets my larger point (whether he agrees or not, I’m not sure) that it’s problematic– and perhaps even wrongheaded– to look to the realm of politics for the restoration of America. The follow-up question, then, is: Can a politician’s anti-federal-government views, and proposed policies, effect– or at least abet– the restoration of America? And a related question– a question that goes way beyond Ron Paul– is: Is being anti-government the same thing as recognizing the limits of politics?

As a society I think we are seriously confused about that second question. I think there is a deeply shared feeling in America that we’ve gone badly astray. One response to that general dis-ease is to re-emphasize personal responsibility [a good thing]– and blame government [not altogether a good thing]. There are some things that we need government– even the federal government– to do, given the unprecedented-in-world-history interconnectedness of peoples, cultures, and economies. To recognize the limits of the political realm to effect the renewal we need, is not the same thing as saying– as many in our state of New Hampshire and around the country do– that government is, always and everywhere, bad.

To claim that government is always and everywhere bad, is the same coin– flipped, of course, but still the same coin– as claiming that the hope of the nation can be neatly pinned, like a campaign button, onto the outcome of a presidential election. The restoration of America– if it is to come at all– will come from a deeper place than where the “Got Hopers” and the “Tea Partiers” are looking.

 

More on “Restore America Now”

Ron Paul’s yard signs say: “Restore America Now.” A good idea, of course– but I question the implied link between such a restoration, and the election of this– or any other– politician.

This is not your usual broad-brushed contempt for “all those crooked politicians.” I’m not that cranky yet. Rather, I simply wonder whether those things that would “restore America” are those things that the world of politics can address.

Imagine a day in the future, when people of differing philosophies and commitments nevertheless agree on this: America is restored! What developments, what events, what changes– on that future day– will people point to as having led to America’s restoration?

Will it have been some American military conquest that will have led to America’s restoration? Some economic policy or federal budget, enacted by Congress, that will have led to such a restoration? Some charismatic president whose messiah-like appeal enables the nation to transcend its differences and unite its energy in common purpose?

The reason those– or any other developments in the world of politics– are unlikely to be cited as having led to America’s restoration, is that they’re all external. They locate all power in the political sphere, and cede to that sphere all resp0nsibility for our common life.

The restoration of America (if it happens) will have political ramifications, but it won’t be driven by politics. It will be driven by those components of culture that touch hearts and minds: education and learning; art and imagination; religion and faithfulness– all of which (if authentic) foster individual character and invigorate communities.

We’ve gone too far astray for the “restoration of America” to entail a simple course correction. At this point, such a restoration will involve transformation: qualitative (rather than quantitative) changes in values and ways of life.

 

Restore America Now?

A Ron Paul Bumpersticker

The political yard signs for president have emerged here in New Hampshire. I passed a Ron Paul “Restore America Now” on the way to work. Taking it at face value for the sake of discussion, does anyone really believe anymore that the restoration of America will happen because of who is president? Or because of which party controls Congress?