I Am American

Why we should care about the country

It’s hard to care about America right now at 250 years old. As I have written before, our government is led by vile people who don’t read, who don’t care about others and who want to impose some theocratic, white Christian nationalist test on the rest of us while they seek to profit as much and as fast as possible.

And then there is our history. We willingly kidnapped people from another land, brought them here against their will, enslaved them, raped them, killed them for no good reason and then expect them to rise up and be equal. And we tell everyone it’s in the past and to forget about it.

“The best way to eliminate discrimination is not to discriminate,’’ wrote Chief Justice Roberts, memorably.

When we arrived here, we discovered that people unlike us has already been here for hundreds of years. They had homes, customers, laws, languages, tradition. In our thirst for wealth and power, we destroyed those people, killed them, poisoned them and stole everything they had. It was genocide.

And then we turned that need for control, power and conquest to the rest of the world. We assassinated foreign leaders, destabilized governments and secretly undermined entire societies so our oil companies could steal the resources. Every time you flip on the AC, remember that some poor kid very far away sacrificed for our wealth and comfort.

It is a dark, sordid history that makes you want to leave - head off to Sweden or Portugal where they care about the less fortunate, cover people’s health care costs and make universal education very very inexpensive.

We continue to labor under the false narrative of the rough and tumble cowboy, fiercely independent. But as we now know, that is a myth and many of those cowboys were black.

And we perpetuate that myth with an orgy of gaudy celebration and flag waving, capped by a grotesque, staged fighting match on the lawn of the White House, an event that will go down as one of the great American insults to ourselves; and yet somehow very American. Oh yeah, and a full parade of neo-Nazis marching through the streets of Washington, DC in full cowardice behind masks, like the Klan.

Our dark side is on full display for the world to see, not to mention ourselves.

So how do we deal with being American 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence? How do I deal with it, standing on the backs of the slaves who came before me? Why not Sweden or Portugal? Why stay and continue to fight Trumpism? Why stay and find the good in people, to “do the next good thing’’ as a friend said recently?

Because you can’t run away from this and leave others behind.

Because my four children are here.

Because Bryan Stevenson is here, in Montgomery, Alabama, building civil rights monuments and defending poor black people we have put on Death Row. He points out that the four million slaves freed by Abraham Lincoln did not revolt in anger and bitterness. They went to work for freedom, ran for office, fought in our wars. They were never thanked. But they stayed anyway. Remarkable.

Because Jill Lepore is here. In an interview recently she said the country is in “freefall’’ and that she cannot understand why students at Harvard, where she teaches history, are not marching in the streets against the injustice happening around us.

“I’m baffled,’’ she said. “I have no answer to this question….where is everybody.’’

Because there is something called the public good that must be pursued. And if I don’t pursue it as best I can, others will give up as well. And then all is lost.

Because I can make a difference, however small. Grow a vegetable, hold a door, check on a neighbor.

Because I live in Vermont, which is fast becoming the go-to place for those who can’t stomach the greed of a capitalism gone off the rails. Vermont is a real place where people still live somewhat uneventful lives of common sense. There is no political corruption. And your neighbor really does pull you out of the ditch on a 10 degree night. It has clean air, lots of fresh water and a food system that rejects corporate poison in favor of co-ops and cooperation. It is really small at 640,000 people. That smallness comes with an intimacy that brings meaning to lives.

Because Maggie Haberman just wrote the best book on Trump ever, telling us what’s really happening inside our government.

Because two women are running for governor of Vermont in a Democratic primary.

Because my neighbor just lost her husband and needs someone to mow her lawn and stack her firewood.

Because one of my mentors is here, battling cancer and I need to go see him.

Because Downstreet Housing & Community Development is here, building affordable housing with skill, panache and determination.

Because Amy Goodman is here, doing the journalism that holds people accountable.

Because I think a backlash may be coming against the Trump thing. And I want to be part of it. I want to watch it happen and take part in what justice can look like after this blemish is gone from our history so my kids can know a more generous America.

Because in the end, I’m an American. And I won’t be silenced.