Finally back from my hiatabbatical (see what I did there?), I hope you all read the books I assigned as homework.
Several weeks off traveling for work and finishing up online courses, my email is full of notes to myself with ideas and random thoughts that may one day turn into posts.
The title of this post it misleading, I am not (right now) going to write about the much maligned set of educational policies called common core, rather I want to look at the idea of an American 'common core' and whether or not we really have one.....do we still have (or have we ever had) a common set of ideas, principles, values that unite us as a nation?
This topic arose in my mind for two reasons.
First, a feeling that I have sensed recently in American political dialogue. This feeling is one of increasing tribalism and decreasing respect for both the opinions and motives of the 'other side'. I feel this not only in the things I read, but also in personal interaction I've had with people on both sides of the political spectrum. It is common to hear the worst motives attributed to every action that anyone on the other side of an issue takes.
Two not very hyperbolic examples.........
- Liberals support a single payer healthcare system, not because they are patriotic Americans who think a single payer system is a reasonable solution to the problem of increasing healthcare costs and decreasing value, but because they are dyed in the wool Marxists actively plotting to turn the American government into a regime like Stalin's, and healthcare is just the next beach-head in the assault on liberty.
- Conservatives support increased enforcement of immigration law, not because they believe that the rule of law and its practical implementation is an important philosophical foundation for a nation, but because they are ignorant, racist, xenophobes who think that illegal Mexicans are the reason they got laid off and affirmative action has made it impossible for white kids to get into college.
The second reason that this topic is in the front of my mind; much of my recent work travel has taken me to Israel. Now I know that US foreign policy with respect to Israel brings a whole raft of issues that we could discuss, and I am not tackling those here. I bring up Israel in this context to serve as a counterpoint for the discussion of whether or not America has a common core of values that we can all unite around.
Cumulatively, the time I've spent in Israel can be measured in weeks, but even in that short time I've observed a tangible sense of shared purpose and common cause in the Israelis I have met. I think the fact that I have been impressed by that after such short time is evidence of how real this sense is. The shared purpose, the common core, in Israel as I see it is this;
"this is our homeland, and we all do whatever we have to do to defend ourselves and our homeland"
Now I am sure that my understanding of Israeli culture and politics is naive, I know that there is robust political debate and fierce disagreement within the Israeli body politic. My own naivete notwithstanding, the fact that I have consistently encountered this 'common core' in discussions with Israeli individuals of very diverse backgrounds (a sociology professor I met on the flight to Tel Aviv, high ranking military officers, young people doing mandatory military service, the guy serving me Israeli craft beer and good conversation at the beer bazaar .....) makes me think that it is a real phenomenon and distinct from the current American climate.
There are several things that make this question different in the Israeli context, and several major points of dis-analogy between the situation that country faces and the one facing ours. First, the modern state of Israel is explicitly intended to be a 'homeland for Jews', thus bringing in ethnic and religious uniting elements that the US does not share. Second, in general there is a much more tangible awareness of the existential threats that face Israel than there is in the US, and the reality that Israel faces many more existential threats to its existence than the US does. Third, there is universal military service in Israel, everyone (or nearly everyone, certain ultra-orthodox Jews are excepted from service, apparently a hotly debated political topic...) serves.
It seems to me that for our system of government to work well, the ability to understand, empathize with, compromise with, and work with the political 'opposition' is critical. For that type of relationship to function, a basic set of foundational, shared, values or ideas is critical. We have to trust the most basic motives of those on the other side of a political issue from us. Regardless of the disagreements, we all have to be able to agree that we are on the same side at the end of the day. We have to be able to agree that we are all Americans. I guess another way to ask the question of do we have a 'common core', is 'what does it mean to be an American?'
So, if there is a core, a set of values that we can all agree on as Americans, that we can unite around in times of crisis, what is it? Is it the Constitution? The Bill of Rights? The 'self-evident' truths listed in the Declaration of Independence? The desire to be responsible 'global citizens'?
Does the very fact that our system of government and our culture values individualism so highly work against having a set of common values? Does our cultural commitment to freedom (and resulting diversity) of religion take away a context that could serve as uniting influence? Is the idea of individual liberty itself powerful enough to serve as the common core? How does the concept of civil service and duty play into this question of common core? Could universal mandatory civil/military service serve a role in developing this mutual understanding?
What does it mean to be an American?
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