The Line that Gets an Opinion Writer through the day.

 In 1981, political scientist Samuel Huntington wrote a book called “American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony." In it, he wrote of a recurring problem that arises in American politics in waves. He calls it Creedal Passion. That is why our passion for the American dream and our failure to live up to it gives rise to political confrontations and polarization. He calls out the times of Andrew Jackson's reactionary presidency as one, the Civil War as one, and the protests about the Vietnamese war as another. 

So he (Huntington) looks at the Jacksonian area. He looks at the 1960s. He looks at various moments in American life. And he says, in these moments, here’s what happens: Authority and expertise are questioned. Polarization is high. Protest is high. Intense hostility toward power and wealth. You get new social movements surrounding criminal justice, surrounding women’s rights. And you see new media emerging devoted to advocacy and adversarial journalism. And he wrote this in 1981.

There may be more, but that is the gist of it. I vaguely remember the book and lecture circuit on it now and how we were due for another phase of anger in the second or third decade of the 21st century. We seem to be in the grip of it now. Neither Democrats nor Republicans, urban or rural dwellers, traditionalist or progressive groups believe we are living up to the idea of "America" now. We all disagree on why or how, but agreement that one or the other is letting American down occupies our thoughts.

This was written up in the NY Times again today. One of the authors quotes a line or two in the book that bring him hope. It helped me today.

(Huntington) has this line at the end that I just always think about: “Critics say that America is a lie because its reality falls so short of its ideals. They are wrong. America is not a lie. It is a disappointment. But it can only be a disappointment because it is also a hope.” That is something that I think about and kind of rely on all the time as I’m thinking about not just what I write about or what I do as a journalist but just as a citizen. It kind of gets me by.

I like it.