Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Roth, a Burlington resident and entrepreneur.
For the first time in our collective lifetimes, the United States faces a clear and present danger of widespread violence relating to a national election. Storefronts are boarded up in major cities across the country and local law enforcement agencies are preparing for civil unrest.
These actions are not predictions of chaos, they are the result of chaos.
Our nation has formally joined the ranks of states identified as at-risk, and as such, we have stepped out onto a very slippery slope. The U.S. is far from a failed state, but clearly failure is now an option – and the fact that we have arrived at this unprecedented moment during an unprecedented year indicates that we have already failed to provide what is a fundamental responsibility of every family and every government: ensuring the basic security of those for whom we have and/or take responsibility.
Whatever the outcome of the election, the reality of our failures thus far is clear, and the work ahead of us is not unlike the work undertaken by nations rebuilding from chaos with which the U.S. has never considered itself bedfellows. Our reality stems from the fact that our nation’s civic, political and rhetorical norms have been shredded and with that shredding has come the disintegration of our sense of collective responsibility and shared destiny. Headlines around the country and around the world share in the alarm. The journal Foreign Policy last week began an article with “Journalists covering election violence are typically more concerned with Kenya than Kenosha,” while the International Crisis Group just wrote, “As the November 3rd U.S. presidential election approaches, the country faces an unfamiliar danger. While Americans have grown used to a certain level of rancor in these quadrennial campaigns, they have not in living memory faced the realistic prospect that the incumbent may reject the outcome or that armed violence may result.”
Extremism is at the heart of the matter and at the heart of the conflicts that now engulf us all, and Vermonters are not immune as we read about and witness daily. The majority of political and social positions taken today seem to be taken with a megadose of righteousness and indignation that leaves literally no room for debate, compromise, resolution or peace, and while Vermont’s process of participatory democracy mitigates against some of the most malevolent tendencies, it’s evident that the extremes still exist in our midst and in fact seem to be gaining traction (and worse still, acceptance).
To be clear, I am not advocating for equivocation or relativism that would argue that “all positions are good positions” – but I am arguing for a renewed commitment to a philosophy of political and civic tolerance as was attributed to Voltaire; “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” We must speak our mind, create written evidence of our positions and vote our consciences, but we must never attack those who would think, speak or vote differently. Debate, disagreement and robust civic exchanges are indications of a healthy society while physical, verbal, or cyberattacks are indications of a state of failure, or worse, of a failed state.
We most definitely do not currently embody the sentiments contained within a pledge many of us took and/or still take each morning, “… one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Our indivisibility was what defined the United States of America, and we must recommit to a personal and public doctrine of compromise and shared progress, or we will fail as both a Democratic experiment and a nation. The fact that failure is now a real option should motivate us all to change course immediately.
