Conversation, America’s Greatness

The ability of Americans to have a simple, social, or political conversation is broken. We talk with friends, but what about the rest? The real question is since we self-correct by observation, conversation, and listening, how broken are we? How do we get this ship back upright?

First, consider the premise. Are we broken? Yes, we are. Reference points abound, but a 2021 Pew study is persuasive. Americans are the most divided people of all the 17 advanced economies.

How divided? A lot. When asked if very strong/strong conflicts exist between political parties, the median among 17 countries was 50 percent. That is, on average, half of those populations saw big divisions between parties. Here, it was 90 percent.

Likewise, on strong/very strong ethnic conflicts, the median was 48 percent. By contrast, 71 percent of the US population sees major, internal ethnic conflicts.

Strong/very strong conflicts over religion are not much better, 36 percent median across 17 countries – 49 percent here. Finally, city versus rural conflict was seen on average by 23 percent in other countries, and 42 percent in the US.

So, are we divided? More than ever. Is 2024 better? Not likely, given our star-spangled replay of the 2020 election.

So, what is up? Exactly what are we missing? How do we fix this mess? The best place to start is pride in ourselves, our ideals, history, and unique strength born of being different and respectful of difference. What bound us from the start was love of individual liberty and a common hope for equal opportunities.

These are not small things. They set us apart from other nations, and still should. In 1835, the French writer, Alex de Tocqueville, thought we were “exceptional,” first because we prided ourselves on being good, from which he predicted our greatness; second because we trusted our gut, gave each other room to rise, fall, and rise again, believed in freedom, which meant limited government.

What else? He thought – because of our unique Constitution and respect for laws –we were self-correcting, able to make mistakes, realize and talk them out, fix them.

He famously declared we solved problems one-on-one and nationally because we were not afraid to speak our mind honestly or hear our neighbor’s mind spoken honestly. We were comfortable with “the uncomfortable face to face” for truth.

“The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults,” he declared.

Excepting the Civil War – a rather violent means of self-correction – he was right, we did that, stood eye-to-eye, talked frankly, respected differences, fixed things.

Now we come to this moment, when we have grown oddly fearful of the special strength we possessed, unwilling to continue talking and listening, struggling to get to agreement, on which all the future now depends.

Why is that? In part, it is the product of a “poisoned well,” introduction into conversation of anti-American ideas – Marxism, communism, cancelling of free speech, worship, self-protection, and due process.

But there is a larger problem, one that – if it can be fixed – will silence oddball pushers of ideas in conflict with our Bill of Rights, history, and national ideals.

What is this big problem that needs fixing? How to have an honest conversation, shedding the modern fear of honest conversation, working to get to truth that way.

Says Aristotle, we can only “persuade” each other by speaking and listening, using the tools of persuasion, “ethos,” “logos,” and “pathos” – our personal experience and character, logic and facts, and a connection through emotion, or pathos.

That is hard work, but the secret to reestablishing unity in a nation of ideals, is to call on others to seek enlightened unity, not false, forced, or fake unity, but shared understanding of how things are, the courage of the “uncomfortable face-to-face.”

This, in the end, is what we have lost, the secret sauce, the quality that sets us apart, what makes us “exceptional,” respect for each other’s freedom to speak, worship, defend ourselves, and then fighting for the right of others to do the same.

Truth seldom presents itself without some work, a contest of ideas, patience in sorting things out, and the intent to stay on that mission, to finally arrive at truth.

In sum, we need to get back to that mission, believe in it, communicate it, be the adults we were in 1835, exceptional because we are good, brave, able to have an honest conversation. The sooner we do that, the sooner … we get the ship upright.

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.