Hope and sacrifice

For much of the last several years, it seems that all news is bad news.

Judging by our editorials, politicians and news headlines, the end of America is not far off. And what’s worse, there is apparently little we can do about it.

I, for a long time, have at least partially bought the standard line. That changed for me last week.

I was reading a biography of Henry Clay and happened to come across the section of the book dedicated to his role in the War of 1812.

The part that struck me was not his role, but the fact that the British invaded and torched the young American capital. As a good history major, I knew this before but had never really considered it.

I let it really sink in for a moment. The British burned Washington, D.C., to the ground. Government buildings, documents and the newly established White House were all were reduced to ash and rubble.

And then the Americans rolled over and quit, proclaiming the end of the great American experiment, right?

No. 

They rallied, rebuilt and restored. Our nation’s history is full of instances where the American people overcame what we now would likely consider unconquerable existential crises.

On the short list of examples are the devastation and destruction wrought by the Civil War, the Great Depression and World War II — just to name a few.

In the face of what seem to be trivial challenges by comparison, why such little faith now?

I think it’s a simple answer. Americans in the throes of each of these crises realized the common good came before that of the individual and made sacrifices to reflect that truth. We lack such perspective today.

Fifty years ago, President John F. Kennedy urged Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what can you do for your country.”

We are at a time in our country’s history when this question is as relevant as it has ever been. 

To create the kind of future we want for the generations to come and to overcome the challenges we face, we must make sacrifices across the board. 

It’s time for the end of uninhibited indulgence, in every respect and at every level. Our collective prosperity and the promise of our nation depends on it.

Tougher times may be ahead, but I believe we will come out the other side stronger for it, so long as we come together as we always have in times of turmoil. We have reason to hope. I believe in America. But more importantly, I believe in the American people.

I believe the indomitable wills and the unrelenting drives that have pushed this country forward for more than two centuries are still alive and well. 

When we have a common goal, a common purpose, we are no longer a cacophony of disparate interests vying for personal gain at the expense of others and the expense of our nation.

In unity and sacrifice, we find what it means to be truly American.

Don’t count us out yet, there is still so much more for us to do.

­— jontodd@indiana.edu