Daily Collegian, Penn State University
On March 29, 2022, I had the pleasure of attending author Jon Meacham’s lecture on the persistent presence of partisanship in America’s history and its effects on all facets of life. However, Mr. Meacham’s explanation of fundamental political proceedings revealed that partisanship is a natural by-product of disagreement. Simply put, the desire to implement one’s personalized agenda into order incredibly is powerful, almost as though it were a curse. As Mr. Meacham implied, this urge to dominate political competition has persisted in the minds of all politicians since the nation’s beginning – “it comes with the job.” My interest in unravelling the complexities of American politics has always been relatively ripe. Yet, in the aftermath of Mr. Meacham’s speech, I find myself wanting to dig farther down. This lecture presented an array of angles through which Americans may identify the cruel undertones which inevitably must exist in order to preserve the benefits of a representative democracy.
From the onset, I was convinced that Mr. Meacham was well-informed on the Soul of America, an otherwise dramatized distinction of citizens nationwide. Along with his extensive background in journalism, Mr. Meacham has had the distinct honor of earning a Pulitzer Prize along with serving as presidential historian. Initially, Mr. Meacham emphasized the necessity to “respect the innate dignity of others.” He valued the utilitarian aspect of our capability to assist as well as call upon fellow countrymen to collaborate on a variety of tasks. In essence, this was the Soul of America which he claimed has always managed to preserve the sanctity of America in the midst of political torture. Furthermore, Mr. Meacham utilized his own knowledge of religious texts as additional support for this claim. Specifically, he suggested that Jesus, or Yaweh, God of the Israelites, would not have considered the commandment to “love thy neighbor as thyself” if everyone had been doing it. However, he went on to claim that disagreement, much like technological innovation and education, is a driving factor of human history. However, he continually referred back to this particular commandment, explaining that the desire to be right must not trump that of being kind.
Moreover, Mr. Meacham continued on the basis of historical examples of perseverance. He suggested that these moments kept the fire lit beneath our desire to preserve democracy. Amidst his overzealous insistence that America was an enormous snowball, gradually channeling and building upon exciting moments in its history, Mr. Meacham also hinted at the failures. For instance, he identified the remnants of an all-male electorate, the commitment to racial segregation, and the “ferocious” anti-immigrant sentiment which drove customs and morals in America for many years. However, emphasized that such failures were recognized and combated. Mr. Meacham referred to such prolific and catastrophic points in America’s history as failures which were transformed into successes – the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education, and the passage of the Dream Act. Truthfully, there is little to disagree with in this regard. In my own experiences, whether that be in school, sports, or songs, I find that all successes are born out of failure. Yet, Mr. Meacham took this approach and applied it to various moments in American history. What I found most interesting was the lack of attention dedicated to remembering history. In modern America, there have been countless examples of crucial elements of history being discarded and erased, simply because they strike a nerve, so to speak. My belief is that the more sensitive we become to history, the less eager we will be to learn from said mistakes. Specifically, Americans are granted the privilege of utilizing legislative bodies and court systems to advance developing moral narratives. But, it must be willing commit itself as it has done before.
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