Gold: Divisiveness nothing new

It seems to me…divisiveness in politics has been going on since our country was founded.

When George Washington became our first president, there were those who wanted to make him president for life or even a king. There were also those who wanted to realign with Great Britain in spite of all the battles and loss of life it took for the young country to be independent of the monarchy. There was all sort of dissention among his cabinet and other high ranking officials. This led Washington to say, “How unfortunate…that whilst we are encompassed on all sides with avowed enemies and insidious friends, that internal dissentions should be harrowing and tearing our vitals.”

The same could be said in today’s political climate. Since Washington uttered those words our elected officials and lawmakers should have learned how to work together, negotiate and do what is best for our country. But it seems that while we have gone from riding horses to sending men and women into outer space, we have not been able to learn how to bring our political views to the center where all would benefit and live harmoniously. Since President Washington’s time differences in the views of political parties, social, racial and religious groups, among others, have continuously created strong divisions among our citizens. And yet we have survived, prospered and become the world’s leading power.

Our country was founded on the idea that all men should be free to decide for themselves how they want to live. They didn’t like the concept of a monarchy where one individual could determine who would live and who would die, who would succeed and who would fail and when a war would be initiated. The concept of a republic with a constitution and laws based on all men being equal is what our founders brought forth on this continent and this allowed freedom of speech and the freedom to express one’s views on any subject.

To a great degree this has allowed us to maintain our freedom. And, this made us different from the rest of the world. Yet dissention rears its ugly head in every generation. Unfortunately, dissention can lead to weakness and weakness can lead to further dissention, until there are huge breaks in the fabric of our government. The Civil War was such a break, and it took a unique leader-statesman to keep this fabric from fully tearing apart. But here we are, almost one and a half centuries later, and our elected officials still can’t agree on many fundamental ways our country should be run. And what is more, their failure to agree on a path for our country’s future has led to divisiveness among our citizens in regard to race, religion and gender issues.

Please understand that I am not arguing for any one political position. The issue as I see it is that our unsettled political and social climate has once again led to discrimination in regard to race, religion, origin, sex or sexual persuasion, leading us to the unfortunate situation that after 239 years we still are arguing over basic human issues.

As a strong leader Washington would have none of the divisive governance that threatened our young country. Abraham Lincoln tried everything possible to avoid the divisions in our country. In contrast, today, in my humble view, the absence of a real leader-statesman who rises above party or the iniquities of the past is what has and continues to cause divisiveness to rear its ugly head throughout our country. Today more than ever, we need a leader who does not bring baggage into that high office but instead brings such strength of character that men and women of all persuasions will follow because the path is a just one for everyone.

Perhaps our local, state and national elected officials can look to the words of our third president, Thomas Jefferson, who also struggled with mighty dissension and division while in office. In his final message to Congress, Jefferson said, “Considering the extraordinary character of the times in which we live, our attention should unremittingly be fixed on the safety of our country.”

Now that sounds like a plan. All we need is a strong, honest, intelligent and compassionate leader statesman or stateswoman who can lead all of us in that direction.

So far, like Diogenes, I’ve got my lantern lit and am searching for that honest person.

Harvey Gold can be reached at info@staffordcountysun.com.