Lessons from Ken Burns - recalling something deeper about America

Earlier this year I sort of sheepishly told my "truth." I said I'm not political...I feel that the two party system has failed us, needs to collapse, and be replaced by something I have not envisioned yet. And I hope to live long enough to see it happen.

A lot of young people feel the same way. So much energy is devoted to political parties opposing each other, developing strong opposite polarities, eviscerating the opposing side, undoing whatever work the other party did as soon as the other other party gets into control. And now most recently we've really seen the escalation of focusing on control.

It doesn't feel like opposing ideologies fighting for the good of the world and its people. It feels like a power struggle. It looks and tastes like a power struggle. And in those kinds of conflicts, the ruthless usually prevail. At least in the short term.

So in July I sought the wisdom of one of the truly great documentary film makers and historians of our time, Ken Burns. He was presenting at the Reagan Library. I was not alone. The place was packed. Cars lined the parkway on both sides for the better part of a mile. We sat shoulder to shoulder as Ken and his peers shared the experience of making The American Revolution.

Burns did not once speak of the cutting of funding for public television and broadcasting. He spoke instead to something much deeper, and more profound. He spoke to the idea of America. He spoke to the reality of creating an entirely new system of governance that had, except for those parts garnered rather directly from indigenous nations, never existed before. He spoke to the unlikeliness of success and the kind of vision it took to beat those odds.

He spoke to the kind of human beings who emerged as leaders. Humans of rare humility and remarkable vision. Truly devoted to a cause greater than themselves. Engaged as citizens of a nation, not subjects of a monarchy.

He reminded us that only twenty years earlier, there was almost no support whatsoever for American independence; it would be costly, and interrupt otherwise comfortable lives, and there wasn't really anything so wrong with that comfort.

Burns touched upon the unique structure of our government - a Republic embracing the values of democracy, tempered and guided by its judicial branch; a triangle, with an internal tension designed to balance the elements. How could such a thing work? Best, a member of the Iroquois Confederacy told the founding fathers, if nothing comes between the parties who together make the whole...if there is no division.

In rich visuals and dramatic soundtracks, Ken Burns takes us into the heart of the revolution. As a man standing before us today, he beckons us each to find in our own cores the passion, the fire, the sense of purpose that drove the men and woman of the American Revolution to create a completely new form of government; and to uphold its principles in these very different times today.

Ken delivered the message I needed to hear. It has taken me a little bit to sort it out, but I think I can. The two party system fails us today because it divides us in a struggle for power. Each issue is polarized, not resolved. The environment we depend upon for survival has no political bias, but we impose our bias instead of applying sensible management.

There was a certain level of tension intended in the creation of our political/judicial system, with inevitable swings in the power balance. But at the core, it was expected that our leadership would make decisions that would best serve their country...not themselves and their interests alone.

The Iroquois Confederacy warned against it. George Washington himself saw the political rift beginning to rise and was distrustful of it. Such division could damage a new union.

Today. We need not one more politician. We need leaders. Leaders whose core yearning is to serve a greater good. To stand not gloating before their own reflection, but in front of those to whom they have pledged their service. We need humans of extraordinary character. Leaders embracing not glory and riches, but service to the greater good.

For the rest of us, may we embrace citizenship. Sharing a meme does not constitute such. Addressing our elected officials about the issues that matter to us does. Let us overcome our tiredness, our feelings of insignificance. We must wade through or skirt around the valleys of bias, misinformation, monetized influencers and the masses of would-be influencers, seeking the origin and orientation of every visual, every sound byte we would embrace. Let us learn how to gather information from various sources to make the best decisions we can and let us, guided by passion and purpose, take part in our own future. All great change forever has, and likely will continue, to originate in the hearts and minds of a brave few.

For the indigenous minority who have been blessed with a surviving, functional system of governance, or for whom the remnants of such governance can still be salvaged, or for whom the recreation of such governance can be achieved...it is worth it. I come back again and again to the real roots, the true foundation of democracy and know it was not an immigrant's invention. I know its adaptation was also the genesis of centuries of generational trauma for native people. It was twisted in no time into a basis for erasure. Gilded into Manifest Destiny. It wasn't just native land and lives stolen. It was the very societal system upon which the idea of America was molded.

So today I'd like to say, please, pardon me, I've changed my mind about my "truth." As the two party system ignites in its own civil war, I realize it need not be replaced with something I have not envisioned yet. I'd like to live long enough to see it restored to the original, functional system upon which it was based. A system in place and functioning long before the founders of the revolution graced the wombs of their mothers. I'd like to live long enough to see examples of indigenous leadership infiltrate the chaos and remind us how these founding principles can and should work.