The Enemy Within

The Enemy Within


TitleThe Enemy Within, Atlantic, December 2019
AuthorJames Mattis, retired United States Marine Corps general & former Secretary of Defense
Linkhttps://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/12/james-mattis-the-enemy-within/600781/
Issue

Have we taught our children the principles of citizenship or already forgotten them?

Overview
  • In 1838, Abraham Lincoln warned that our nation’ greatest threat came from within, that while our external enemies would not defeat us, we could still “die by suicide”
  • Our politics are paralyzing us; we doubt instead of trust, dismiss instead of listen, demonize instead of compromise & stress differences instead of commonalities
  • E pluribus unum is not just a phrase on our coins, it is a moral imperative, a noble expression of our duty to build a “more perfect” union for future generations
Historical context
  • Our founders designed a constitutional system durable & flexible enough to build on our strengths & fix our flaws (e.g., 13th & 19th Amendments), a historic achievement
  • Our founders understood that we humans are imperfect & that our success as a nation would depend on our humility, realism & collective capacity to solve civic problems
  • America remains an experiment, a never-ending commitment to perfecting our union that demands our ceaseless attention, patience & patriotism
  • Every citizen’s responsibility is to work with others to fix our constitutional system when it falters, not discard it for empty slogans or vague promises
As Is Situation
  • Cynicism, while momentarily gratifying, is a cowardly & corrosive trait that fosters distrust, resentment & suspicion; ultimately, it solves nothing
  • Dissenting views are inevitable & useful, but mean, scornful rhetoric is not
  • Per recent Pew survey, 2/3 of Americans believe that our declining trust in government & one another hampers our ability to solve our nation’s problems
  • Our institutions (e.g., media, judiciary, labor unions, universities, teachers, scientists & civil servants) are easy targets, but attacking or neglecting them impedes our ability to solve problems & improve society
  • Short-term thinking often succumbs to selfish, shortsighted temptations (e.g., leaving burdensome debt or eroding environmental conditions for our descendants)
  • Today’s tribal warfare & political paralysis have created a national crisis, with a mounting backlog of neglected problems, one that demands a sober, unified response
Civic leadership
  • Real democratic leadership is patient, quiet, diplomatic & collegial
  • Real leaders don’t arrive on white horses with grand promises to cure every ill
  • Leading is serving, always seeking & drawing inspiration from those we lead
  • Per Dwight Eisenhower, leadership is “the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because he wants to do it”
  • Civic institutions may suffer from low favorability ratings, but they remain our best vehicles for reaffirming & transmitting our values over time
Civic action
  • Progressing nationally means participating locally
  • One of our most vital challenges is declining civic participation & faith in government, but only we can solve it by increasing our participation
  • Overcoming challenges is usually done one base hit at a time, not by swinging for fences
  • Civic participation often inspires change from ground up (e.g., Rosa Parks’ bus ride & local environmental clean-up efforts)
  • America is more about our pews (e.g., communities, local governments & civic institutions) than our pulpits (White House, Congress & media)
  • Impetus for long-term change often comes from pews, not bully pulpit
Next Steps
  • Strengthen civility – listen to others, ask questions in ways that enlist opponents & frame challenges as solvable problems not as irreconcilable differences
  • Take long view – set strategic goals & debate problems & solutions against long-term ideals (e.g., stewardship & intergenerational fairness)
  • Honor incremental change – reward small, gradual improvements (e.g., public schools, infrastructure, electrification & nuclear-arms control)
  • Recognize our commonalities – value what Lincoln called our “bonds of affection” (e.g., shared traditions, freedoms, generosity, warmth, humor & service to others)
  • Remember our collective power – renew our ability to come together at moments of crisis (Pearl Harbor & 9/11) & turn adversity into a crucible for progress
  • Strengthen civic institutions – invest more in the civic institutions we need to remain a vibrant democracy & beacon to the world (e.g., schools, universities & governments)
  • Improve civic education – upgrade curricula & instructional materials to ensure our students understand our civic principles, ideals, aspirations & responsibilities
Our Take

Mattis warns that our constitutional system, as robust as it is, cannot long endure our current tribalism & paralysis. He urges more personal humility, respect, compromise & collaboration. He counsels more support for our civic institutions & leaders who are diplomatic, collegial & patient. He implores us to substitute long-range ideals for short-term gratification. Finally, he calls for a renewed commitment by each of us to become better, more informed citizens, actively engaged in tackling the growing backlog of civic problems & perfecting our union for future generations. Mattis does not address the costs of civic education, but Civic Way believes that the best investment we could possibly make in democracy would be in a more thorough, robust K-12 civic education.