by jpitney | Sep 6, 2020 | civic virtue, Crime
David French: We know the obligation of the government, but what about the obligation of the citizen? Here’s where we turn to Thomas Jefferson’s rival, John Adams. And Adams gives us the second quote that frames our constitutional republic. Writing to the...
by jpitney | Jul 9, 2020 | civic virtue, Coronavirus, Tocqueville
Nicholas Romanow, who just became a citizen, writes at The Bulwark: The political philosophers, historians, and sociologists who argue that a kind of rugged individualism is at the heart of the American character aren’t entirely wrong, but the familiar caricature of...
by jpitney | Jul 4, 2020 | civic virtue, Religion, Slavery
Frederick Douglass, July 5, 1852: Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work the downfall of...
by jpitney | Jul 1, 2020 | civic virtue, Coronavirus
President George W. Bush: We were not meant to live apart from each other, especially in times of challenge. Our tools of compassion — a hug, gathering as people of faith or in friendship, caring for our family when they are ill — bring the opposite of the love we...
by jpitney | Jun 4, 2020 | Civic Education, civic virtue, History, Lincoln
Yuval Levin at National Review: A fuller sense of our own history must include a sense of the history of racial oppression in our country—a story which has not ended by any means. But it must also include a sense of the history of struggle against racial oppression, a...
by jpitney | Jun 3, 2020 | Civic Education, civic virtue, Civility, Coronavirus, Tocqueville, Volunteering
Daniel Stid at The Art of Association: Viewing civil society through the distorting lenses of our polarized and nationalized politics, and via media that are part of the fray, yields a bleak perspective. These lenses emphasize conflict and suggest what happens in...
