The Sum of All Guns

By Peter Clough

America has an actual problem here. 

It is clear that whatever cultural coherence we may have had in the past is rapidly dissolving in the face of widespread existential hysteria.

Our heritage is deeply informed by our historical antecedents — from religious intolerance, treasure hunters, marginalized ethnic groups, and classicist theories (slavery).

Our devotion to the settlement of disputes among these diverse groups by the use of force continuously interrupts our revolutionary ideals of a nation built around rule of law, settlement of differences through negotiation and compromise, and power balancing.

These latter philosophical principles, so recently arrived in modern human history, seem utterly counter-intuitive to an impatient and poorly educated people — a people who have come to find a grudging unity only under circumstances of external threat. Domestic discord is our de facto national obsession.

To deal with this dilemma is the task of liberal people everywhere. Because these important ideals are so obscure and airy to so many people, the work is singularly difficult, frustrating, ridiculed, and visionary.

This is not simple. But the option is not very pleasant.