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Written by: The Vanguard Editorial Board
As we wade into the year 2010, there is a great deal for the thoughtful to ponder, and it has become increasingly clear that 2010 is a year of substantial uncertainty.
In a few short weeks, we have seen a filibuster-proof majority give way to minority party’s seizing of populist anger and dissent in the form of truck-driving Senator-Elect Scott Brown, the first Republican senator from Massachusetts in 36 years.
Our economy remains in dire straits, with unemployment hovering in double digits, and many fear losing their jobs in the months ahead. The usually calm waters of late night television were hit with Hurricane NBC, where the once dominant network’s primetime gamble with Jay Leno failed and Conan O’Brien received the boot once reserved for David Letterman.
Even this year’s Super Bowl matchup is mired in uncertainty, as for the first team in recent memory, it involves the two finest teams in the league, leaving us with a toss up.
We have no idea where this country is heading. The elections of 2010 now look like a potential 1994 for Republicans, but 11 months is a long time in American politics (ask Hillary Clinton or Rudy Giuliani in November 2007). No one could have guessed the show everyone would be talking about these days would be Jersey Shore and not American Idol, or how Avatar could very well do the impossible in box office sales, perhaps doubling Titanic’s take according to recent projections. Again in football, did anyone see the Jets making it to AFC Championship this year or the Patriots absolutely imploding against the Ravens at home?
A mere four weeks into the New Year and we have had so many surprises that it is not a surprise the American people are feeling anxious, if not plain fearful for the future. We are discovering that global warming is a massive issue endangering our way of life as is the threat of a nuclear Iran or North Korea. Throw in the hysteria of topics like 2012, Christmas Day terrorism and a China that is swiftly becoming a superpower….we as a nation could soon be a powder keg of irrationality and terror.
How do we proceed to avoid such an outcome? A five letter word: faith.
Now of course the most common connotation of the word faith is that of the religious variety, and we as an Editorial Board certainly do not support a given religion or set of religious beliefs, nor are we advocating religious faith in the slightest but rather support the idea that faith can mean much more than believing in a higher power or particular doctrine.
Faith implies that we trust in something, and we hold that having the faith to believe we will survive our current plight is how to best combat anxiety and fear. Many will undoubtedly turn to religious faith for such reassurance, but faith can simply imply optimism or having faith in humanity.
You have the faith that it’s only a matter of time until we will work out issues, that we can find positive solutions. You can have faith that we learn to put aside our differences for the greater good and acknowledge the world exists in shades of gray rather than see every issue as either black or white, liberal or conservative…..inevitably leading to right versus wrong. And you can have faith that we can be the society that we so often brand ourselves as: the most free, democratic, safe and powerful (economically as well as militarily) nation on the planet.
Having faith does not have to imply that you must be loyal to this President, it does not mean you should not feel the right to dissent against his policies, nor does it mean only hoping for the President’s failure or a day where Tea Partiers storm our capital and seize control.
Faith can be about hoping for the best for us all, no matter who is behind the desk in the Oval Office or podium in the Capitol. It is about believing in your fellow man and trusting in one another rather than fearing each other.
You may believe we are doomed as a society, that we can never reach consensus on important issues and that optimism is a fool’s errand, but how is such negativity constructive?
Are those simply stating we’re doomed willing to right this debt-laiden, war-ridden ship or are they interested only in being glorified whiners who only exacerbate the problems at hand?
As Conan O’Brien so daftly put it in his final remarks as the host of The Tonight Show this past Friday, “All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere.”
We as a nation need to put aside our cynicism, put aside our differences and work together. We need to believe in one another, to remain positive about finding solutions, and to use our voices to be heard.
Now more than ever, we need to have faith…in each other and in ourselves.
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