Note: This article was originally published in the Seton Hall Law Examiner, a student-run newspaper.
“Scrooge was better than his word…He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew…”– Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
This Christmas, along with reading Dickens or watching George Bailey and Charlie Brown, an unlikely source can help channel the Christmas spirit and, in turn, begin to heal our ailing nation: Alexis de Tocqueville.
In his tour de force On Democracy in America, de Tocqueville recounted his traversal of the American countryside in the midst of the fervent populism that powered the Jacksonian era. His opus on American politics defined the young nation’s spirit in an age where public participation in civic and cultural institutions was encouraged and commonplace. He stated, “Americans of all ages, all stations of life and all types of disposition are forever forming associations.” This was not only an observation of the American people’s independence from government, but of their mutual dependence on each other. It was a novel sight to the European, and a strength he considered to be the backbone of our society.
With each passing day in the early twenty first century, the United States moves farther from that idea. The American people have rusted in complacency as the events of Washington D.C. spiral out of control. The histrionics and demagoguery that envelop our 535 legislators and chief executive push the public further away from our “distant capital.” Little is accomplished to serve the interests of the people, and when something is finally achieved it is bloated and bungled, placed in the hands of an unaccountable bureaucracy. The bubble our elected representatives occupy forms a collective obtuseness that mutes the voice of the people, and renders the public constrained by collective despair. But instead of resigning ourselves supine to the capricious actions of egomaniacs and ideological zealots, the citizenry can free itself from such D.C. gridlock by working together to act on their own volition, in their own best interests, and in those of their neighbor. The charitable Christmas season can be an instrument in this public endeavor, turning the holiday’s central theme of “goodwill toward men” into a national exercise of character to last the full year round.
I frame this in the context of Christmas because the meaning behind the holiday is rooted in the concept of humanity, its struggle toward peace, and how we can achieve such enlightenment- or something close to it- together. Across the country, churches and associations from the Salvation Army to the Elks Lodge run fundraisers and food drives to support the destitute; neighborhood mothers meet at the town Civics Association to plan Christmas pageants and parades; town fathers run the youth basketball league and the local toy drive. These are seasonal examples which can be expanded to year round equivalents in support of those in need, and they can build on the collective spirit which binds us as members of national unit. It is here the citizenry can take up the mission of charity and good will where our national government has fallen short.
The importance of associations, community fellowship, and a collective disposition toward charity is not only inherently good, but inherently American. Promulgating this idea can create a stronger bond within the public and provide a mechanism for the people to work together when government is too incompetent to act. It can inspire our society to break free from the yoke of apathy and help propel our communities to move first for the betterment of our neighbors, and ask questions later. There are already examples abound, such as the Wounded Warrior Project, of what an empowered citizenry can achieve through the framework of independent organizations. Placing such organizations at the ground level, beyond the barriers erected by an entrenched bureaucracy, will quicken the pace of efficiency necessary to reach those in need of support. Such organizations in general are an essential element in a peaceful and prosperous society.
The more power we vest in ourselves to help others, the less we have to rely on a government more captivated by its own capabilities than those of its citizens. Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge found a way to keep Christmas in his heart the whole year round. It would serve the interests of the American people to strive toward that end by modernizing the structure of the cohesive and interdependent society described by de Tocqueville, lest our collective conscience wishes to be visited by three ghostly sprits this December 24th.
Merry Christmas.
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