The words of Merle Haggard’s country song helped organize my thoughts: “Are we rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell with no kind of chance for the flag or the liberty bell?

“Is the best of the free life behind us now and are the good times really over for good?”

It’s hard to be optimistic and plan for a bright future while we can’t accept reality. Some of us are thrilled with our growing economy and low unemployment. Others worry that our economy is fueled by annual federal borrowing of more than a trillion dollars. hey wonder who will repay the debt, and when. Some are thrilled with low gasoline prices. Others know that burning fossil fuels is bringing catastrophic climate change.

Our civil disagreements have become uncivil, spilling into our streets as demonstrations and violence. Intolerance of others based on their race, religion, sexuality or politics is ugly and it’s on the rise. The income and wealth gap between poor and rich is as big as it’s been in our history and poor folks are blaming other poor folks for the problem while the extremely wealthy reduce their own taxes.

Haggard’s old song reminded me that our good times were created by people who solved problems just as difficult as the ones we face today. The last century wasn’t easy. People often disagreed, but eventually they accepted facts; then they made our nation better (knowing that they couldn’t make it perfect).

They were children of the Great Depression. Many of them had next to nothing beyond the clothes on their backs due to terribly unsound federal fiscal policy and economic changes beyond their control. In addition to complaining loudly, they elected the Roosevelt administration and a Congress who began addressing the problems of poverty by creating opportunities, building infrastructure, and advancing public education.

Then, just as their efforts began to pay off, they faced World War Two. Without their valiant efforts, Nazis and other extreme nationalists might well have controlled most of the world.

It’s been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others. It’s messy and disorganized. We often drift along until a crisis forces us to act. But our constitutional democracy that requires us to govern ourselves while protecting individual rights really is better than the alternatives.

In this seemingly chaotic time, we can learn from the ways that our parents and grandparents achieved success. Foremost, they never gave up. They refused to surrender their hopes to seemingly impossible odds. They had grit.

Second, they were guided by values. Across vast political divides and suspicions there was a fundamental sense of mutual dependence — an intuitive understanding that meeting the needs of other people will also be an indirect benefit to all the rest of us.

They recognized that rural areas needed electricity, telephones and roads, not only for their personal benefit but also so rural citizens could contribute to the common good. So they elected a Congress and a President who would do those things. Some credit is due to the Congresses and Presidents, but the progress was really due to voters who elected the right leaders.

They created Social Security. They didn’t fully solve our racial divide, but they did eliminate Jim Crow laws and pass civil rights laws. When they understood the danger of lead in the environment they banned it from paint and fuels. When they realized that industrial success was polluting our water and air, they created the Environmental Protection Agency. It brought huge progress.

When medical science became able to cure many health problems, they created Medicare and Medicaid so that retired and poor citizens could share in the benefits. And they taxed themselves sufficiently to pay for the common good that they created. They didn’t pass on a massive debt burden to us.

We can succeed in our new year and decade by showing the same grit and values as those who came before us. In 2020, it will be the responsibility of a new generation to elect leaders who will help us unite for our common good. “Stop rolling downhill like a snowball headed for Hell. The best of the free life is still yet to come. The good times ain’t over for good.”

Thanks to Merle for the idea. Happy 2020 to all!
