Opinion: “Tranquility,” then and now
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“Domestic tranquility” meant something different to the founders than it does to us. As the young America emerged from its revolution burdened by war debt and the tenuous ties between the colonies, those who forged the language of the Constitution worried about the potential for upheaval. They had rebellion on the brain, and their work reflected that.
Today, the threat of insurrection doesn’t worry us much, but the consequences of a badly divided society are painful nonetheless. Modern America is a land of wealth — of billionaires and magnates — but also a shameful home to poverty. Tens of millions of Americans live below the official poverty level — by some estimates, 60 million manage to survive on $7 a day — and their plight is exacerbated by a sundering of the nation’s infrastructure. Witness, as our editorial today points out, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, which swept equally over rich and poor but left its deepest wounds on those with the least.
These intertwined issues — poverty and infrastructure — form the basis of the latest entry in our series on American values and the campaign for president. The piece, in today’s paper and online, lays forward some of the editorial board’s thoughts on these issues under the general theme of domestic tranquility.
Our reflections in this area take cognizance of the fact that there aren’t lots of votes in the problems of poverty. The poor don’t often make it to the polls. And yet, surely people of disparate faiths and politics can agree that there is a moral imperative to confront poverty and to help those burdened by it. “Blessed are you poor,” Christ said, “for yours is the Kingdom of God.” More practically, the Talmud calls for all of us to absorb those who suffer without means. “Let the poor be members of thy household,” it enjoins. As a nation, we have tried over the generations, whether in FDR’s determination to end the Depression or LBJ’s Great Society. And yet, stubbornly, the poor are with us still, and so, too, are politicians and their attempts to grapple with class divisions.
In this year’s campaign for president, most candidates aren’t saying much about poverty, but our editorial today records our appreciation for John Edwards, who alone among the candidates of either party seems committed to elevating the issue to one of central concern. Others, as we note, have valuable things to say in these areas, and some have records of caring, but only Edwards has made poverty a centerpiece of his work. We applaud him for that.
One other note about today’s piece: It marks the first editorial in the history of the Los Angeles Times to quote both James Madison and Bruce Springsteen. Our work here is done…
Like you, many of us are trying to work and relax this week. With that in mind, we’re hoping to present the balance of our series on American values over the next few days, and like to imagine them sparking a few family conversations around your table. Next up is our examination of the “common defense,” followed by the “general welfare” and then a look at where we’re headed next and an attempt to enlist your participation in what, for us, will be a historic set of presidential endorsements.