This is an opinion column.
Stand, please.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands. One nation. Under God. Indivisible. With liberty and justice for all.
It seems quaint now. Like staring into the mirror for daily affirmation.
I’m good enough.
I’m smart enough.
And doggone it, people like me.
I don’t think Americans believe we are one nation anymore. Liberty and justice mean different things to different people, and indivisible seems a stretch.
Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt last week. It was a vile, disturbed and disturbing act that flies in the face of all the ideals we’ve whispered to ourselves over the centuries.
His supporters cried, genuinely grieving for a man they adore. His detractors searched for proof it was all a setup, a con, a fake. Because even our eyes cannot be trusted these days. And because they feared it would solidify the likelihood of his re-election, with a mandate and control of the courts and a hold on both houses of Congress.
We are a nation hopelessly divided.
We’re at war with each other over ideas and goals and facts themselves, with varied views of who Americans should be and what our country should be to the world.
Just 19% of Americans, no matter their political loyalties, call the U.S. a good example for other countries to follow, according to a Pew Research poll this month. More than 70% think the U.S. was once a good example of democracy, but is no more.
There’s little common ground between Democrats and Republicans, and less than there was even last year, another recent Pew poll found. The gap is so wide that it is hard to see one another as fellow countrymen, or women.
Nine out of 10 Trump supporters believe gun ownership makes them safer, while just two of 10 Biden supporters say the same, according to another Pew poll. The split is dramatic on many of the beliefs that define us. On whether the history of slavery affects the status of Black people today. On whether we are tough enough on crime, or too tough. On what immigrants bring to this melting pot, and whether religion should have a role in government.
When we do agree, it is most often to despair. Another Pew poll found that 85% of Americans think most elected officials don’t care what people like them think.
In 1964, after the Kennedy assassination when Lyndon Johnson became president, 77% of Americans said they trusted the government to do what is right always or most of the time. By the 2010s that trust had fallen to just 10%. We too often agree only that all is lost.
I am heartbroken for the state of this land. We are not what we once thought: a country that could survive disagreement and soldier on. A country whose institutions – the courts, the press, the separation of powers, the power of reasonability – would keep it between the lines when the steering went bad.
Confidence is shaken. Trust in those institutions, and in each other, is at an all-time low. It has been degraded by politicians and Big Tech and the 24-hour news cycle and our own divisions. The drumbeat of bad news drives some away from news altogether, and others toward conspiracy theories. Many Americans get their current events from social media memes that glorify or demonize candidates with zingers that may or may not be based in reality.
The world, as we live in it, is set up to profit on conflict, to elevate the sharpest of our barbs, to give voice to those who say the most outrageous things. Surely it will change, and hopefully soon – but until then we have little choice but to lean into, and practice the values we claim to hold dear.
To speak our truth, but to watch our words.
To stand for what we believe, but not on the toes of others.
To pledge our own allegiance to reason, to equality, and to compassion. To true liberty. To equal justice. Not just for ourselves, but for all.
John Archibald is a two-time Pulitzer winner.