During this holiday season, I am reminded of a story I read many years ago by writer and trial lawyer Louis Nizer. Nizer was most famous for his defense of those who were blacklisted as Communists during the 1950s. Anyway, Nizer’s brief story, “An Editorial Lost in a News Item,” recounts a newspaper article about a lost child. It seems the child had been lost in a particularly brushy area and the parents were frantic.
They summoned as many of their neighbors as possible to take part in the search. Every bush was looked under with no luck and after nearly a day had passed the child was in danger of dying from exposure. Finally, one of the searchers suggested that they all lock hands and proceed together in a circle to cover every inch of ground. Soon enough they discovered the dead body of the child. He had indeed died from exposure. The father lamented that they should have joined hands sooner.
I think Americans would do well to consider this modern-day parable. It seems we have become so tribal in our outlook on politics and the world that we have lost sight of what has always made this country great. We can certainly have our disagreements but the level of current polarization has hampered our ability to achieve anything to further our own best interests.
In past times, we have pulled together under great leadership: Washington during the Revolution, Lincoln during the Civil War, Roosevelt during the Great Depression and World War II, and Reagan after the scandals and economic calamity of the 1970s. Unfortunately, I see no such leadership today, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get together, tone down the partisan rhetoric, consider the other person’s side, and lock hands in solidarity over the fact that, as Americans, we still have so much to look forward to and be thankful for.
This article appears in Nov 30 – Dec 7, 2017.