Civic Malaise

Third Quarter 2001

Editor's Watch

by James W. Skillen

The more the world shrinks, the greater the need for civic maturity and engagement. The more complex and long-standing the crises—the Middle East, the Balkans, world-wide poverty, AIDS—the greater the need for political leadership. Yet these needs are not being met, at least not sufficiently, in this country or elsewhere.

In a commentary on the British election campaign led by Prime Minister (and Labour Party leader) Tony Blair and Conservative Party challenger William Hague, Joe Klein comments that 'George W. Bush, Al Gore, Tony Blair, and William Hague are all cut from the same constricted cloth, fashioned for them by consultants who are concerned with efficacy, not inspiration. The consultants tell the politicians how to give the public what it wants, not what it may need—governance has become a form of consumerism, not citizenship: you buy the party that seems to offer a better deal or better services. . . . There is no larger sense of public purpose' (The New Yorker, 6/4/01).

While this description may contain some exaggeration and does not fit every politician who runs for or holds office, it rings true, particularly among young people, today. There is a huge disconnect between the average person's sense of self and the same person's sense of public identity and responsibility. The fault lies not, first of all, with the political consultants who market the candidates. It lies within the liberal/conservative and the socialist traditions that reduce politics and government to a means that serves other ends. The real end of life, say these traditions, is happiness, self-realization, economic satisfaction, equality, and freedom. Each person exists to be served, not to serve. President John F. Kennedy's famous injunction is reversed and people hear the words, 'Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country can do for you.'

Of course, responsible human beings do not face a simple choice—either to serve themselves or to serve their country. Each of us bears many different kinds of responsibility—to ourselves, to family, to friends, to fellow employees, fellow church members, and fellow citizens. Yet what seems to be happening is that even those who bend over backwards to serve family members or friends are losing their sense of identify as members of the civic community, the republic. The phrase 'body politic' strikes no chord.

This error cannot be overcome simply by urging one another to develop a different attitude or to remember to vote at election time. It can be overcome only through joint action—the commitment of time and money—in a common cause. We have to work together as citizens for a more just public order, seeing political life as part of our identity and responsibility. To do that, of course, we have to believe that public life matters, that it belongs to us and constitutes us, just as friendship, family life, work, and worship constitute us. Ultimately, we have to believe that politics and government matter to God and that part of our vocation from God is to be public servants together.

The Center for Public Justice exists to advance this purpose. It is constituted, jointly, by Christians who want to help one another and represent one another in public service. It is a spark of hope at a time of deep discouragement. It is public service in action in a sea of cynicism and self-seeking. Reject malaise. Fight the gloom. Join the Center to serve your country and the world.