“What makes America special is our capacity to change.”
August 12, 2015 8:17 AM Subscribe
President Obama’s Letter to the Editor [New York Times]
For the cover story of our Aug. 2 issue, Jim Rutenberg wrote about efforts over the last 50 years to dismantle the protections in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 [previously], the landmark piece of legislation that cleared barriers between black voters and the ballot. The story surveyed a broad sweep of history and characters, from United States Chief Justice John Roberts to ordinary citizens like 94-year-old Rosanell Eaton, a plaintiff in the current North Carolina case arguing to repeal voting restrictions enacted in 2013. The magazine received an unusual volume of responses to this article, most notably from President Barack Obama.
We change like a mad pendulum, though. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
posted by thebrokedown at 8:40 AM on August 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by thebrokedown at 8:40 AM on August 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Our capacity to change is, if not unique, is pretty noteworthy in our history, though. Because of the very long histories of most nations, change can be a little harder to achieve elsewhere.
Don't think I agree with that - can you give some concrete examples? For one, the USA is pretty old compared to most countries - only a handful of (mostly European) countries that are around today were in existence in 1776, and even countries that seem to have been around forever like Germany and Italy are less than 150 years old. Also, due to its vast size and complex system of government, things change slower in the US than elsewhere - for example it's a lot harder to change the constitution than in other countries where it's a straight referendum, and it's also the last holdout of obsolete measurements, payment systems etc.
posted by kersplunk at 8:43 AM on August 12, 2015 [14 favorites]
Don't think I agree with that - can you give some concrete examples? For one, the USA is pretty old compared to most countries - only a handful of (mostly European) countries that are around today were in existence in 1776, and even countries that seem to have been around forever like Germany and Italy are less than 150 years old. Also, due to its vast size and complex system of government, things change slower in the US than elsewhere - for example it's a lot harder to change the constitution than in other countries where it's a straight referendum, and it's also the last holdout of obsolete measurements, payment systems etc.
posted by kersplunk at 8:43 AM on August 12, 2015 [14 favorites]
What makes America special is our capacity to change.
In contrast to, say, Belgium, where everyone still rides unicycles made out of roughly carved rocks.
I thought Ta Nehisi Coates' recent book did a good job of pointing out that American Exceptionalism is really "White" Exceptionalism and is essentially just racism.
posted by selfnoise at 8:45 AM on August 12, 2015 [29 favorites]
In contrast to, say, Belgium, where everyone still rides unicycles made out of roughly carved rocks.
I thought Ta Nehisi Coates' recent book did a good job of pointing out that American Exceptionalism is really "White" Exceptionalism and is essentially just racism.
posted by selfnoise at 8:45 AM on August 12, 2015 [29 favorites]
For one, the USA is pretty old compared to most countries
I think this is actually at the root of a lot of it - we were among the first countries to make this radical change, so we integrated the whole idea that we were modern and revolutionary and progressive into our national psyche. And that idea prevails, no matter how gridlocked and regressive we get, no matter how many other countries surge past us, because it's just such a deep part of what being an American 'means'.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:50 AM on August 12, 2015 [49 favorites]
I think this is actually at the root of a lot of it - we were among the first countries to make this radical change, so we integrated the whole idea that we were modern and revolutionary and progressive into our national psyche. And that idea prevails, no matter how gridlocked and regressive we get, no matter how many other countries surge past us, because it's just such a deep part of what being an American 'means'.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:50 AM on August 12, 2015 [49 favorites]
Amen, showbiz_liz. I really think that's at the heart of the U.S. national narrative. We're really bragging about 300 years ago and not waking up to the fact that the brag doesn't quite hold the same weight today.
posted by knownassociate at 8:58 AM on August 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by knownassociate at 8:58 AM on August 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
For one, the USA is pretty old compared to most countries
I am pretty sure kozad meant that as a civilization--with its general ethnographic mix and population centers--the U.S. is fairly young. Most modern nation-states are younger, true, but you can't argue that Chinese or Italian or Ethiopian history begins with the formalization of the current government and borders.
posted by psoas at 9:02 AM on August 12, 2015 [16 favorites]
I am pretty sure kozad meant that as a civilization--with its general ethnographic mix and population centers--the U.S. is fairly young. Most modern nation-states are younger, true, but you can't argue that Chinese or Italian or Ethiopian history begins with the formalization of the current government and borders.
posted by psoas at 9:02 AM on August 12, 2015 [16 favorites]
-the U.S. is fairly young
There's some old here as well. It's a small part of our population, but they have a history that dates back at least 12,000 years, and actually did have an enormous influence on the development of the United States, as well as the rest of the world.
posted by maxsparber at 9:17 AM on August 12, 2015 [13 favorites]
There's some old here as well. It's a small part of our population, but they have a history that dates back at least 12,000 years, and actually did have an enormous influence on the development of the United States, as well as the rest of the world.
posted by maxsparber at 9:17 AM on August 12, 2015 [13 favorites]
Did anyone else read the article?
posted by Xavier Xavier at 9:31 AM on August 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Xavier Xavier at 9:31 AM on August 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
Yep. It makes me sad that apparently we're so gridlocked that the president has to write a letter to the editor about this issue like he was my retired dad
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:36 AM on August 12, 2015 [22 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:36 AM on August 12, 2015 [22 favorites]
It makes me sad that apparently we're so gridlocked that the president has to write a letter to the editor about this issue like he was my retired dad
Elsewhere on the op-ed page, The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus basically admits that opponents of the recent nuclear agreement with Iran have no sound arguments and are opposing the deal solely for partisan purposes, but still haz a sad that Obama is uncivil enough to point the fact out -- a fact, mind, that she doesn't dispute at all, and in fact essentially concedes.
Your "liberal media", ladies and gentlemen.
posted by Gelatin at 9:50 AM on August 12, 2015 [14 favorites]
Elsewhere on the op-ed page, The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus basically admits that opponents of the recent nuclear agreement with Iran have no sound arguments and are opposing the deal solely for partisan purposes, but still haz a sad that Obama is uncivil enough to point the fact out -- a fact, mind, that she doesn't dispute at all, and in fact essentially concedes.
Your "liberal media", ladies and gentlemen.
posted by Gelatin at 9:50 AM on August 12, 2015 [14 favorites]
I wasn't being snarky. I was curious why no one was discussing voting rights. The original series in the Times (that Obama's editorial is a response to) was fantastic.
posted by Xavier Xavier at 10:13 AM on August 12, 2015
posted by Xavier Xavier at 10:13 AM on August 12, 2015
There's another FPP discussing it.
posted by zombieflanders at 10:28 AM on August 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by zombieflanders at 10:28 AM on August 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
There's another FPP discussing it.
That FPP has been dead for 6 days, unfortunately.
posted by shmegegge at 10:34 AM on August 12, 2015
That FPP has been dead for 6 days, unfortunately.
posted by shmegegge at 10:34 AM on August 12, 2015
What's there to discuss in the text of letter itself, honestly? It amounts to a press release. If this was a declaration of his intention to actually do something, then there might be more to talk about, but it isn't. All he says is -
Congress must restore the Voting Rights Act. Our state leaders and legislatures must make it easier — not harder — for more Americans to have their voices heard. Above all, we must exercise our right as citizens to vote, for the truth is that too often we disenfranchise ourselves.
If Obama, or Congress, or state leaders, or anyone else actually do anything to make voting more accessible, then make an FPP about that and there will actually be something to discuss.
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:42 AM on August 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Congress must restore the Voting Rights Act. Our state leaders and legislatures must make it easier — not harder — for more Americans to have their voices heard. Above all, we must exercise our right as citizens to vote, for the truth is that too often we disenfranchise ourselves.
If Obama, or Congress, or state leaders, or anyone else actually do anything to make voting more accessible, then make an FPP about that and there will actually be something to discuss.
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:42 AM on August 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
And I'm not saying that won't happen, or that Obama isn't working behind the scenes with Dems in congress to make progress on this, but this letter to the editor is not so incredibly discussable that you should assume no one read it because they didn't discuss it. Maybe they just have no comment.
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:46 AM on August 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:46 AM on August 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
"Violence is as American as cherry pie."
In some ways, sure. But the most violent country I ever lived in was the UK. Punchups at closing time, random violence in the streets, tons of in your face aggression by drunken louts, and, especially jarring, parents smacking their kids like it was nothing, and threatening them with smacking all the fucking time. All sort of low level, casual violence that seemed part of the fabric of the place.
posted by Rumple at 10:52 AM on August 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
In some ways, sure. But the most violent country I ever lived in was the UK. Punchups at closing time, random violence in the streets, tons of in your face aggression by drunken louts, and, especially jarring, parents smacking their kids like it was nothing, and threatening them with smacking all the fucking time. All sort of low level, casual violence that seemed part of the fabric of the place.
posted by Rumple at 10:52 AM on August 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
Love to see this Baruch Omaha guy run for congress. Legislative change can only come when America elects congressional representatives who will vote the right way, so Brutus O'Barmer should use his popularity to fight and win a swing seat for the good guys. Imagine if he was in such a position of actual power! No but I like the guy, even if he is a Scientologist from Kentucky, or whatever they say about him.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 11:19 AM on August 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by the quidnunc kid at 11:19 AM on August 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
In some ways, sure. But the most violent country I ever lived in was the UK.
What's unusual about the USA is not violence in general (which is actually relatively low) but gun violence which is extremely high for a developed country.
As to Obama's letter; I don't know what to say about it. If you're the sort of people who is appalled by attacks on the Voting Rights Act it is probably pretty inspiring. If you're the sort of person who attacks the Voting Rights Act I doubt it is worth the paper it was printed on. It makes me sad that there are so many of the latter types of people.
And I just realized that Obama's letter is only the intro to this FPP and there's an entire article about those efforts inside! Nice. And the NYT is actually letting me read it which is somewhat unusual. Usually they yell at me for being a freeloader and show me the door.
posted by Justinian at 12:42 PM on August 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
What's unusual about the USA is not violence in general (which is actually relatively low) but gun violence which is extremely high for a developed country.
As to Obama's letter; I don't know what to say about it. If you're the sort of people who is appalled by attacks on the Voting Rights Act it is probably pretty inspiring. If you're the sort of person who attacks the Voting Rights Act I doubt it is worth the paper it was printed on. It makes me sad that there are so many of the latter types of people.
And I just realized that Obama's letter is only the intro to this FPP and there's an entire article about those efforts inside! Nice. And the NYT is actually letting me read it which is somewhat unusual. Usually they yell at me for being a freeloader and show me the door.
posted by Justinian at 12:42 PM on August 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
As an aside, just once I'd like a President to say "the fact is, Americans are pretty much like everyone else." The people who actually need bullshit patriotic flattery are precisely the ones who shouldn't be given any more of it. And to the rest of us it's just crap. Maybe people need reminding that they're members of the human race more than they need to be told they're special.
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:27 PM on August 12, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:27 PM on August 12, 2015 [7 favorites]
just once I'd like a President to say "the fact is, Americans are pretty much like everyone else."
"I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism ... Now, the fact that I am very proud of my country and I think that we've got a whole lot to offer the world does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we're not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise and that includes us.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 10:02 PM on August 12, 2015 [8 favorites]
"I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism ... Now, the fact that I am very proud of my country and I think that we've got a whole lot to offer the world does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we're not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise and that includes us.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 10:02 PM on August 12, 2015 [8 favorites]
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Our capacity to change is, if not unique, is pretty noteworthy in our history, though. Because of the very long histories of most nations, change can be a little harder to achieve elsewhere. So, Obama's general point isn't bad, although the rollback of voting rights seems to doing pretty well, really, so, never mind.
posted by kozad at 8:29 AM on August 12, 2015 [2 favorites]