November 16, 2023
Troy D. Smith
“Civic Virtue, Duty, and Honor: The Sad Decline of the Republican
Party”
I write this the day after Veterans Day -and, for various
reasons, service has been on my mind lately. Last week, I co-taught a class on facilitating
civil discussion with visiting retired Major-General Edward Dornan, a 1983
graduate of Tennessee Tech. He asked how many of the students present had
considered pursuing public service, and pointed out that there were many ways
to do so without donning a military uniform. There was one half-raised hand.
This motivated me to talk briefly about a subject dear to my heart,
republicanism, a theme I will return to soon.
Another service-related thing that got me thinking was
seeing a Nashville news station interview with my dear friend Jim Sutcliffe
(age 101), decorated WWII veteran and German POW camp survivor. Jim’s story,
which many of you know, is inspiring. It made me think of several other WWII
vets I’ve been privileged to know and whom we’ve lost in the past few years.
These were men (and there were plenty of women, too) who were willing to put
their lives on hold for years, and to risk losing those lives or suffering
horrible injury, to protect democracy from the threat of fascism.
My father and all three of his brothers served in uniform
during the Vietnam era. They all survived, but the two who saw combat were
deeply scarred by it. I myself did not follow that tradition (though many of my
good friends from high school did); when I was a senior my goal was to do preaching
and mission work. And I did, full-time, for three years -a little of it here in
White County, but also in South Florida and New York City, serving in French-speaking
congregations and working with Haitian immigrants. Neither South Florida nor
New York City were very safe places in the ‘80s (heck, for that matter, neither
was White County). Despite the fact I was carrying a Bible instead of a gun, my
life was legitimately threatened on several occasions. I’ve stared down the
barrels of guns multiple times. I’ve walked into drug deals and stumbled onto
murder scenes. I did it out of a sense of duty to God and love for neighbor.
So, though I did not serve in uniform, I served… and am much the better for it.
Back to republicanism, with a small “r.” That is the
principle espoused by the founding generation -that a representative democratic
republic cannot survive unless its citizens have civic virtue -unless they are
willing to shoulder burdens that are onerous to them, but which must be done,
for the greater good of the community. To provide for the general defense and
promote the general welfare… in order to form a more perfect union.
And then I think of the man many Americans chose to be their
president, and are seeking to return to that office, Donald Trump -a man who
has never done anything that did not immediately and profoundly benefit
himself. A man who has referred to our honored military dead as losers, to
those who have served in uniform as saps. Who did not want to have grievously
wounded veterans messing up his photo ops and making him look bad. Who did not
want to honor fallen WWII heroes because of a little rain and pouted about it.
And I wonder what has happened to the Republican Party.
I never fully agreed with many of the precepts of
conservatism -but there were conservative politicians I respected, and trusted
to be good people, and to have the greater good of the country foremost in mind,
even if I disagreed with them about how. But it is now the Party of Trump -of
selfishness, ego, and vanity. They never encourage you to help people -only to
jealously guard your own benefit. They barely even give lip service anymore to Jesus
and all the things he said were important.
--Troy D.
Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at
Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic
Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.
Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE
You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE
A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE
Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com
The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE
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