The Revolutionary War began in April 1775 at the Battle of Lexington and Concord. After the Shot Heard Round the World, there could be no compromise. The American rebellion either had to be crushed, or it had to succeed. Twenty months into the war, Thomas Paine wrote it was a time that tried men’s souls. The situation was grim. The Continental Army was back on its heels, but that didn’t deter those fighting for their rights. They stiffened their resolve and remained resolute.
Today, many Americans are back on their heels. The country is in a period of disrepair with anxiety enveloping the nation. Faith and trust in major institutions has declined. Algorithms of tech giants like Meta condition users’ brains to salivate like Pavlov’s dogs when hearing a bell. Predatory private equity groups drive costs up for consumers by sucking the blood from upstarts and small businesses. The wealth gap is inexorably widening. The top ten percent control sixty-nine percent of American wealth and the bottom fifty percent a mere six percent. Many work multiple jobs trying to make ends meet. Those dependent upon Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans’ benefits are terrified as the Grim Reaper wields his scythe.
There are those who state we haven’t been through a time like this one. But we’ve been at the brink before. Nonetheless, I get it. This era seems like a mutant pathogen compared to our previous turbulent periods. It’s seriously worrisome no matter what one’s political persuasion is.
Citing examples from our past, however, doesn’t assuage the fear that we’re currently facing extreme threats and crises. Far from it. It just gives evidence that we’re never completely safe and that our wellbeing and rights cannot be taken for granted. It takes ongoing vigilance and work to protect and ensure them. That begins with not self-sabotaging and ceding personal power. But many continue to do just that and then feel hapless and helpless when doo-doo hits the fan.
I fear that we’re evolving into automatons. We’re being so conditioned, anesthetized even, by the fast-and-easy MO of modern life—think fast food, Facebook, and cell phones—that we’re becoming mechanistic. The result is that cynicism has become a social mindset.
There’s more than one problem with that beginning with cynicism being antithetical to the human condition. A primary tenet of cynicism is an I-can-do-it-alone mentality, but we’re a social, co-dependent species. It’s bad enough to lose faith and trust in institutions; it’s quite another to lose them in each other, our fellow citizens. If that happens, it will lead not only to personal and societal dysfunction but also be injurious to, even lethal for, our democracy.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow memorialized the Battle of Lexington and Concord in his epic poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride.” I smilingly recall reading the poem aloud with my eighth graders. It’s loosely accurate with details, but it isn’t about facts. It’s about feelings. Afterward, I’d give them time to sketch their thoughts and feelings. They got it. Their artwork expressed it vividly. I fear, though, that some if not many of them have lost that “loving feeling” now that they’re middle aged, the time when disillusionment can set in.
I admit to experiencing disconsolate moods, which I’ve shared with a few. It helps to vent, but it doesn’t help if what is being vented becomes gelled into a mindset. If I feel that happening, I give myself a good shake. Because that’s not who I am or wish to be.
Every good leader knows if you go into a fray feeling defeated, you’ll assuredly lose. But if you set your jaw, understanding the battle could be a protracted slog, you’ll have more than a chance. You will win.
Saturday, April 19, 2025, will be the semiquincentennial—250th—anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. It’ll be a perfect day to commemorate, celebrate, and muse upon what our ancestors did to allow us the privilege of being a free, feisty people. I encourage you to pull up and slowly read Longfellow’s “Paul Revere’s Ride” aloud. And especially take to heart the poem’s last two stanzas.
Before the Battle of Agincourt, the king in Henry V states, “All things be ready if our minds be so.” By that he’s saying although his army is militarily girded for battle, victory will depend on its mental and emotional state.
That’s true today. If everyday Americans follow their ancestors’ lead and act with resolve and resolution, they can change the nation’s socio-economic trajectory to ensure equity and opportunity not for those for whom enough is never enough but for themselves, the heart, brain, brawn, and soul of America. They can, that is, if their minds be so.
