Overcoming America's Divisions: An Evening with Jason Riley and Naomi Schaefer Riley

Americans are increasingly divided over politics. But how did we get here, and how do we move forward? Can we bridge divisions without compromising our convictions?

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An enlightening discussion. I come from HILLBILLY ELEGY country. Because my father died ten years after serving in WWII, I experienced a stepfather who would eventually leave when I was in seventh grade. My comment has to do with teachers. Teachers became very important to me. This would be the 1960s. In 8th grade I would discover I had been recommended for tracking. This meant going from class to class with mostly the same group of students. It was an "upgrade" courtesy of several teachers in my seventh grade year. In seventh grade I was skipping classes, but I had one good habit. I loved to read. Isaac Asimov said that if you want to know who the bright kids are, ask if they read science fiction. That's a bit broad especially given what the genre has become. But the better stuff led to literature and history and asking questions. In elementary teachers were mostly old women. But gradually young men and women appeared in the classroom. You did not see new cars in the parking lot at the elementary or the junior high school. The men wore ties and jackets; the women wore dresses. I recall one teacher, Mr. Fox. Jacket and tie and slacks and shined shoes. But I noticed one day that the cuffs on his clean and ironed shirt were frayed. These men and women took an interest in a lost and angry boy. Is that how it is today? I don't know with certainty but I have more than suspicions that the unions have politicized everything. I have heard troubling audio of teachers in the classroom. One example during the Obama/McCain election was particularly disturbing. The boy did not deserve to be humiliated and verbally abused in this way. And of course we have demographied everything. We seem to have become a reckless and negligent nation and I cannot look at children today and not worry that they will be the victims of that legacy. Fathers matter. Values matter. Order in the home. Encouragement. And for me, the Faith matters as well. The foster system is a nightmare. I know of only one TV show that dramatized that. BONES. The protagonists mentions at one point that they were never given suitcases for their frequent moves, only plastic bags. The culture industry's message today may be sentimental but it is not humane. I have come to the reluctant conclusion that we now live in Pottersville. Not because "old man Potter," but because of the sentimental hogwash of the George Bailys, unintended as the consequences may be. I worked in New York publishing in the 80s and editorial decisions were not made by petitions and walkouts and politics. But after attending hundreds of editorial meetings, I could see the changes coming with roots deeper than I understood at the time. WITNESS by one of the most underrated writers of the 20th century was an important book for me. I've come to understand that the reviled and abused often need to be listened to.