Spark Discussion - The Oath and the Office

 This month's discussion centered around the ideas presented in Sharon McMahon's book, The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement.

This work considers and celebrates what it takes to be an agent of change. History is not only made by the heroes we know. The course of our country’s history is often changed by unknown but courageous, persistent, and diverse citizens who have the courage and drive to go beyond and achieve a just end.

We discussed the ideas in Anne Applebaum’s Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism. 

Applebaum analyzes the reasons for the drive toward authoritarianism, on a global, national and personal level. She talks about the model of the new right’s illiberal one-party state, which was originally, and ironically, developed by Lenin. This model for holding power can accommodate all types of ideologies, and doesn’t require large scale violence. It does need its followers to accept an alternative reality, while an impartial political system is destroyed

We discussed the concept of the “Good Country.” Simon Anholt suggests that we should focus on countries doing good globally: how they can and should positively impact others beyond their own borders. 

Anholt says that the benefits and negatives of globalization seem to have taken us by surprise. However, we need to collaborate on worldwide problem-solving, despite our antiquated organization into nation-states whose governments look inward.