Red, Right, and Blue: Spring will come

Lately, I’ve been having the feeling that it is impossible for it to ever be spring again. Even though the snow that is now covering the campus is beautiful, by the end of February I am always looking forward to the spring, to shrugging off winter layers and being able to walk barefoot through the grass, while the sun burns through my clothing. But such a world always seems impossible, since the cold wind necessitates triple layers of clothing and the ice water seeps though my (admittedly less than sensible) shoes and then freezes, forming a frozen sheet where my toes ought to be. In the last few weeks, it has come to seem as though the state of America is caught in the same icy drift. As Fanny Mae and AIG seek further bailouts, as unemployment continues to rise and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq drag on, it seems as though the frost will never melt out of American affairs — we live on in a perpetual state of winter, wrapping our bailouts and new troop deployments around us in order to stay warm.

However, even in Vermont, spring will eventually come. With an excess of mud and a smell of horse manure, there will be a day when the crocuses in the little plot outside of Hepburn stick their ugly, perky heads out of the frosty ground, and one can trade in the heavy wool coat and boots. I believe that the same is true for this country. Perhaps it has become socially unacceptable to say this, but I still believe that this is the best country in the world. Perhaps it is not always perfect, but then no government, no matter how laudable, is. And we can all think of moments in history, particular laws or programs, which we believe mar the face of the country. It is even probable that your opinions on what these things are differ from my own. But at the end of the day, I think that this is the most just and fair government in the world, and that America is the place where one can rise the highest, where there are the greatest numbers of opportunities, where civil rights and governmental liberties abound and where there is the possibility for life, liberty and happiness for all. For me, these claims are not cold clichés.

It is not that I believe our country to be so good and so beneficial to humanity that I think it is impossible for it ever to fail. Any government, given the right problems and circumstances, can make a mortal mistake. It is rather that I believe a system based upon liberty and the rights of all is less likely to fail simply because of the type of government and citizen it produces. It allows for the virtuous rather than merely the highborn, the intelligent rather than merely the rich. To steal from the other side of the aisle, I think that it fosters hope and change when they are necessary, and caution and conservatism in their turn. For these reasons, I have as much faith in the melting of the political and economic problems of the country as I do in the eventual warming of the campus.

Of course, winter can last a longer or shorter time depending upon circumstances. American debt can get worse and our place in the world can continue to be shaky. In my view, spring will also come with a change of leadership, a dismissal of the still-contested healthcare bill, a lessening of government interference and taxes and a strong stand in Afghanistan and Iraq. And for me, the recent election of Senator Brown in the deep blue state of Massachusetts was a heartening burst of sun. But whether you agree with me or saw his win as a new gust of wind, you should look forward to the spring and be proud of the United States. After all, we are lucky to live in a country which allows us to remain cold and wintery to the American spirit of optimism.