We Must Not Be Enemies: Restoring America's Civic Tradition

231 Pages·2019·5.367 MB·English

by  Michael Austin

We Must Not
Be Enemies

We Must Not
Be Enemies
Restoring America’s
Civic Tradition
Michael Austin
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
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Copyright © 2019 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Austin, Michael, 1966– author.
Title: We must not be enemies : restoring America’s civic tradition / Michael
Austin.
Description: Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, [2019] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018050571 (print) | LCCN 2019000297 (ebook) | ISBN
9781538121269 (electronic) | ISBN 9781538121252 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Political culture—United States. | Democracy—United States.
| Civics. | Polarization (Social sciences)—Political aspects—United
States.
Classification: LCC JK1726 (ebook) | LCC JK1726 .A87 2019 (print) | DDC
323.6/50973—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018050571
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
For Russel Arben Fox, one of the best arguers I know.
And also the best friend.

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is
right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand
the minds of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the
spirit which weighs their interest alongside its own without bias;
the spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to
earth unheeded; the spirit of liberty is the spirit of him who,
near two thousand years ago, taught mankind that lesson it has
never learned, but has never quite forgotten—that there may be
a kingdom where the least shall be heard and considered side-
by-side with the greatest.
—Learned Hand, “The Spirit of Liberty”
We must love one another or die.
—W. H. Auden, “September 1, 1939”

Contents
Preface xi
Chapter 1: “The Height to Be Superb Humanity” 1
Chapter 2: “The Apprenticeship of Liberty” 13
Chapter 3: “We Are Not Enemies, but Friends” 29
Chapter 4: Parties and Political Tribes 45
Chapter 5: The Great American Outrage Machine 61
Chapter 6: The Other Opposite of Friendship 75
Chapter 7: The Majesty of Persuasion 89
Chapter 8: Agreeing to Disagree 107
Chapter 9: “Think It Possible You May Be Mistaken” 125
Chapter 10: The Vision and the Dream 143
Appendix A: James Madison, Federalist #10 157
Appendix B: John Quincy Adams, Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory 165
Appendix C: Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America 169
ix