Jefferson’s words offer guidance today

EARL FINKLER

May 22, 2008 at 2:36PM AKST

“Thomas Jefferson’s excellence as a writer was a highly effective weapon in his public battles. He repeatedly captured the high ground in contests of opinion by producing writings so compelling, so expressive of what the American people really felt and wanted, that they effectively curtailed debate.”
—From the preface of “Light and Liberty – Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness,”
a collection of essays by Thomas Jefferson

May came to Barrow with heavy, chilly winds. As of May 10, the sun now remains above the horizon, as it will all the time until Aug. 2. This provides almost three months of steady daylight, leading to less sleep and often much more activity at all hours.

Yet I keep feeling concerned about the war in Iraq. Sometimes it seems to me that George Orwell’s prophetic novel “1984” is coming true.

That’s where the government endlessly continues a vague Eurasian war and uses it as an excuse for reducing freedom at home.

Then suddenly, some hope from the past. On May 12, on the KBRW morning show, I had a live interview with Eric Peterson of New York.

Peterson recently edited the book “Light and Liberty,” a collection of 34 essays by founding father and early President Thomas Jefferson.

Peterson, who is a managing partner in a New York City law firm, said he has always been fascinated with Jefferson. So he gathered some of his writings in a small, easy-to-read book, to share the wisdom of one of our greatest political thinkers.
Eager for perspective in these troubling times, I found comfort in passages such as these, written in the 1790s:“A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. ... Patience will bring all to rights, and steady perseverance on our part will secure the blessed end.”

Peterson said campaigns for president and Congress back in the early 1800s included personal attacks and dirty tricks.

After the Revolutionary War and independence from England, the young nation was often rather unsettled. But Peterson said some leaders such as Jefferson were able to rise up above that and articulate national ideals, “particularly in times and trial and transition.”

Today we deal with a rapidly growing and warming world with limited resources and with wars, invasions and terror attacks. But Peterson said that Jefferson’s ideals and love for democracy and American ideals are still relevant. “This book is my attempt to bring the light of Thomas Jefferson back into the American sky.”

“Light and Liberty” offers perspectives and inspiration on a great number of topics, ranging from patriotism and liberty to hope and humility. On liberty, Jefferson links that with sound financial planning:

“To preserve the independence of the people, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.”

I wonder what he would say if he saw what the national debt was today. Ouch!
One guiding principle of Jefferson was that an elected official focus on providing service, not power or pride:

“Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.” Note that Jefferson, like writers in his time, used the male focus.
Also on true happiness:

“The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money. It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, which give happiness.”

Jefferson’s words from some 200 years ago come to us now, and I believe, give us guidelines and vision at a time when we really need them:

“If there be one principle, more deeply rooted than any other in the mind of every American, it is, that we should have nothing to do with conquest. The energies of the nation, as depends on me, shall be reserved for improvement of the condition of man, not wasted in his destruction.”

Earl Finkler does the morning show on KBRW, Barrow’s radio station.