Well-deserved congratulations are in order for everyone at City Hall in the City of Falls Church for the recognition of the good work being done here that took the form of the survey result that was shared at last Monday’s City Council work session. Who rates a 96 percent favorable rating these days? The F.C. government and engaged community citizens, that’s who.
Needless to say, we at the News-Press are proud to be included in this uplifting result. We are this City’s primary form of information and communication, as we have been throughout our 34 years at this, and it is gratifying that a professional survey, such as the one conducted by the Probolsky Research outfit, has confirmed this.
How important is a good local newspaper to the shaping of a positive social discourse in a community? It cannot be overstated. Good communication leads to good government, which leads to happy, well-informed people. Voter turnouts are through the roof and public town halls often draw double what those in communities 10 or 20 times our size do. Our contribution to this weal has defined our commitment all along. It is, and always has been, what we are here for.
When we look to see what has become of life across the Potomac, including its impact on our lives here, we must lament a very sad state of affairs, and there is no time or appetite for a smug response. This is our country, our world, and it’s not so much whether or not we will survive any given crisis like the really big one we are living through now, but it comes down to how we can redress the situation. In the height of the Cold War, the renowned British author E.M. Forster published a work entitled, “Two Cheers for Democracy.” As one can derive from the title, he advocated a qualified support for democracy that took into account its shortcomings but nonetheless was unequivocal when it came to comparing it to any alternative system.
It’s a worthy posture, but one which can wind up taking a lot of criticism from purists of one stripe or another. The ingredient that is most important in assembling the kind of consensus we need in America now is definitely of the nature of compassion and empathy.
It amazes us to see how effortlessly, so it seems, that enemies of democracy, who are having a field day right now, can trigger division within the ranks of their opposition. How many times will targets get lowered to be planted on the foreheads of our erstwhile companions in the struggle?
It’s of the nature of things that there are always far more who stand to benefit from good government than there are of those who undermine it for their personal gain. So the need is great for what we hope this community will contribute, with clarity and conviction, to our shared democratic legacy.
