Be Like John Adams

Don't give up your values for a political win

I moved from California to Minnesota in 2019. When I left California, it felt like an unstable place. There had been massive demographic change and population growth due to immigration. There wasn’t enough new housing, so rent prices were extremely high. Many people I knew in IT were working second jobs just to pay their rent. While the state was home to a few highly successful companies, it had also transformed from a majority middle class state into a state with massive wealth disparities, with some incredibly rich areas and large zones of poverty. Half of the tax revenue for the state comes from the top 1% of earners, and if those people leave, it could be a disaster. I decided to move to the beautiful, but cold state of Minnesota, where it seemed like things were far more stable.

I found the people in Minnesota to be the kindest and most decent I have ever met. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop the state from being the center of international news no less than four times since I moved here. For some reason, history seems to playing out in the Twin Cities and each of the major events appear (to me) to involve highly polarized topics that are tearing the nation apart:

George Floyd killing: Police violence against minorities. The persistence of large racial gaps after 60 years of trying eliminate them.

Annunciation Catholic Church shooting: Gun violence in the United States. Transgenderism.

Fraud Scandals: Immigrant crime. Ignoring crime due to fear of being called racist.

Renee Good killing: Immigration enforcement. Deportations. Violence by ICE agents.

I got incredibly frustrated over the discourse regarding the shooting of Rene Goode, the latest tragedy making Minnesota the focus of world attention. The lack of nuance, the radicalized opinions and the highly emotional journalism were all too much to take. I realized I was also falling into the trap. As someone opposed to mass migration, I wanted to see the event a certain way.

I took a break from the internet to rewatch one of the best things that has ever been on television, the John Adams miniseries on HBO. In the opening episode, John Adams, one of the founders of this nation, agrees to defend the British soldiers who committed the Boston Massacre. At the time he was a Boston lawyer, and greatly committed to the right of council (defendant has a right to a lawyer). The men were innocent, but a weak defense and guilty verdict would have been a huge win for the cause of independence. While John Adams didn’t support independence yet, many people in his life did, including his powerful cousin Samuel Adams. He was under tremendous pressure and took the case at a great personal cost. When he won the case, he lost half his clients but he earned a new reputation for honesty and as someone who was fair and impartial. A few years later, that reputation led to him being chosen to represent Massachusetts in the Continental Congress. Once there, he helped write the Declaration of Independence and was its fiercest advocate. He fought to get it adopted unanimously by the colonies, giving birth to our nation. After the war he became our second president.

The moral of the story here is that we should never compromise our values for easy political victories. We are better off simply telling the truth, whatever that truth might be. We need to have faith the truth will eventually win, and if we are on the side of truth then we will win as well.