John Stuart Mill wrote:
The first element of good government…
being the virtue and intelligence
of the human beings composing
the community.

Where is this virtue?
Where is this intelligence?
Where is the good government?
What of community?

I look in places not often seen
and witness the kindness of those
who have virtue and display
intelligence, and seek the common good
and build community in the smallness
of their remarkable doing,
in the silences,
not the grand speeches.

I see their quiet work, despite government,
and I applaud their strength,
and audacity,
in the face of challenge.

So I turn around J.S. Mill’s observation
and say that we begin not with
good government but with good people who
hold the virtue and make community
one act of generosity at a time.

 

6/7/2024