Ad Astra per Aspera, which is a Latin phrase meaning “to the stars through hardships,” has always offered me a glimpse of humanity’s capacity to overcome challenges. I have adored “Star Trek” since childhood. The show’s many iterations embody the pursuit to overcome. The drive to become better. To seek out unifying our species for the betterment of all. “Star Trek’s” tenets of interdependence, trust in experts, trust in science, flourishing compassion, and seeking out knowledge and wisdom have offered me ideas of how to overcome hardships.
Now, though, I struggle with the phrase’s relative simplicity as humanity is now rarely struggling with overcoming external obstacles. Our greatest struggle has become ourselves. Perhaps, upon closer inspection, we can all agree that it has always been that way.
Humanity keeps placing people in positions of power who have little grasp of the implications of their role. We have had millennia to overcome this challenge, given all the coups, civil wars, and revolutions that have occurred simply to remove terrible leaders. The continued lack of understanding and introspection is causing dire, long-term consequences that must be addressed should we desire, as a species, to truly overcome external challenges.
A recent glaring example of humanity’s ability to get in its own way was witnessed in South Carolina. The state’s new senator, Darlene Graham, replaced her recently deceased brother, and during a primary debate, she made a blunder regarding a national security question. She mentioned, “I’m just going to be honest here, I’m not that informed on national security.”
In a follow-up statement, she further illustrated her ignorance by stating, “I have said many times I’m not a politician, certainly not a career politician. I don’t speak like a politician.”
A sitting U.S. senator reminds us that she is not a politician, even though a senator is, by definition, a politician. She also admitted openly that she doesn’t speak like a politician. And yet she was approved as her brother’s replacement, and she accepted the role as a United States senator. A position in which there are only one hundred in total. A position with great power, responsibility, and a requirement to have a basic understanding of subjects such as national security. A senator should have integrity and an ethical responsibility to understand when they are not prepared or adequate for their role, which should logically follow with a resignation and replacement.
This glaring example of our political system’s failure to find capable and qualified replacements during temporary vacancies is hardly a new phenomenon. In 2016, Senator Mitch McConnell refused to consider a Supreme Court nomination during an election year. Yet in 2020, we witnessed the same McConnell offer an astonishing level of hypocrisy when he pushed through another Supreme Court nominee weeks before that November’s presidential election. McConnell has offered humanity a paragon of hypocrisy, yet instead of seeing him offer his resignation based on an outcry from Kentuckians, we witnessed his subsequent reelection.
Such examples of our own self-created and self-inflicted hardships are difficult to reckon with considering all the real progress we have made in just the last century. How we continue to allow such disgraces, such as a senator not understanding her basic role, to continue without consequence should make anyone pause and reflect. Then, following that reflection, action should be the next step taken.
What actions could be taken to overcome such external hardships?
Voting, after careful consideration of ballot items, is of paramount importance, yet it is a wildly neglected duty of our nation’s populace. Writing your legislators — our elected servants — to inform them about your desires offers another path to overcoming. Requesting and attending your legislator’s town hall meetings offer another path. Speaking compassionately with your fellow citizens about current events, past mistakes, and known future problems will help foster a more unified, interdependent citizenry seeking to help our nation and our neighbors overcome our mutual hardships.
Ad Astra per Aspera. Will you join me in reaching for the stars?
Dan Brigman is a Warrensburg resident.
