Washington spoke about the “artificial and extraordinary force” of faction. Faction-an old word, but better than tribalism-captures the idea not just of political parties but of parties ready to fight existentially, as if unto death. Washington worried deeply about the prospects for the early American republic-and especially that factionalism might destroy it. It was also the best defense against bullying and tyranny, on the one hand, and against gridlock, on the other. Unity, George Washington believed, had a moral dimension. His audience knew firsthand what he meant. Washington himself used the language of “freemen” and “slaves” to define the stakes in the contest with Britain. They didn’t share freedom and equality with everyone, but they learned those lessons. It is a paradox that the embrace and maintenance of slavery at the nation’s founding-its original sin-schooled early Americans in the lessons of freedom and equality. This slave owner knew something about liberty and its preservation. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But here is some of what Washington said: Hamilton notwithstanding, quoting slaveholders is out of fashion. In recent decades, the fact that Washington owned slaves has obliterated his words from many minds.

It was also the best defense against bullying and tyranny, on the one hand, and gridlock, on the other. Unity, he believed, had a moral dimension. Washington wanted to issue a warning about the dangers of factionalism: what happens when a nation forgets that it is one country-that its citizens and values and processes, whatever the inevitable disagreements, are indivisible. As I think about our national paralysis, and the reasons for it, I find myself recalling George Washington’s farewell address-the letter he wrote to the American people in 1796 after deciding not to run for a third presidential term. Everyday scenes sometimes resemble New Yorker covers designed by Pravda: In Manhattan, the Harvard Club’s elegant dining room backs onto West 45th Street, where men and women sleep beneath damp cardboard in the warm glow of the club’s windows. The gulf between needs and capacities is glaring. Tax cuts have left the country short of money to address national problems. But the economic energy of a rich country has not eased the strains on our political institutions-money flowing to politicians has only hardened the gridlock. Jobs are plentiful, which is good, because it often takes more than one to support a family. The economy, at least, seems to be in decent shape for now, but income inequality continues to widen. Some of those who aren’t harming themselves are harming others in mass shootings many of the killers are infected with an ideology of white supremacy. An opioid epidemic ensnares ever larger numbers of the alienated and desperate among certain groups, life spans are actually shortening. A culture of anxiety and depression has spread far and wide as people face health crises without access to affordable care. Meanwhile, the republic seems to be unraveling. Each side understands that it has more to gain from aggrievement than achievement, and each side beholds the other with contempt. In an environment of intense partisan warfare, each side believes it has a claim to lead the nation based on its own set of values. Things were getting bad even before the 2016 election, but somehow, within just a few years, they have gotten worse.

American unity definition