Stand By The Old

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that “we are reformers in Spring and Summer; in autumn and winter we stand by the old.” (1)

Emerson was speaking of the difference between a conservative (in a literal sense, not in a political sense) and a reformer. “Conservatism makes no poetry, breathes no prayer, has no invention; it is all memory,” he wrote. “Reform has no gratitude, no prudence, no husbandry.” Emerson must have had access to a crystal ball, because despite being deceased for nearly a century and a half, his simple maxim from his essay, "The Conservative", perfectly captivated the political standing of the United States in the 21st Century, only in a slightly less maniacal way than what most politicians present today. If written today, it might contain something like “Conservatism is an evil philosophy, rooted in fascism and bigotry and designed to destroy America!” and “Liberalism is an evil philosophy, rooted in communism and weak-kneed fiscal policy and designed to destroy America!”

Has anyone noticed a pattern here?

If you haven’t gotten the message from that last paragraph, go and search up any-and I mean any- political article in the mainstream news cycle today. You will invariably find one politician using some of these exact words to refer to their opponents on the other side of the aisle. The left calls the right Nazis, the right calls the left communists, and each side presents the other as the one wishing to destroy America.

Yes, these are the advocates of our nation, the representatives of our people. How proud we must be, how happy we are for the fact they have time to dream up new insults for each other and scream to the viewers of MSNBC and Fox News about how evil their opponents are, while nearly 800,000 of their constituents live on the streets, and while the prices of literally everything, from eggs to healthcare continue to rise at astronomical rates and while numerous people die of drug overdose every single day.

Aren’t you glad we have such great advocates? Such incredible, upstanding people who are so concerned with what’s happening to their constituents? I certainly am. Talk about a great investment! We’re getting everything we voted for!

Didn’t every one of these people, after all, promise everyone who voted for them how much they cared? How they were going to be so different from the people they replaced? How they’d be the politicians who changed the system and fought for only YOU, not the interest groups? You see, most modern American politicians are the ultimate example of Emerson’s insightful quote. In spring and summer (the time of year when they’re on the campaign trail), they all promise to be reformers, to make real change, to rise above the crowd, to finally eliminate that debt, to finally solve the healthcare problem.

Then, in autumn and winter (after the election is over) the zeal abruptly fades, and we find that they are every bit the conservationists the people they replaced were. Every time there’s a major election in this country, we see it happen. The names and faces change, but the lack of meaningful results does not. 1 "The prose works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. In two volumes." In the digital collection Making of America Books. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed October 22, 2025.

In the process, they also continue to do everything they possibly can to further the divide between the right and left in this country,

further dragging us toward a complete disintegration.

Let’s just consider some of the comments made by the two most recent Presidents (the supposed leaders!) of our nation.

Donald Trump’s frequent attacks on the left are well-documented. After the death of his close ally Charlie Kirk a little more than a month ago, he declared that “we have radical left lunatics out there and we just have to beat the hell out of them.” (2)

Predictably, the left side of the country attacked him for it, describing Trump as an “authoritarian” and a “threat to democracy” and lambasting his remarks about his political opponents.

They were strangely silent, however, when, about three years earlier, then-President Biden attacked Trump and his supporters as “semi-fascists.” (3) All the while, crime continues to rage out of control in major cities across America, the cost of living continues to skyrocket, and the country is more divided than it has ever been (what a great mystery that last one is).

The truth is that the vast majority of major politicians in this country don’t believe the things they say about their political opponents. They’re well aware that the people they’re attacking are on the fringe and do not represent the majority. The majority of Americans are neither far-right nor far-left. They fall somewhere in the middle, and whether left of center or right of center, many of them have very similar values-notably in the fact that they want to see this country succeed. Politicians know that, but instead of focusing on the similarities, they choose instead to focus on the differences. They scream about the far-right or the far-left, and they preach in “[s]inners in the hands of angry God” type of way about the dystopian future we’re facing if we elect the other side.

On one hand, it doesn’t make sense. Why would the supposed leaders of this country want to further drive a wedge between their constituents? The answer is simple. If there’s one thing they do care about, it’s keeping themselves in power.

And there’s no better way to do that than to spread fear and division. After all, fear is one of the greatest motivators any of us have ever seen. People like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini famously built entire empires around the central message of fear. America went to Civil War because two sides feared one another in the 1860s. Heck, even Jesus Christ himself was crucified because political leaders of the day feared him.

Fear is a tactic as old as time. It’s no wonder that conservationists like today’s politicians use it so much.

It’s obvious that our politicians-on the right, on the left, in the center, wherever -are satisfied with being conservatives. With standing by the old, finger pointing and using fear to keep themselves in power.

They will not be reformers. If we as a society want reform, we must take it upon ourselves to reject the fear they promote, to come together and work toward change and reform together. That begins by focusing on our similarities. Even if you have not agreed with a single thing I’ve written in this article, I can promise you that we have more that unites us than divides us. If you agree, then join me in being a reformer. Be willing to have difficult conversations. Reach across the aisle.

Find common ground. Let us prove Emerson wrong.

This autumn and winter, let us be the reformers.

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1) "The prose works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. In two volumes." In the digital collection Making of America Books. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/adh8352.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed October 22, 2025.

2) Johansen, Ben. “Trump Says ‘we Have to Beat the Hell’ out of ‘Radical Left Lunatics’ after Kirk Killing.” NewsBreak, 11 Sept. 2025, www.newsbreak.com/politico-560779/4228874246455-trump-says-we-have-to-beat-the-hell-out-of-radical -left-lunatics-after-kirk-killing.

3) Madhani, Aamer, and Zeke Miller. “Biden Rallies for Democrats, Slams ‘semi-Fascism’ in GOP.” AP News, AP News, 26 Aug. 2022, apnews.com/article/biden-inflation-maryland-congress-f72f8363b9344a7cb2dd871409d77dba.