Response 2

Martin Diamond’s title, “The Revolution of Sober Expectations,” delivers the message of how sobriety and serenity not only enhanced, but facilitated the foundation of the American Revolution. Diamond’s claim that the Declaration was essentially only a “half revolution,” and that the completion came eleven years later, supports the notion that sobriety was indeed an essential characteristic of the Founding Fathers.
Sober expectations could in other words be referred to as realistic expectations or as I like to think of it, patient expectations. Our Founding Fathers were wise enough to have a healthy perspective of things to come. They understood that to expect a utopian society, a flawless government, perfect equality for all, or even the development and establishment of a government to blossom sooner than 1787 (after 1776 independence) were beyond plausible and far too irrational. They held the belief that civil liberty was an attainable goal. While there are some who prefer the absolute “reign of virtue,” “unlimited equality in all respects,” or mass fraternity and others who result in a classless society, or the “transformation of the human condition itself,” our Founding Fathers remained level headed and sober. They opted for a slightly vaguer and abstract goal, the principle of civil liberty. For some, this may be viewed as a cop-out. Mockery may accuse a leader whose main goal is “civil liberty” as one with a measly standard. But consistent with protracted political debates, time tells us otherwise. “Moderate civil liberty is a possible dream; utopian equality and fraternity are impossible dreams…the political pursuit of impossible dreams leads to terror and tyranny in the vain effort to actualize what cannot be.”

Our Founding Fathers could have set their sights higher and sought out perfection, but they understood human nature well enough to know that could only result in collapse. They knew that the future citizens of this country would be consistently flawed. They understood that inevitable truth and accepted it. Not only did they accept this fact but resolved to use it to the advantage of every American. An example of this sober expectation is the election system. Use politicians’ egos to our advantage by allotting a short time period in office. This short length of time will remind them that they will have to run again shortly and will once again need the approval of their constituency.

Diamond also suggests that sober expectations were closely linked with the first establishment of self-evident truths. Self-evident truths provide evidence for themselves by people living them. The evidence of these truths is not an immediate evidence, but a protracted one. The expectation of this evidence was realistic, patient, sober.
Specifically, the truth that all men are created equal is examined by Diamond with sobriety. “…men are created equal but only with respect to the equal possession of certain unalienable rights…what we are equally is equally free.” The expectation was never that there would be no distinctions among classes and gender, no differences among races, sexual orientation, or religion, the expectation was that every individual included in these groups would have an equal opportunity to be free. Free to choose the life they want to live, and free to live the life they’ve chosen. What a wise and sober expectation.