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The first thing I did at Norwich University was get lost. Partly that’s because I parked on entirely the wrong side of campus. More candidly, as a novice adherent to principles of nonviolence, I had a feeling I did not belong at a military academy. I’m the guy, when asked how he feels about the war, who replies that he is already opposed to the next one.

Yet I was the guest of a respected academic community in which first year students (known as “rooks”) are permitted to walk only in straight lines. I watched one young man march directly out of a building till he reached the opposite curb, turn sharply to his left, march again till he was even with the door of the adjacent building, then turn sharply again to walk back inside. All right angles, all straight lines, and twice as many steps as I would have taken.

It was a great day nonetheless, discussing the condition of America and the need for an attitude of service with these bright young men and women. Some things surprised me, such as when I praised one student for military service and he rejected my gratitude. “It is an honor to serve,” he said. “I am proud to do it.”

I visited several classes, gave a reading in the library, learned from professor Diane Byrne PhD about Norwich’s service learning and culture of civic engagement, and delivered a lecture on Authentic Patriotism to the larger campus community.

Afterward I met 19-year-old Richard Well. He’d attended high school in Texas, across the street from Fort Sam Houston. There he learned about patriotism in a powerful way.

“I was part of the high school honor guard, serving whenever they buried homeless vets. The actual tasks were simple enough. But the hardest part sometimes was when there’d be nobody there. Which was most of the time. When we were finished, nobody was even there to take the folded flag.”

Well. It’s humbling, sometimes, to witness such a direct example of how our society could do better, and learn of such a clear response to the need. When people join the armed forces, they surrender their liberty for a period of time. They often surrender their innocence as well, because of what they see and experience. Sometimes they surrender their lives. Surely they deserve someone to witness their passing, and to honor their sacrifice.

That’s what Richard was doing. Now he’s studying in a military school. Whatever soldiering he winds up doing, I guarantee it will be informed by the experience at Fort Sam Houston.

Today is Veteran’s Day. Please don’t miss an opportunity, if you have one, to show a veteran your gratitude.

At Saturday’s “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear”, Stephen Colbert estimated the crowd size at six billion.

It’s a good joke, given how organizers of large events in D.C. routinely how many supporters showed up. (I was reminded of one of my favorite of these in the latest issue of The Atlantic. Michael Hirschorn recalled the anti-Obama protest of Sept. ’09, when organizers said the crowd was not 75,000 but two million, and provided a photo of the multitudes as proof. The only problem was that in the photo, the place where the National Museum of the American Indian has stood since 2004 was empty. Oops.)

This weekend the crowd was something like 200,000. It says something about the American appetite for civility, in this the nastiest campaign season I can remember, that so many people turned out and tuned in to listen to comedians make more sense than many of the people running for office.

Not surprisingly, at the end Jon Stewart turned sincere. His closing remarks were more moving, and more accurately portrayed the land we live in, than the polarized campaigns and negative advertising and the billion-dollar efforts to turn serious issues into wedges and reduce serious people to cartoons. Here’s Stewart’s speech at the rally.

My favorite part? “We work together to get things done every day. … We know instinctively as a people that if we are going to get out of the darkness and get to the light, we will have to work together.”

Now’s your chance. Here is the link to the B1Campaign, which is not running for any office nor contributing to any attack ads. It is a simple, nonpartisan tool to help you find human needs right where you live. Please test drive the search engine, with your area of interest and your zip code, and see if there is something that might be worth a bit of your time. If you find a local need that engages you, please write and let me know. I promise any authentically patriotic project you join will begin to mend the harm to your civic spirit that this campaign season has done.

In the town where I live, the best thing happening right now is the construction of three Habitat for Humanity houses. The people volunteering their time to provide these homes to strangers are enjoying themselves, making something good happen, and creating a manifestation of their community spirit that will stand for decades. I would join them, if I were capable of driving a straight nail. But I can tell you, from the times I’ve stopped by, they spend no time at all debating politics. They’re too busy building a better community.

And I would estimate the number of Americans who could benefit from that experience at somewhere around 320 million.

Hello friends and readers, and welcome to my new blog. This is much more than a continuation of the writing I did after the publication of my last book. It aims to be a collection of stories – some challenging but most inspirational – about people making a difference in America, individuals restoring a nation adrift.

What you’ll find here, in subsequent postings, will fall into a few categories:

• Problems or opportunities where American citizens are not involved in finding solutions, and how public engagement could make a difference,
• People whose initiative, service and patriotism leads them to make a visible, practical difference in their community and beyond,
• Ideas for strengthening our society to everyone’s benefit.

In part these ideas stem from my book Authentic Patriotism,and the efforts of some remarkable people to improve our society and culture. America is simply not as strong as it once was. We know this from the weak economy and the prolonged military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. We know it in our own sense of the nation’s well being. The numbers confirm these emotions:

• 40 million Americans live in poverty.
• Another 25 million line on the verge of poverty.
• 47 million do not have health insurance.
• Another 25 million are underinsured.
• 38 million Americans live with disabilities.
• 3.5 million Americans every year experience homelessness. In other words, need is no longer a fringe issue. It is part of the fabric of our nation.

This blog is going to explain why government no longer offers the degree of help it once did.  This blog will explain why the gains of capitalism offer less aid in reducing these needs.  Above all this blog will argue that the best solutions will come from individual Americans — who either invent new ways of helping their fellow citizens, or who give of their time and energy and heart to make one of those new ways succeed.  For every dark statistic, there will be bright ideas. For every person in need in this country, there are seven in a position to help.  Lastly, this blog is going to reveal that working for the betterment of our society is one of the most rewarding experiences a person can have. Please return for future postings.  Please consider subscribing.  And please consider becoming an authentic patriot yourself.