Opinion: Has America forgotten how to lose?

With the U.S. Capitol within the background, an individual holds a candle as a singer performs “Wonderful Grace” throughout a vigil Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, in Washington, on the one-year anniversary of the assault on the U.S. Capitol.

Julio Cortez, Related Press

Reflecting on the anniversary of the darkish day of riots and violence that overtook the U.S. Capitol one yr in the past, I'm struck by how tough it has turn into for us to be gracious in defeat.

Studying to lose effectively is among the most necessary classes to be taught in life. The educating normally begins early, typically discovering younger youngsters on the sports activities area, which has lengthy been justified at school as a laboratory for character schooling. The Duke of Wellington is famously reported to have stated that “the Battle of Waterloo was gained on the taking part in fields of Eton.”

The battle for civil society can also be being gained and misplaced partly on our taking part in fields. American democracy succeeds, in no small half, owing to classes realized on baseball, soccer and soccer fields throughout the land. At their finest, sports activities can inculcate essential democratic values — deference to the rule of regulation; the best of honest play; sensible expertise with rivalries constrained by time, place and neutral arbitrators; and the peaceable acceptance of defeat.

Democracies have an enormous stake in inculcating such values. Significantly necessary to civil society is the best way to be loser — as we see in international locations like Zimbabwe and even in our personal after contentious campaigns. However at no time is the civic significance of fine sportsmanship extra on show than throughout a post-election switch of energy, comparable to we witnessed a yr in the past.

We count on politicians and political events, like athletes and athletic groups, to play by the foundations. We count on shedding candidates to abide by the result, nevertheless distasteful, fairly than resort to violence. We even count on losers to congratulate the winners. And we count on rivals to renew the competition solely inside rigorously contained and structured arenas of engagement. These democratic values all discover corollaries in rules of fine sportsmanship.

Such civic virtues will not be innate. They're realized “habits of the center,” in Alexis de Tocqueville’s phrase, constitutive of democracy in America. As such, they need to be bolstered on each taking part in area in America. For studying to be sport doubles as a civics lesson in studying to play by the foundations and studying the best way to settle for defeat.

Traditionally, it was understood that beginner athletics have been supposed to show such values. Certainly, coaches have been employed and admired for his or her capacity to construct character and never only for successful information. (Alas, how occasions have modified!) Chief among the many ethical classes to be taught was good sportsmanship, together with the best way to be a gracious winner and loser.

Studying the best way to lose gracefully just isn't solely a civic responsibility, it's a non secular crucial. God designed mortality to make sure “opposition in all issues” because the Guide of Mormon phrases it. Setbacks and defeats are a part of his plan for our perfection. Generally we're higher off for shedding. As Solzhenitsyn noticed, “Governments want victories and the individuals want defeats.”

A couple of years in the past, the BYU soccer group adopted a curious motto for its season: “Quest for perfection.” It was borrowed from BYU’s mission assertion, however utilized to an athletic group, the motto grated on many. It appeared to smack of hubris, like a batter pointing to the fence. Individuals assumed the motto was all about successful. They assumed the emphasis fell on perfection, which means an ideal season for the group. I'm informed that this isn't what the coaches and gamers had in thoughts once they selected this phrase from the mission assertion. For them, it spoke to their aspirations to get higher. The accent for them fell on the search.

I don’t know, nevertheless, if the coaches and group totally appreciated the painful reality that a quest for perfection would possibly require struggling by means of an imperfect season — or a number of. From loss can come development. This tough, tragic reality belongs to the knowledge of the ages. It was well-known by the traditional Greeks, who gave the Western world not solely aggressive sports activities and democracy but additionally tragedy. They understood as Aeschylus put it that “we should undergo, undergo into reality.” They knew that some knowledge could be gained solely by shedding.

Even so, People lengthy to win. Hope for victory springs everlasting. The drive to win is a part of the American dream, a part of what makes democracy work. However our quest for perfection typically takes plenty of shedding alongside the best way. We want leaders who can mannequin classes we hope the entire nation learns typically and early on the taking part in area. For the way we react in defeat will form the well being of our nation for generations.

John Tanner is the previous president of BYU-Hawaii, educational vice chairman of BYU and English division chairman. He labored at BYU for greater than 30 years earlier than serving as mission president in Brazil.