Well, it would appear that I am now officially part of The Resistance. Part of a rag-tag group of wounded, battered Progressives (nee Liberals) who find themselves a Minority in a Country they don’t recognize any more. A Country whose historic, stated values of Truth, Justice and the American Way have been temporarily supplanted with Misinformation, Ideological Court Hacks and ‘America Only’.
It is an Alien World that is fearful of a Future that has progressed much beyond 1956. It is a majority population which somehow seems fixated on public bathrooms and the sexual orientation of people they don’t even know. And will never know. It is a gullible group which apparently believes that Billionaires are acting in the best interests of the working poor and that immigrants seeking asylum are all loafers and wastrels here with the sole intent to lie, cheat, rape and murder. And to corrupt (Poison, in fact!) the pure and long-unsullied bloodlines of America. Despite, I might add, all evidence to the contrary.
It is a not unfamiliar position for me. It seems I have always been on the outside looking in at an America whose views and values were askew, which is to say unlike my own. It is a Country more or less founded on Capitalist principles which I have never trusted or found palatable. Nor do I believe it to be a sustainable system.
I find this quote to be on the mark.
"In this country the right to make as much money as you possibly can, regardless of any collateral damage to the well-being of society as a whole, is so venerated that it amounts to our national religion."—Elizabeth Gardner
I would have thought that the survival-of-the-fittest model, so long favored by medieval Europe and by the United State for its first several Centuries, would have been sufficiently rebuked and debunked by now. It is not a workable system, even on the playground. Someone wins all the marbles and then pays thugs and bullies to protect their fortune while they acquire yet more marbles. Eventually the downtrodden and impoverished, who have had quite enough of living off scraps, gristle and beans, join forces and horrible, bloody wars ensue. You could look it up.
No, sir. Collaboration, equity, education, respect, inclusion and alliance building are the approaches which have historically worked best in Enlightened Societies over the Millenia. Societies which self-perpetuated. Consequently, they are the methods taught in public schools to generate cooperation and teamwork. Skills necessary in the work force, n’est-ce pas?
Yet Missouri is one of multiple states which has specifically prohibited funds from being expended for the initiatives of (Oh, so threatening!!!) diversity, inclusion, and belonging. “No money for teachers to teach (or talk about teaching) ‘Belonging’! Not in our backyard!!” I leave it at that. Clearly, I am not of this State. And just as clearly, I am not, at present, of this Nation.
For example, the Separation of Church and State has always been well-defined by the Constitution. Yet we are now confronted by a Party which believes that they have some God-given right to impose their religious beliefs on the rest of America. Which foists on us a form of “Christian Nationalism”, all of which is and of course has always been expressly prohibited by the First Amendment. But never mind that. They don’t pay such things no mind. It is part of the “Articles of Republican Exceptionalism”.
But somebody has to pay a mind to it. And the long and short of it is that I refuse to be complicit in a Government that does as it pleases. Which is guided by a dystopian and irrational fear of immigrants, foreigners and transsexuals. That fear, if you noticed, was the fundamental building block of every TV ad funded and approved by every Republican candidate this election cycle. Both on the National and Local fronts. That’s all they had. They created a problem, lied about it over and over until it passed as fact, then used it to fan the flames of anger and frighten the fuck out of America. “I alone can fix this,” he says, of a problem that is Congressional in nature and that a bi-partisan Congress was poised to properly fix before Mr. Pumpkin-Head nixed the deal so he would have something to run on. America First, my ass!
No, the sad truth is that we have become a Nation of 4th graders who get nervous when there are words in a sentence that we don’t understand. We don’t want to hear policy statements anymore. Too complicated. We prefer to throw in with the Tyrants and vote our fears.
But the bottom line here is that I refuse to be so-fucking-depressed-that-I can’t-get-off-the-couch-or listen-to-the-news. I will not be stultified and silenced by a majority which votes for a dictator because the price of gas is temporarily high. Which chooses a man who is incapable, under ANY circumstances, of telling the truth or speaking intelligibly. I will not be cowed by a braggart and a bully in the way that almost the entire Republican party is.
It is my opinion that good people will be hurt under this regime. Men of good character will be hounded and victimized. Many women, strong and vocal, will be insulted, disrespected, defamed and in physical danger. The weakest of us, those without power, will be herded together by angry, bigoted hordes. And there may be no one to defend them. There will be, I fear, much ugliness.
Which brings us back to The Resistance. I’m not sure what form it will take, but it will require organization and perseverance. All of us. Many actors, many players. Artists who can imagine grounds for hope and create it on the spot. Musicians who can both reflect the bitterness and summon the joy. Priests and rabbis, philosophers and shamans who can see a larger picture. Educators and athletes who know how to lead. Writers who can see through the fear to other ways of being. Parents and grandparents who understand what is at stake.
It is time to reassemble, regroup and forge our anger and contempt into a common defense. It will be a movement that will unfortunately be entirely defensive for now. Representation-wise, we are surrounded, outnumbered and, one could say, outgunned. It will be a struggle to hold ground in many areas.
But population-wise, we have a full 48% and will gain more as the Emperor with No Clothes and his legions of lackeys make enemies and exact retribution from people who did not know they would be in harm’s way.
We will all be asked to contribute something. If only our attention and energy to recover a decent, empathetic world.
Komentáre