Politics
Just a few days before the 2018 midterm elections here in the US, I have a fair amount I’d like to “say” about things.
It’s likely that those folks to my right may see my thoughts as explicitly partisan. That’s not my intention though. I feel there are a number of forces at work pulling us away from the “center” that lies between the current instantiations of the Democratic and Republican parties. So I have tension between two conflicting goals:
- To try as best I can to undo the damage I perceive the Republicans (and especially Donald Trump) doing to our country and the planet.
- To work toward building bridges with those on the “other side” who are ultimately not so different from me and my left-leaning friends. I’m certain that we share many concerns and it’s quite frustrating to me that we currently seem prevented from working together on issues we agree on.
But there’s nothing for it, so I’m just going to dive in and do my best to balance these two opposing/competing urges within me.
One thing that has struck me for several years (or perhaps even decades?) at this point is how I perceive those on the right taking a more “pragmatic” and less “principled” position with regard to electoral tactics. Not that the Democrats are above reproach with regard to this dimension: we too have sometimes put “winning” above honest, sensible and productive messaging. But it seems to me that the Republicans especially have thoroughly embraced the strategy of appealing to the emotions of the electorate and doubled down on stoking fears in order to convince large sections of the populace to maintain and increase their access to power.
As I said, we on the left have not been perfect in this regard, but I do see education as “our” issue. Devoting resources to educating children (and adults) has (at least in my view) always been a central plank of the Democratic platform. This goal has to do with the promotion of true critical thinking, rather than any kind of propaganda agenda. And so I have perceived a general reluctance to distort the reality we honestly see just in order to win votes. I believe this has worked to our detriment as Republicans have been more willing to run roughshod over the truth in a much more cynical (and successful!) ploy to sway the hearts and minds of many of the folks in flyover country and elsewhere.
Additionally in recent years I think that this sudden shifting from viewing the Russians as the “evil empire” to an ally that can help to widen our current divide and solidify the lock on power that the right currently holds is a truly awful (and un-American) turn of events. Not that I hold any gingoistic views myself. I’m sure that many of the Russian people are good folk. But Vladimir Putin and his ilk are definitely not. Are those of you on the right so willing to consolidate your position that you’re happy to throw in with these trolls who are trying to (and succeeding at!) dividing us? Or are you (in the face of truly incontrovertible evidence) in denial about it even happening?
Humans are currently in the process of destroying ecosystems, continuing to pollute with wild abandon, plundering the natural resources of the planet and actually changing the very climate, all of which will contribute to a vastly different (and in my view degraded, at least from the point of view of human comfort and survivability) planetary environment for our children, grandchildren and their own descendants. Make no mistake, the lion’s share of this damage is being done by the small fraction of us who live in the developed world.
Certainly there are plenty of other issues I care deeply about, but the ticking clock of environmental destruction is near the top of my list.
I’m short on time this morning (as I need to stop writing soon and get to work) so I won’t try to enumerate the long list of other topics from the social and economic arenas that I feel strongly about and which I see hanging in the balance. All I’ll share is that I urge you to vote. And to encourage your friends and neighbors to do so as well. And to really give it some thought. There’s still time to get a sample ballot so that you can take a few days to investigate the candidates and issues you have before you in your own state/locality. Please! Our very lives and future may depend on it.
I’m quite cynical right now about the direction we’re going as a country, a culture and humanity in general. All of the othering, pitting us against them (in many nations) with respect to blaming so many problems on “immigration” really gets me down. As always I’m open to suggestions about how to best to productively work our way out of this quagmire. Hit me in the comments below or at “charlie [dot] derr [at] gmx [dot] com” if you have ideas you want to share or even if you just want to commiserate.
