Monday, September 1, 2025
Happy Labor Day!
The last ten years have been emotionally difficult for many of us. It's been a struggle. Learning that millions of my fellow Americans burn with hate has left me shocked. For a long time, it felt as if I were in some kind of alternate universe. I feared I didn't understand anything anymore. So, like many of you, I have felt the need to reevaluate and adjust my attitude and beliefs. I'm trying to find some way of living in our present moment without succumbing to dread and despair. I thought I'd share some of my thoughts.
This country was founded on some lofty ideals: all of us are equal, and all of us have rights. But from the start, there has been anti-democratic forces keeping us from living up to our ideals. When our Founding Fathers declared our independence, only White male property owners were allowed to have political power. This racist patriarchal system meant women were at the mercy of their fathers, husbands or brothers, the men who were supposed to protect them and their interests. Black people and Native American people suffered unspeakable abuse because those with the political power refused to see them as fellow human beings.
After that, the list of outgroups grew: Catholics, Jews, the Irish, the Chinese, Italians, the Japanese, socialists, communists, liberals, feminists, LGBTQs, Muslims, professionals, the educated, Hispanics, immigrants...
At the root of this hate is fear and paranoia. Those who organize it and direct it are driven by greed and a lust for power.
Greed and fear are part of the human condition, so it would be a mistake to believe only rightwing societies fall into the trap. When the communists took control of Russia, they did away with the aristocracy and private property. But the party was immediately consumed with greed and a lust for power. They reserved the best for themselves and ruled over everyone else using fear and intimidation.
We cannot isolate the problem by pointing an accusing finger at specific groups. Any of us can be manipulated with fear. Any of us can be greedy. If we're lucky enough to be given great wealth, we might use it to acquire even more. As easy it is to hate the rich as a class, it's important to remember that we have an economic system that allowed them to get rich, and the greed many of them wallow in is a human failing. It isn't reserves specifically for them. So, if we divorced ourselves from so-called red states, and deported the rich from our new liberal Graden of Eden, it would only be a matter of time before the same dynamics began to trouble us again.
I was born in the mid-1960s. I was a kid in the '70s, and I came of age in the '80s. This country had many problems during that time. As a gay boy, I feared rejection from my family. I even feared physical harm. As a young man, I feared I would die alone from AIDS. But things seemed to be changing for the better. It was very slow, but it was happening. And eventually, without even consciously realizing it, I began to believe this change for the better was unstoppable.
That was my mistake. And that's why the last few years have been so emotionally difficult. Fear and greed haven't gone anywhere. Until our species evolves, we will always have to deal with it.
What is the best way to combat these human failings? I don't have all the answers. I'm not sure anyone does. But I firmly believe we need to perpetually renew our commitment to our ideals.
I believe everyone should have a right to vote. I don't think anyone's vote should count more than anyone else's. I don't think anyone should be allowed to accumulate so much wealth they can become our masters. I think we all have rights. And I think we're all deserving of basic necessities: food, water, relative safety, decent housing, healthcare. And I think we should take care of those who are too old or too sick to take care of themselves.
No outgroups. No enemies from within. We're all in this together.
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