Sorry, Few Things In Democracy Stay Fixed

One thing I've learned in many decades of living is that you no sooner get stuff fixed in a democracy and someone comes along and breaks it again.  It is a perpetual cycle.

I recently heard a young person criticizing boomers for leaving him with a mess of stuff that needed fixing and he blamed them for allowing them to be broken.   Sorry, young man, many of us boomers and earlier generations worked our asses off fixing broken stuff.   In my lifetime, civil rights and voting rights.  Segregated schools.   Choice for women and families.  Terrible, dumb wars with no purpose.  Humane treatment of immigrants.  The right to collectively bargain for decent wages and benefits.  We even thought we had fixed hate and discrimination at least to some extent with the election of our first Black President.

But, here we are today.  Having to fix this stuff all over again.  And the breakage seemed to occur with lightening speed.  And the repair work ahead is likely to last for generations.  That is because, some of us got lazy; some got smug that the job was done.  Others of us thought no one would have the indecency to fuck things up and retract progress.   Some of us thought holding out our vote for good but not perfect people was okay.  Others of us thought that just voting, but not working in our communities was enough.  Some of us thought that as long as we concentrated on our own families, that would be enough and was our only duty.

Sorry, that strategy didn't work out for you. You complained, but didn't act to engage in the actual repair work in a timely way.   You and your families, some of you. may be okay through the breaking things phase.  But you have a duty, in a democracy,  to care about and care for others not so fortunate.  And pitch in to help them.  It starts with caring about them and the democracy that has served you well for a good part of your lifetime.

It is time for you who watched the breakage but did not act with those of us, not enough of us, to start the repair work while the breakage was fresh, to now get off your asses and lend a hand.  You can do something.  Everyone has some capacity to do something.

Help a democracy appreciating candidate.  Volunteer in your community.  Join reform groups doing their work. Run for office.  Preach the gospel of repair work. Write stuff.  Send letters. Blog.  Send money if nothing else.  And encourage others to join with you in fixing broken things.  Just voting has proven to be not enough.  Sorry,  I know it means extra work, more hours not fishing or golfing.

Now get a move on.  This is really serious.  A dangerous time for democracy.  It is not too late if enough of us give a shit.  Act.  Now.

Oh, and you people breaking stuff, sorry, but fuck you.

Many Americans Want Authoritarian Rule

Liberal democracy is hard.  It is slow.  It requires public engagement and continual nurturing.  Many Americans, maybe up to about 40% , find the work just too demanding.  Yielding to an authority "who is the only one that can fix this" really is much easier.  Those who lean towards a Stern Father form of governance are finding Trumpism appealing.  They didn't like gridlock.  Who does?  They felt the economy and social trends were not advancing their interests.  They mainly care about themselves and their families, seeing societal problems as mainly the fault of those who don't take care of their family responsibilities.   They find the prosperity gospel appealing because they believe that if they are righteous, they will prosper.

These are the people who by and large are not civically engaged.  They vote, as they showed us in 2016, but that is about it.  They are used to yielding, social influence in their families and neighborhoods, which they prefer to be like them and their kind.  They don't like change excepting when it benefits them.  They rail against bureaucracy, paying taxes, social advances for groups that don't look like them and blame economic stagnation on the government, not loosely regulated  corporations that employ or provide them income.  In  the main they do not engage in civic life, seeing their family responsibilities as singular.  They see those of European descent as superior, morally and culturally.

Governance by edict can make things happen fast.  Government by compromise is often slower and less efficient in terms of making things happen fast.  Thus the appeal of authoritarian fascism took root in places like Argentina and Chile in our own hemisphere.  And the same appeal in Europe  in Spain, Italy and Germany in the 1930's and 40's when economies were not providing prosperity for many. Other countries exercised authoritarianism not in conjunction with an independent industrial and commercial sector, but through economies managed totally by government such as China and the Soviet Union.   We had an early moment of truth in our own nation with a devastating civil war based on a fascist and racist culture who preferred to take the lives of tens of thousands than compromise their authoritarian Confederacy of slavery for a common good.  A horrific war resulted in Europe when the authoritarians insisted on imposing their values on those committed to the hard, slow work of democracy. Authoritarianism lost in all cases, but it took the horror of war to resolve the conflict.

All of these social systems have one characteristic in common with our capitalistic system;  an elite segment of the society garners most of the economic benefit and power.  Our founders were in the main educated elites.  Our government leaders mostly come from elite, privileged segments of society.  The same is true of authoritarian led societies across the globe.   The Trumpite segment of our political sphere do not see democracy as method of governance that can benefit them......it only benefits others and their world view is that they want the first claim on both benefits and power.

Theirs is not an egalitarian or idealism driven view of the social order.  Theirs is a Ayn Rand libertarian view of I'll get mine and you're responsible for getting your slice of the pie.  Yes, they go to church on Sunday and are often led it prayer for others, believing that  a god is responsible to care for the subjects of their prayers.  And they are often happy to join others in their church in providing assistance to those in need  because they all see merit for such assistance in the same way.  Many see the merit of helping others on a micro level; adopting a disadvantaged child, taking food or clothing to a needy family.  But they don't see their responsibility as extending to support or assistance for groups through government agencies, using their tax dollars.  They have an authoritarian view that they alone can better determine who is worthy of their assistance.

Those well intended people who urge me to reach out to Trumpites with the belief we can find common ground will have to explain to me exactly what common ground I can share with these people.  Where is it and what does it look like?   And how does this reappearance of authoritarianism differ from the past which had resulted in war, death and destruction?  What is different about this time? Have we favoring democracy learned from the past?  Have Trumpites learned from the past?

Only time will reveal the answer.  In the meantime, those favoring democracy, Resist with all the strength you have.

 

Our Children Inspired Our Great Movements

American children were the inspiration of some of our greatest movements that showed the goodness in American society.

The child labor laws of the early twentieth century set the stage for the empowerment of a great labor movement that dominated American life for over 50 years.  These laws showed both compassion, intelligence and heart among the American populace.



The school integration movement of the 50's and 60's put our children out front again.  Look at the courage.  Look at the hate.  But these children led us once again.

The DACA children, as those to the right of this blog once again faced hate front and center and didn't flinch.  They showed us courage again in the mid-2000's.  And the truth about our bigotry.  But they choose to live among us and teach us love and compassion.  And Justice.

Now, once again, children pave the way to justice.  Look at the impact they've already had on gun safety around the country.
Look at their courage in the face of stupidity and hate. Learn from them a path forward with greater safety and security to enjoy America The Beautiful.  But in this case, the beautiful is not in the Grand Canyon.  It is in our children, right in front of us, telling us to do the right thing.

America, our history tells us to look to our youth for wisdom and courage.  Our elders?   Not so much it would seem, at least as it relates to how we should treat one another.  Our very flawed but also wise founders, many of them very youthful in their twenties, showed us a better way forward.  It remains to be seen if that is the path we take.

Anglo Americans Can Be Proud Of African Americans

Anglo and other Caucasian Americans have a big problem that overcoming likely will predict the outcome of the American Experience.  Many of us disrespect and downright consider inferior fellow Americans of African origin.  This is seriously impeding us from forward movement in perfecting our democracy.  Let me give some of you a differing perspective to consider about racial origin and history.

First, to respect and advocate for the equal citizenship of African Americans does not mean we in any way diminish the huge contributions our Euro-origin migrants and founders have made to society.  Euro civilization gave us the demise of the dark ages, the end of  autocratic rule of the Holy Roman Empire and the creation of the Reformation and Enlightenment.  Our Anglo forefathers were persecuted by the traditionalists of Europe, causing our migration to what became the Colonies and the United States of America.  This is huge and a history to take pride in.  These things have created much good in the world, especially here in the Land of the Free and the Brave.

Yes, we have a stain on our history; a huge open sore that must be closed and healed.  We brought with our fantastic history a practice in which we take no pride; Slavery.  We weren't alone in the world in the practice but we were major offenders.  We fought a terrible Civil War over this practice and many families paid a painful price, but we ended the practice.

But ending slavery did not end beliefs of many among us that those to whom we granted freedom to were of an inferior social order,  so different from those of us of Anglo and Caucasian origin  and therefore that they should live separately from those of us with our backgrounds.  But the former slaves were persistent in their belief of equality of skills and character and pushed hard to find a place in a society that was far from welcoming to them.  Fellow Anglos, this took great character and courage on their part;  they stood up to continued discrimination in uncountable forms and carved out a place for themselves  many if not most of us find admirable and amazing.

During slavery, our African American brothers and sisters literally built our agricultural economy with their hand and back breaking work; today, probably the finest on the whole planet in terms of productivity and quality to sustain human and animal life.   They also built with those same hands most of the buildings in our early cities and created an urban life that is the envy of the world, even with today's neglect of their upkeep and maintenance.   Forced labor in both cases but the quality and energy they gave to an unwelcome task is to be admired.   They are owed gratitude for enduring this indignity and physical pain.  Yes, they even built the buildings in our national and many of our state capitals which housed their oppressors and facilitated their domination.   For this they were initially offered "Forty Acres and a Mule",  though this feeble attempt at reparations was quickly rescinded.

Once freed of overt domination, our African American brothers and sisters, while continuing be experience discrimination and limitation on their freedom, nonetheless persisted in building a society replete with grace, beauty and incredible talent. Read your history about an initial surge of African American participation, only the males among them during Reconstruction.  And then the quick dissolution of their participation with the advent of poll taxes and literacy tests whites were not subjected to.  While limited in education, economic opportunity and social mobility compared to their Anglo counterparts, these proud and brave Americans gave graciously to the whole society.  They gave amazing literature.  Astounding, soul enriching music.  Brilliant humor.  Athleticism beyond any other ethnic group and intellectual, scholarly accomplishment far beyond reasonable expectation of an oppressed people.   And so much more.

Yet, further attempts through legislation and public policy such as school integration, civil rights to give equal access in the economic and social life of America and voting rights designed to make black participation in political life more attainable were all quickly compromised by white Americans.   A minority of Anglo racists crafted the details of policy compromise and avoidance while a majority white population remained silent and thus, complicit.  Laws changed but Anglo attitudes of bigotry and resentment of  equal rights continued unabated.

Many Anglo/Caucasian Americans still today, after over 60 years of work by policymakers, do not want to go to school with them, live next door to them or socialize with them.  I think because they fail to understand that in spite of discrimination, outright hate and public expressions of contempt more prevalent today than in our prior history, our fellow Americans of other pigmentation contributed as much to what is good in our society as we did.  And yes, they overcame more discriminatory hurdles to do it.  Clearly there is not the will to treat our fellow citizens as equal partners in building America and furthering this great democratic experiment.

More public policy has to be put into place to reverse the erosion of rights and accelerate the acceptance of African Americans into full civic and social participation.    I am convinced that the only way to make amends for the evil done by our forefathers and silently accepted by us today is for massive truth and  reconciliation initiatives in conjunction with economic reparations to help our black brothers and sisters equalize education services, rebuilding of civic places and services as well as  housing and home ownership and income.  But I am also advocating for reparations that include lower income Anglo, Hispanic and other minorities. 

Effective communications on the benefits we all will enjoy with equalization of these elements of American life can greatly enhance the likelihood of success, if not outright acceptance of reparations.  With more well educated and economically comfortable African Americans will come a burst of economic growth for the whole economy and society.  Yes, it is the economy Stupid !  When the white middle class experiences a growing economy and more consumer spending and access to economic power, resentment can diminish if not disappear.  Integrated upper and middle class communities have proven this works.  It is our working and lower class communities where much of the racism and bigotry festers today.  They need a jump start and reparations and making the economic life of America more fair for all of us is a way to do it.  Where will the money come from?   The !% and corporate America hoarding the American dream.

We can put aside our guilt and shame now and accept objective truth.  We are all in this together, not all of us by choice.  But going forward, we continue to be in this together, like it or not.    We are much better off with combining talents and building a better society where we might all flourish. 

Forty Acres And A Mule Denied

Right after the end of the Civil War, freed slaves were promised Forty Acres and a Mule by General Sherman, who likely didn't have the authority to offer nor grant such a reparation.  The offer was quickly withdrawn.  Never to be resurrected.

We now are in remembrance of MLK's assassination in Memphis fifty years ago.  Many really nice gatherings around the country are being recorded for this tragic event.  Lots of speeches.  Community breakfasts.  A whole lot of lip service.   But nothing else.

We are in the throws of full blown public racism now.  Racists empowered by a crude and racist President are speaking and acting.  Some violently.  Many with verbal toxicity.  All with hate and resentment.  What to do about this?

Every few years a new reparations movement gets started by a few people.  Then quickly silenced and forgotten.  And the failure of America to maintain a just society for all remains, though seldom acknowledged.  The disparity in civil rights, employment opportunities and voting rights between Anglo and African American  people continues to widen.  The social and economic chasm between our groups enlarges.  And public hate and disrespect has become normal after many decades of suppressed expression.

It seems to me that we need a social compact to close the gap at least in the sphere of economic opportunity and social disparity.  The first order of business, when we remove overt racists from political/public leadership, must be a national initiative to remove employment discrimination, electoral suppression and civil rights denial based on ethnic (and gender) background. We must have reconciliation commissions active in every community to foster dialogue and educate ignorant racists.  Give them a chance to recant and reconcile.  If they can't or don't, ostracize them, quite frankly.

Then as a society we must redeem ourselves and our inherited history of racism by providing financial reparations to those clearly damaged by our racist system; the proof of the damage is in lousy education, substandard housing and neighborhood services and economic deprivation.    This process of identifying the damaged and providing reparations in the key areas of life must be administered by a commission of African Americans, not white people enjoying the privilege of light pigment.

The hard core racists will rebel.  Don't let them hurt any of us.  Put the rebellion down quickly with Federal force if necessary.  Then, we move on and try our best to be a decent society of all of us.  We can create the 21st century of 40 Acres and a Mule. 

Yes, These Are Genuine American Patriots

Don't be fooled by the hair.  Pink over a nose ring.  And shaved respectively.  Under the hair are brains and hearts we should be grateful for.  This is genuinely our next generation of real American patriots.  We've had more than a year of really bad hair in the White House.  Remember, this whole experiment in democracy started with a bunch of patriot guys wearing powdered wigs.  Hair that might make you uncomfortable isn't the point.  The point is these young people are showing us what it takes to keep a democracy going.  Guts.  Conviction.  Risk.  Thank you Emma Gonzales.  Thank you Christopher Wylie. We owe you a huge debt. 

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America Has Gone Through The Looking Glass

So, here we are.  In a new, fantastical world unlike any we've previously seen.  Everything is reversed.  A government run by the Mad Hatter.  Executive Departments, if positions filled at all, are led by doconstructors, each and every one dismantling the EPA, the State Department, HUD, VA, Justice Department.  The list is endless.  Right wing nuts replacing moderates and liberals and even a few traditional conservatives.

Here's the huge irony.  The conservative stereotype we imagined before were tightly wrapped, buttoned up, strategic people.  But look Through The Looking Glass and what have we?  Hip shooters, go with the moment, intuitive managers, inventing facts and lying about them, I guess just for the fun of it.  The liberal stereotype, go with the flow, lets try something new, think out of the box crowd, join the crowd in the Woodstock mud pit types bringing us the enlightenment, but not sure where it will take us.  Out but not gone, because the conservatives/alt-right crowd have totally reversed their M.O. and opted for the ready, fire, aim approach.   It is a Topsy Turvy America many of us barely recognize.

We've gone from Kansas to Syria almost overnight.  I guess America just got tired of thoughtful, deliberative,  pretty predictable, cautious governance, maybe even bored. From  not much drama to waking up every morning to the totally unexpected.  From the left hand knowing what the right hand was doing to "look ma, no hands".  Crash, bang.  From no corruption and no conflict of interest to hands and feet in the cookie jar.  And everyone buying first class tickets to avoid the riff raff holding us accountable.

I heard a great show on NPR today.  Seems we really don't know what really drives success.We really don't know what management theory gets the best results.  There seems to be no single winning approach.  So, I'm trying to keep an open mind here.  Chaos management?  Authoritarian management?  We seem at the moment to have both concurrently , which seems, well, quite Mad.  I'd be much more comfortable if I knew which works better.  We've generally associated democracy with messy, complicated negotiations and relationships.   And autocratic, despotic rule as predicable, linear and much less complicated.  America, in its founding, opted for the uncertainties of democracy.  I guess we just got tired of the uncertainty, opting for the despotic.    People ruled by despots know the way things work in the system and there are really many more of these around the planet  than messy democracies.  I think this is what the Trumphians thought they were getting.    But that is not exactly what we have here.  I guess we'd just have to describe it as Chaotic Despotism.

What I do know, though, is that Alice, once she finished her trek through the looking glass, was really happy to get back to Kansas.  It was a grand adventure, but too unsettling and way too unpredictable to have a life of some calm and order which she greatly preferred.  I am hoping our story goes similar to Alice's.  And the sooner home, back to Kansas, the better.