Sounds like Dickens. But not really, for that was a parable and this is the awful, frightening downright scary truth. What we have done in the past, especially the recent past has led to a troublesome present and a hazy picture of the future. What can we do to change this? A lot of hard work and attention and demands and involvement.
I recently watched the movie 11.22.63 which deals with the possibility of preventing the assassination of JFK and what it would have meant in the history of the world, how things would have changed. It raised interesting questions, for in fact, the world as we know it would not be and possibly neither would many on this earth. To change history is not a simple nor easy thing to do even were it indeed possible but think how we could have done some simple things to have improved our present.
We could have been more vigilant, more caring, more concerned, less selfish, less loud and shouting and more listening, more empathetic and more sharing of those shoes to walk in!!
David Brooks, the NY Times columnist, wrote a piece on resistance to Trump and his administration. What to do? How to save the present and the future. There is the possibility of authoritarianism, something of which many have spoken. It would be, he says, a "repressive kleptocracy" wherein there is a tense and harsh atmosphere, kind of like Hungary and Poland now with eroding democratic rights, threats to opponents, shutting of the media and corruption galore with contracts going to bribe givers and relatives and other special people. To combat that, Brooks says we would need active resistance, not enough to "bandage the victims under the wheels of injustice, but jam a spoke into the wheel itself." We would need strong nonviolent protests, marches, demonstrations, disruptions of meetings and strong talk. Sounds familiar in many ways, does it not?
On the other hand we could have a type of stagnation and corruption. We would have a Tweedian type of muddy waters in which nasty politics thrives, tweets and more tweets, scandals and lies and nothing good happens. In that case, we would need to temporarily cede the national government and work in the local ands state areas or arenas and then take over at the right time.
But what if what we have is a toxic mix of incompetence, ever ongoing, and anarchy as the chaos and the fighting nd the leaking and the ethically challenged and the selfish and the Fat Cats run the joint, much to our detriment. What will be then, Brooks feels is a Civil Service that will take over. Knowing its responsibilities, it will try to govern properly with respect to the law and ignore those who wish to subvert that very law.
Building and rebuilding, rebinding the nation and its citizens, rebuilding Congress with honest and true people, cutting out the crooked and the morally weak, rebuilding a Civil Service and appreciating them for what they represent and the yeoman's burden they carry. Connecting the people of the country, reminding them we are all Americans and if one group suffers more than another, we must correct that and rebalance, fairly, equitably, with participation of all. That is America.
Personally, I feel we have a threat with a mix of all. I fully believe and fear that we will have an authoritarian government or at least an attempt at one, though Brooks feels that they are too incompetent to truly maintain it. But in the meantime there will be an erosion of democracy, - already happening - of trust, of principles, of joy. We will need the efforts of all and the realization of those who voted this in that they indeed messed up and must work double time to fix their creation.
Just read the news about Trump, his campaign workers and aides and the constant and close connection that they and it had with Russians within the government over there. This has indeed gone beyond the pale and must be addresses. What is even worse is that the very entity that was supposed to protect us from this treason like activity is the very same entity that kept it quiet and focused instead on bogus Clinton issues and screwed up the race. I say again, this election should be declared null and void and these people need to be barred from all and any further work with the government or any entity connected with it. It is bad enough when Trump rides roughshod over the Standing Rock pipeline matter but this is the very heart and soul of a country, its guarantee that people in its government will protect the citizens and not sell them out. Trump has got to go!! His people too!!
Charles Blow warned us to be afraid and in his way so has Brooks and Kristof and Friedman and many others, including the few Republican statesmen who see the truth and are not intimidated and will speak it. Are we brave enough to brave the mouth of this man, this nasty, crooked and incompetent man, this man who has been called and diagnosed as mentally ill and incompetent, unable to discharge the responsibilities of his office? I certainly hope we are. The other choice is not looking too appetizing, is it? Mirrors, folks, mirrors.
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