MOTIVATIONS

    Do not know about you, but often, when reading the news, I wonder at why these people have done what they have. Whatever possessed them to mar an ancient site or bully a stranger or any number of unacceptable deeds. I wonder if they think before acting, or are acting on a dare, or just are naturally unthinking and worse, purposely cruel people.
     Apply that wondering to what makes people tick to the national leaders we now have. The story has just come out about how many of Trump's appointees were red flagged for security and behavioral issues. They were appointed anyway, and then had to resign for continuing this behavior. Hey, the President himself has behavior worthy of red flagging and I am curious as to the truth of that matter and if so, should he be sitting there in that office in the first place!! In fact, he who railed against the 'swamp'  of DC has managed to raise its level to flooding elevation. His motivations? Greed, egomania, megalomania, the chance to do harm to the country? The sky's the limit with this guy.
     However, perhaps if we tried to understand the motivations of people we might understand and be able to ward off the most egregious behavior. Do we really understand why people risk their lives and the lives of their children, their elderly parents they often carry on their backs, as they trudge through deserts, mountains, waterways, through heat and cold, thirst and hunger, always seeking a safer place than the one they left. Again, perhaps if we did understand or at least make an effort to understand, things might be better.
     People want to live. period. They want their families to be safe. They want to live a life of at least sustainability, of a degree of assurance and comfort, food secure, life secure and yet look around at the globe. So many places are not allowing this anymore. Be it environmental refugees or war refugees, domestic violence survivors, victims of roaming gangs and home grown militias, victims and refugees from economic impossibilities and deep and abiding hunger, of those fleeing political persecution and those seeking democracy, we need to understand their motivations.
     Two infants, a toddler and a young woman were found dead, dehydrated, at the border. Does anyone think that she attempted this trip on a lark, got up one morning and thought how wonderful a dangerous thousand mile trek like this would be, especially with babies, ad then set off?! Do the people fleeing the massacres in Syria, caught between Assad's cruel forces and the forces of Jihad who have usurped the opposition forces, do these people run for amusement or from desperation? Their motivvations are clear, and we might as well wonder about the motivations of those heroic White Hat volunteers who remain in the rubble, risking their lives as they seek to help others out of the rubble and fix their wounds.
     On the other hand, why do people kill? why does someone choose to run his car through throngs of people? Why does  a President praise "nice" people on the side of murderers and hateful bigots? Why does someone shoot up a church or synagogue or mosque? Why do we now have to have armed guards at the entryways to 'soft' targets. And why the hell are we at the brink of war, a war that will not limit its destruction to the Middle East, as bad as that is, but will inevitably spread to the rest of the world and the results will be disastrous.
    Why do we still have to battle for the point that all people are equal in their right to have rights!! Why are gains made in assuring these rights, in combating bias, now being endangered? Why are we rescinding the right to choose? Is it that peole want to see women die of drastic infections after desperate back alley abortions? Do they think that the need for abortions will die out? They will not, but the mortality rate will soar. What is the motivation and understanding here?
     Why is the Catholic Church embracing right wingers, rightists straight from the closet of fascism, in Europe and why is the Catholic diocese of Indianapolis threatening high schools if they do not fire a gay member of the faculty who has done nothing but be gay, just as G-d made him. G-d's motivation? Way above my pay grade but can we not all understand that people are people. Period.
     "No individual is defined by their worst moments." So says the lawyer for the Charlottesville killer. Perhaps there is a spark of goodness in all. Hitler loved his dogs, right?! But when evil is perpetrated, then it must be answered. Immediately and forcefully, no matter the form this evil takes. That is why I understand the motivations of the volunteers who stood ready yesterday to aid migrants fleeing from ICE and why they continue to stand ready. That is why I understand and admire those who go out there around the world to bring aid and succor to those in desperate need of it.
     Now maybe somebody will be able to explain to me the motivational thinking behind the weird behavior of Trump, the strange behavior of the public who seemed to have ignored the allegation of rape by Trump, a rape that was told about to a friend right after it happened. What is the motivation behind these screaming people shouting gleeful chants of hate in their dumb red hats even as their medical care is taken away, their food security threatened as their pay stays stagnant even as the fat cats increase theirs, as the crops rot in the fields because there are no pickers and no place to sell them anyway due to those damned tariffs. 
     Motivation: Save the country. Look deep within yourself, evaluate the news, wonder at why Republican legislators run away from fulfilling their duties and ally themselves with local militias!! Here in the USA!! We need to turn our country around. The need is clear. The motivation is clear and there is a clear and present danger. Let us all wake up before it is too late.