I would that it were not so, but there it is. The question before us is whether we all will, of necessity become Spartacus, whether we will have the integrity and strength of character to do so. The primary question, though, should be - why have we reached this point and what does it mean to be Spartacus. Will we actually reach that point? The answer is that yes, we will, and in fact, have been moved against our will well into the dangerous territory of Spartacus.
The iconic movie line, as thousands await crucifixion for participating in a slave rebellion, follows Kirk Douglas stepping up and admitting he is Spartacus. Then down the line, in a bold move, those awaiting execution seal their doom at the same time sealing a moral victory. All with the statement "I am Spartacus".
How analogous is our situation to that of the slaves? Well, currently, though we are slaves to our wages or whatever keeps us afloat, we do have the right to have a private life. With the parameters of safety and law obedience. That is, we did, until the regressive, aggressive, hostile extremists achieved a long-time goal of toppling the independence and neutrality of the Supreme Court and charged full speed ahead into the control and limitation of rights on a personal level.
Increasingly, we have edged, slowly, then faster, into the realm of slavery, owned by those backwards, life limiting troglodytes on the right, and the benighted fools on the opposite side of the spectrum do not help either. We have enabled this situation, this need to become Spartacus. How? Either by buying into poisonous views and actions, its principles, if such they can be called, or with apathy and noninterest, lack of understanding of the perilous situation in which we are totally enmeshed at present with a dark future ahead.
I am Spartacus. So should we all. We cannot separate ourselves from the public community. We have learned that bloody lesson time and time again. Obviously, it might have been taught, but was not caught. So yes, we are all Spartacus.
We are Spartacus when LGBTQ+ are maligned, demonized, pushed back, in a growing snowball of anti-gay legislation such that we will be back soon enough in that oppressive time of the past. Actually, that past is now present, and a posited future - unless we all become Spartacus and force changes to the broken ethos of our nation. Spartacus am I, are you, when your neighbor, your loved one, your friend, yourself are arrested, criminalized, for being gay. Think we, you, are immune to this trend? You are not. This behavior, these manifestly illegal, immoral laws and attitudes are contagious to a degree such that they will rival the worst repressive regimes of history.
Think not being gay will not affect you? Think again as the "criminal", handcuffed and shackled, is led off. Think again if you are - or should be - Spartacus when your personal freedom is limited under specious reasoning that your rights violate someone else's. Hence, your rights are cancelled. No sale at the drugstore as you purchase a morning after pill or simple contraceptives. Walgren's is now facing a boycott for allowing that in their stores. Or when the neighborhood stores refuse to sell to you because you discomfit them, believe differently, and in fact, are visibly different in one unimportant way or another. It does not have to make sense, it just is. And there you are - or were. Cancelled.
How does one battle against minds which buy into statements of outrageous content.
"Why is it that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions?" Gaetz said. "Nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb."
Goetz being a member of Congress! Still a pig! Are you Spartacus yet? No? Well, how about the movement, already enacted or in process, in some states which limit the right of a woman to travel - ostensibly to obtain an abortion. Follow that trail. Limit a right to travel, to cross state lines? By gender? For a personal right available only in another state? Doomed by gender, by religion, by inner thoughts! Again! And no, you are not immune. Perhaps your journey across state lines to legalize an adoption, a marriage, a purchase of wine for your party, for whatever reason these twisted minds can put in place, legalize.
Yes, legalize, as we compete for the title in history as the most repressive country ever. Soon enough, right down the road, speed increasing, are the state border blockades, the questioning as to purpose of travel, to demand "papers'. United States no more. Spartacus yet?
To be Spartacus is to ensure that we never again allow a criminal into office. That we prosecute those criminals as enemies of the state, no matter the office they hold. We need to institute a free, quality education which applauds both the diversity and the unity of this country. That we are all Americans, no matter where we or ancestors originated, Americans all.
Where incitement to riot, to overthrow our national government, to invade our state systems to cancel election results at all levels which displease us will be no longer. Where public officials will adhere to their responsibilities, to the vows they made. Where a President will not have the most frightening ability, power to sign an Executive Order such as this one, signed by Donald Trump, the pride and plan of his enablers now telling all.
“Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service,”
“An initial estimate by the Trump official who came up with Schedule F found it could apply to as many as 50,000 federal workers — a fraction of a workforce of more than 2 million, but a segment with a profound role in shaping American life. Trump, in theory, could fire tens of thousands of career government officials with no recourse for appeals. He could replace them with people he believes are more loyal to him and to his ‘America First’ agenda. Even if Trump did not deploy Schedule F to this extent, the very fact that such power exists could create a significant chilling effect on government employees. It would effectively upend the modern civil service, triggering a shock wave across the bureaucracy.”
It remains there, in place to be reactivated should Trump or one of his poisonous ilk gain the Oval Office. We must all become Spartacus. Have the courage of Spartacus, who fought for his right to be a person, recognized as such, living as such, rather than allowing his situation to remain, or deteriorate further.
I am Spartacus. Are you? Do you know your own strength and responsibilities? If you truly do, then becoming Spartacus will be a natural. If we do not 'use it' we will indeed "lose it".
That process is well on its way.
WE ARE SPARTACUS
No comments:
Post a Comment