Watching the … circus … across the pond in the USA is by turns almost (not really) comical and depressing.
But there is comfort. While it is unimaginable to me how people are living day to day in north America, I do know that this is a waiting game: eventually the leadership in the US will be replaced
There are many people who support what is happening there – the excesses, the vitriol, the hate and disregard for the law, decency and human rights. But I believe and know that there are a great many more who do not.
There are hundreds, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of politicians, business leaders and others who stand to gain immensely from what is being done. But there are millions, tens and hundreds of millions who are being hurt and harmed by it.
All it needs is for that majority to hold the faith, continue to know what is right and just and be ready to have their say when the time comes.
While this is not a call to revolution, there are a great many more of us than there are of them and I know that in time the pendulum will swing back towards middle ground where most of us would rather be.
On a side note – for us here in Europe – there is this: the brazen disregard being seen in the USA is emboldening many here in Europe to believe that they too can just do whatever they like and everyone will let them. It is up to us to make sure they can’t.
Every campaign deserves close scrutiny. Hard questions must be asked and clear answers demanded. Every vote is critical.
The reality – in most countries in the world still – is that when the majority inform themselves and pay attention, decency and some sort of middle ground will prevail simply because there are far more reasonable people than there are zealots – whatever their nature is.
But the world today is steeped in intellectual process. Unless you are aware of all the facts – they say – you cannot have an opinion. Which is convenient when the facts are so carefully managed and distribution limited to a few.
But I believe that this emphasis on knowledge distracts us from tapping into what we all carry inside of us; the awareness of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. We need to be crystal clear on what decency and the middle ground is. I don’t believe you need a faith to know this either.
The test of whether something is ‘right’ or not is simple: if that same situation – decision, event, policy, claim, speech – were directed at me, my significant other, my children, my friends and family, how would I feel? If I would feel that it was reasonable and fair – even if it impacted me in a way I would rather it didn’t – then it’s probably ‘right’. If I would be appalled or disgusted or cry foul, then it probably isn’t.
And if you feel it isn’t right then chances are that the decision isn’t even-handed but is designed to benefit one group over another. And that must be called out if for no other reason than it’s only a matter of time before the group being disadvantaged will be you or me and by then it may be too late to stop the march.
So today and every day forward, look after yourself. Rest, drink your water, exercise and get daylight. Eat well. That gives you a firm foundation from which to care for and protect those you love, those closest to you. That spreads the circles of decency and right-knowedness wider to more and more people.
More and more people will know that ‘this isn’t right – not in my name’ and will have the inner courage and certainty to speak out.
Which is how we will eventually bring the pendulum back towards the middle again.