We, the people have spent a lot of time arguing this past two years .
Given that the subject of the majority of that arguing is someone who set out from the git-go to set us off against each other and who finds the need for the distraction of keeping us going off against each other critical to his political survival, let alone his avoiding possible incarceration down the road a stretch, it should come as no surprise to anyone that we find ourselves frequently going on about the business of that which we were set up to go about in the first place.
Arguing.
At this point in the plot, though, two years and a day or two since the "I do solemnly swear to faithfully execute" was verbalized if not committed to particularly, it occurs to me that when it comes to arguing, we're doing it, we're doing it often, we're doing it loudly and we're doing it either proudly or pinheadedly, depending on our level of education, baseline intelligence quotient and/or cap color.
But we're doing it wrong.
More to the point, both sides are drawing conclusions, illustrating indignation, outlining outrage, even crayoning contempt, but totally missing....the big picture.
Stand by for the big picture.
Old saying.
Everything happens for a reason.
Contemporary tweak on old saying.
Everything happens for a reason. Nobody says it has to be a good reason.
Same thing holds true for every thing.
Every thing has a purpose or, at the very least, a use.
Nobody says it has to be a good purpose or a productive use.
Let's take a look at a couple of things from the list of these every things that have a purpose or use.
Take bullying, for example.
If you're the kind of person who, deep down inside, has a huge, echoing space where confident self esteem is usually found, belittling and intimidating people can cause endorphins and adrenaline to surge through your system, giving you a rush that puts sugar to shame, making you forget, if only for a few fleeting seconds at a time, that you're really just a sad and lonely soul, trying to hurt less by hurting others, trying to feel something, anything, by inflicting feelings on others, even if those feelings are caustic and cruel.
If, on the other hand, you really want to contribute something to your circle of acquaintances, your neighborhood, your community, be a productive force, be, cliche' notwithstanding, part of the solutions and not part of the problems, then, the unavoidable fact is...bullying just doesn't work.
Racism.
If your goal is to make it clear that you believe that only Caucasians are deserving of respect, courtesy, kindness, hell, even existence, then spewing vile epithets, wearing robes and/or hoods and/or swastikas, even the occasional aforementioned crimson cap can go a long way toward letting inferiors know exactly where you stand. Throw in a burning cross or, with an impressive wink to the newer technologies, make sure somebody cell phone videos you the next time you tell those black motherfuckers they need to go back to Africa where they belong....and you will have irrefutably gotten your money's worth and then some of all that racism has to offer.
Sexism, misogyny, gender bias and a half dozen other assorted and sundry things kinda fall into that same category. Give em a little thought and you'll make the connection. I trust you.
Here's a little trickier one.
Populism.
For those not jiggy with the jargon, the dictionary def is "a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups".
Put in a more appealing to ordinary people way..."I hear ya...I feel your pain....I'm one of you..."
If the populist's purpose is to convince people that he or she, and he or she alone, know their problems, sympathize with their problems, empathize with their problems and are the only hope they have in this lifetime of seeing their problems solved, then populism is custom made for the purpose.
Thing about populism, though, is while it sounds appealing, it very easily, much too easily, and usually fairly quickly, much too quickly, mutates into something equally appealing...but ultimately much more poisonous.
Demagoguery.
"seeking support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument....exploiting issues for political purposes in a way calculated to appeal to the prejudices of ordinary people."
Fake news may or may not be fake news, but history is what it is. And history has shown us time and time and time again that any time you find "prejudices" and "ordinary people" being rolled into the same big glob of dough, what comes out of the oven is very little treat....and a whole lot of trouble.
Because "appealing to prejudices" is a five dollar way of saying "stir up hatred of minorities"...."find the biggest barrels of anger available and light the fuses"...."incite 'ordinary people' to lash out, strike back,burn em out and hang em high."
The results of those kinds of detonations are always ugly, destructive and devastating, not only to individuals, but groups, even crowds of people. Even the ordinary people that believed the answer to their problems and their prayers had arrived. In the form of someone who told them "I hear ya...I feel your pain...I'm one of you..."
The thing is...those things simply don't work in any society that sincerely wants to be civilized. They are repugnant and repellent to any culture that aspires to make life better and safer and happier for themselves and their loved ones and their friends and even those folks a few blocks over that they don't personally know, but who are just as deserving of a better, safer and happier life for themselves and their loved ones and.....
We, the people have spent a lot of time arguing this past two years.
We've been arguing because we were set up to argue. It served, and serves, his purpose.
And we've been arguing over whether he is doing the right thing or the wrong thing for this country, whether he does or does not have the best interests of this country at heart, whether he is or is not a patriot or a traitor or a genius or a buffoon.
And the time, energy, nerve tissue and stomach lining required to stay in full argue mode so much for so long has, either inadvertently, or intentionally, prevented us,all of us.... from seeing the big picture.
Bullying.
Racism.
Populism.
Demagoguery.
All present and accounted for.
At the highest level achievable in this nation.
There really is no argument against that that can be won.
Because there they are. Every day.
Every hour. Every minute.
Big picture:
It's not that these things exist.
It's not even that they are his standard operating procedures.
It's that they don't work.
In America.
At least, according to everything I've ever known and/or been taught in the past 58 years...
...the America we are supposed to be.
If argue we must.....
...let's argue that.
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