Who could have imagined this year? Many predicted deeper division, fear and anger. Compromise and accommodation would be seen as weaknesses. We didn’t know what to expect each morning when we turned on our phones or laptops. There would be bizarre, childish, and even threatening tweets from the president. We would be jolted awake by the latest mass shooting or attack in places on the opposite ends of the cultural spectrum. The madness raining down from a window in Las Vegas on a country music concert. A man walking down the aisle of small country church in Texas murdering whole families. A man driving a truck down a New York City bike path leaving behind death and twisted metal on a sunny fall afternoon. The cascade of sexual harassment and assault victims coming out of the darkness, standing up to the rich and powerful when the dirty, secret world was finally exposed by journalists doing the profession proud.
Our political leaders are letting us down by failing to do the job we elected them to do. They can’t even get in the same room to solve any problem. They are about to pass a tax bill that will effect just about everyone in the country, and the two parties give completely opposite explainations of how it will work, and who really benefits. Almost every Republican voted for the bill, and every Democrat voted against it. How is that possible? The only certainty is uncertainty. Everyone is stuck in the their own echo chamber refusing to listen to anyone who has a different view, or different life experience. If we shout louder than the other guy, we’ll win. Where do we look for leaders?
Maybe we should be looking at ourselves. We put ourselves in this position. We elected these people. We let them feed on our mistrust, anger, fear, and suspicion. As I’m writing this, I’m getting a text alert that says Trump has just signed an emergency bill to avoid a government shutdown for two weeks. This is a perfect example of the problem. Our political leaders are so divided and uncompromising, they can’t even agree on a plan to keep the government running. That’s government by threat. Play the game my way, or I’ll stick a knife in the ball, and we won’t play at all.
The political environment overshadows our daily lives. Whether it’s North Korea, gun control, police shootings, racial violence, sexual harassment, taxes, or health care we can’t seem to agree. The country has been through dangerous, devisive times before. The Civil War, the Depression, the struggle for civil rights, Vietnam, Watergate, 9/11, and, the recession were all times that tested us as a nation. They all cut deeply and left lasting scars. They all taught us lessons and changed us. These things also demonstrated the strength of the country and made us see look at ourselves and re-examine what we believed.
I believe we are at one of those critical crossroads. We find ourselves in a time when truth and facts can be twisted to push agendas and self importance. The world has always looked to us as a beacon of hope and leadership. That beacon has dimmed. It’s again one of those times to say, is this what we want to be? We can continue to live on the edge of doubt and uncertainty, or say we can do better than this, and go boldly into the future as we have so many times before.
Mike, you have articulated the social/political conundrum that we find ourselves in. “Going boldly into the future” is all we can do when such thoughtfully considered commentary boils down, not to a solution, but to the question, “Is this what we want to be?” Like all of us, I wish I had answers.