As the politicians say (usually just before being anything but), “Let me be clear.”
As Election Day 2020 approaches in the USofA, I’m not interested in engaging on the relative merits and demerits of the presidential candidates, the political parties, the American political system, and/or the media (mainstream or otherwise).
I am interested in passing along this lovely hope for America. For all of us, really.
I imagine an America where, no matter who is president,
no matter the makeup of the Supreme Court,
we are all free enough not to care who sits in power.
““ Matt Kibbe
Of course it’s not realistic, taken literally. We always need to care about who sits in power. But I, too, can imagine a country where caring doesn’t degenerate into panicking. Where what’s at stake in an election is not worth hating over, or even becoming shrill over, because we are all free enough.
It’s a tall order and involves many things that are not under my control. But Kibbe doesn’t stop there.
We could, as diverse people with our personal hopes and goals,
peacefully coexist, cooperate, and learn to respect one another.
Now this I do have in my hands. Entirely? No, of course not. But to make a difference in the right direction? Yes, absolutely.
And what is true for me is true for all of us. Really.
The other self-contradictory preamble is “Make no mistake…” G.W. Bush used it a lot.
Jim T
Jim – 🙂 This could start a collection . . .
Isabel
I love the quote by Matt Kibbe. Would that it were the case.
The poor, the marginalized, the dispossessed are never thus.
Tom
Tom – Matt Kibbe was new to me – a libertarian and early Tea Party guy, I guess. Also a good heart, I’d say.
Bill Maher described America as a great big family: You may hate some of your relatives sometimes but would never kill them. We have to learn how to live together because the two “sides” aren’t going away.”
Barbara – Hmm. I don’t think I have any relatives that I hate, but I take the point. We do need to learn to live together, or we need another Lord Balfour. And the long-ish-term results of that line haven’t been unreservedly great.
In this “great big family” (name your state or consider the entire world from Day One) brothers have already raised arms against brothers and sisters have shown that there are other ways to kill than with guns. I am hopeful for change. There are long-term promises whispering in the gloom. But let’s not be naive about what kind of family members we are trying to reconcile. What is at stake in every election comes down to life and death issues for a great many people. The US today is an armed camp and I mean the civilians. The police are equipped with military-grade weapons. Self-important paramilitary groups abound. I’m not surprised that emotions are high and I think some people need to be shrill to awaken the attention of those who do not have eyes to see or ears to hear their plight.
Laurna – No, we don’t want to be naive. Hopeful, but not naive.
Let me recommend a book: Commanding Hope, by Thomas Homer-Dixon. He says, essentially, that all we have left is hope. (Confession — I’m only part way through it myself.)
Jim T
Jim – Not sure I like that “all we have left” aspect, but thanks.