Saturday, February 4, 2017

Hopeful Thinking - Saturday, February 4, 2017 - Hope from Ashes


Things look kind of scary right now, it's true. No matter what side of the fence you're on, there are people you love who are on the other. Our recent political campaign season exposed a deep cultural wound. Ironic to the point of seeming cosmic, the two most recent people to occupy the Oval Office could not possibly have been starker versions of the American Dream if they were characters in a Hollywood film script. We have been presented with a most compelling contrast. A contrast much deeper than party lines, deeper than color, deeper than the opportunity gap. Regardless of your views on Obama’s politics, our first black President exhibited fundamental grace, inherent class, thoughtfulness and welcoming. The contrast? The plantation owners have now banded together to become president out of spite.
But I also see something really beautiful happening. Probably the most disappointing thing to our current Oval Office Temp’s ego will be how ineffective and unloved he will really be. One could argue that the things he has done are highly effective toward his goal. But that's only the surface of our current political moment. Have you noticed the enormous response to everything that he does? I am heartened to see we still have the kind of action left in us that we displayed in the 60s.
The 60s changed the world and took us to the next level. Preparing us for revelations like we are seeing now. The 60s taught us to see corruption when it exists and call it out. The 60s invented the Internet. And now the fascists have all shown their hand again.
However, the world is very different than 80 years ago when it started before. We can all talk to each other for the first time in human history. We've already seen the Internet's capability to undermine regimes in ways never before possible. The writing's on the wall now. In time the moderates will come out of hiding and transform the Republican Party to the benefit of us all. The Democrats will lower their guards and collaborate.
In the most ironic of ways, and by the most vile mechanisms possible, Trump will actually be an important component in our ability to truly make America great—just not the way he’s expecting. We have always been capable of doing it. The power has been with us all along, just like a pair of ruby slippers. We have written an immaculate document to guide us. It is a frustrating cha-cha of progress, of course. Two steps forward, one step back. But all the better to pack down the soil so it's safer and clearer for the ones behind us.
Keep the faith. Attend the rallies. Paint the signs. Share important information. Do not stand down. Project love at every opportunity and exhibit grace for the losers once they are defeated. This is what being American truly is about. And neither soil nor document can confer it, nor can any wall stand against it.

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