Is the Tide Turning?

 (I started writing this post several weeks ago, and got sidetracked. But with today's developments, I'm going to finish it here. Maybe the tide is turning.....)

I just listened to the book On Tyranny last night before I went to sleep. I had checked it out from the library onto my tablet, and it was about to be returned. I thought I'd just listen to it awhile before it gets deleted, and if I don't like it, I can let it go back and know that at least I gave it a try. Someone recommended it to me awhile back. Otherwise, it didn't seem like the kind of book I'd naturally gravitate toward! However, it sucked me right in from the very beginning, maybe because of its clarity and conciseness.  The focus of this apparently very short book (I heard it all in 2 hours!) was on how governments have evolved, especially since World War II. One recurring theme is that democracies have been tried and have failed in several countries since the war, and now that same thing seems to be threatening to happen to us here. The book states that one of the reasons this happens is that we've been acculturated to obey the rules. Even if we don't particularly like them, once a leader takes control, we tend to go along with what we're supposed to do. Maybe that is easier than kicking up a fuss. Maybe some of us secretly yearn for a strong-man to take over and rule everything. Whatever the reason, our democratic ideals (a government where everyone can participate, no matter race, religion, gender, economic status, education, ethnic origin, etc.) are becoming tough to sustain. Tyranny is on the rise.

Frankly, I don't relate to the tendency to want someone to tell me what to do. I think I've been a rebel most of my life. And maybe rebels gravitate toward other rebels, for I don't think any of my friends want someone to tell them what to do either (except maybe how to fix their computer or plumbing). Our history books tell us that the first Europeans to settle here wanted to get out from under the restrictions and control of governments that didn't let them have a voice. They were seeking more freedom as individuals. Of course, the extreme of this opinion shows in some of the folks now who resist a government of any kind. I'm not with that camp either. Structure is important. Our democratic structure seems to have worked pretty well over the past centuries. And part of that is because it has ways to balance power. The leaders are chosen by the people, and there are many leaders performing the task of governing.

I watch what's happening in American politics with two minds. Since I just completed the course on Resilience and Acceptance, part of me sees the chaos in Washington as another sign that our current culture is in a stage of collapse, and this collapse needs to happen before the earth and its inhabitants can heal. But my other, more everyday mind looks at what is happening in our country with astonishment. The president's supporters who pretend they are superior to us "liberals" and who say they espouse a Christian-modeled way of living, are actually supporting things that are the opposite of anything like Christianity. We see this every day in the news in the reports about the acts of this new administration. Some of them are horrifying and unbelievable. Where is our sanity??

I think many of us are wondering why the members on the other side of the aisle are not protesting more, standing up more firmly against the immoral actions of the president and his cronies. Isn't that how a democracy is supposed to work? We, the people, have been protesting in the streets. But nothing substantial seems to change yet. Hooray for Corey Booker, who stood courageously for hours telling it like it is. And this morning I've just read Heather Cox Richardson's report on the rousing speech of J.B. Pritzker, governor of Illinois, who raised the roof in New Hampshire with a "barn-burning speech" to Democrats. The quotes in that report made me want to run out and protest and build community and resist undemocratic ways! It roused me! Let's hope that it rouses millions of people. I've never been much of a political person, at least not on the national scene. I'd rather tend to my plants and learn about the web of nature. But sometimes, I guess, you just have to stretch yourself out into new territory, especially when you see your way of life crumbling. 

Most of you who read this blog probably know much more about current political happenings in the US than I do. So I hesitate to write at all about it. Yet there it is, right in front of us, every day in the news. And even a nature-loving farm girl like me can't help but be really, really worried. This morning I am hoping the tide is indeed turning. I imagine us coming to our senses and stepping out in front of the destructiveness that is being foisted upon us. I am ready to stand up to Tyranny, ready to hope that even though other countries tried democracy and failed, we are determined to save ours. Time will tell....