Trusting the System
I used to believe that we had a base standard, a low bar that people had to clear. We would, of course, disagree on the best way to run the country, but there would be a few things that we’d all agree on and if anyone didn’t accept and honour those few things, they would never be voted into a position of power.
I know, silly me.
So we can argue until the end of the day whether capitalism works, or whether we should give more assistance to individuals, but I always believed that our leaders would agree that they would represent and give guidance to all people in their district. Not just the people who elected the leader, but they would represent and care for all the people who were in their city or state or country.
I thought we lived in a world where lawmakers were elected solely to listen to the people, to represent the people. Not to impose their own opinions but to be collective voice. If that is true, there is no place for Mitch McConnell to say: “I don’t care how many members they chase, how many people they harass here in the halls, I want to make one thing perfectly clear: we will not be intimidated by these people.” These people? These people are the people you are elected to represent. Your job is to listen to “these people.”
I thought we lived in a world where opinions of experts mattered. Where headlines such as “‘Unfathomable’: More than 2,400 law professors sign letter opposing Kavanaugh’s confirmation” would make our lawmakers pause and say, “We need to slow this down and carefully consider what we’re doing.”
I thought we all agreed that if someone engaged in criminal activity before or during their time in elected office, they were not fit to lead. And in the case of grey matters, where it wasn’t clear that the act was truly criminal or just an abuse of a loophole in a system, we’d employ something akin to the Golden Rule. If we placed ourselves as the person harmed by that individual’s actions, would we still want them in office regardless of other reasons why we may want the person in power? If the answer was no, we would ask someone else to step into the leadership position. Though, of course, lying under oath is criminal.
There are many more people who would like a leadership role than there are leadership roles. It is usually pretty easy to find reasonable people who fit this simple criteria: Treat all individuals as equal individuals regardless of their race, sex, gender, sexual identity, culture, political leanings. And keep criminals or loophole abusers out of office.
And yet, on the eve of this vote, we can’t seem to accomplish that; that very simple task. We have people in office who are more obsessed with staying in power and representing their political party than following those two simple criteria. How else would we be considering allowing a lying sexual abuser onto the highest court in the country?
I’ve lost faith in the system because we’re no longer arguing about the best way to help all the people in our nation. We’re no longer talking about whether it’s more important to direct money towards a strong military or education. This isn’t about whether we should have more social programs in place or whether communities should step in to help vulnerable people.
This is about not clearing that lowest bar.
9 comments
Yeah, I’ve been watching this today, too. All I can say is…help everyone you know to vote. I can’t imagine the alternative (well, I CAN, but it’s not pretty and I don’t want to face it.)
https://www.pbs.org/video/dark-money-duhigg/
Well said!!
Yeah, things are bad. The lies that were previously used to cover all this are no longer being deployed because it’s clear the goal is promoting a select few above all else. It’s more than about electing people out at this point; it really comes down to considering methods to fully expose them and then working to undermine their efforts. And it requires doing so by banding together.
Joining with you in the fight ahead
I couldn’t agree more. And worse, I don’t see how we are going to recover from this.
I fear we can’t come back from where we are and the damage is too long-lasting (ahem, life time appointment). I keep thinking we have to have reached the bottom and will bounce back up. But it’s a false bottom every time and we just sink deeper and deeper. I am scared and worried.
😢😡🤬🤯
Appalled from afar, and sending all my US friends love and hugs.
You’ve put into words what I’ve been feeling. Every time something like this happens, I keep thinking “surely we’ve reached the bottom. Surely. And now we’ll start to figure things out for the better.” (I am totally aware that the fact that I can even think that is representative of how much privilege I have.)
I remember in college (2001-2005) when I went to a school with sorority/fraternity system and several members of one frat were accused of an appalling, abhorrent sexual crime. I remember going to an evening class and several members were sitting in the hall of the building as administration interviewed each member individually. Someone behind me asked one of the guys what they were there for and the guy answered “they’re trying to break up our fraternity.” No remorse, no sorrow for the victim, no sadness at the crime. He was sorry only for himself and the other guys in the fraternity. I thought maybe we’d come further than that by now. Instead, we’re installing one of these guys to the highest court. All I have is cuss words and so much disappointment and anger.
I mean, I’ll vote. One of my senators is red-state Democrat in a tight race. It’s all I can do, but it doesn’t feel like enough.
Count me among the appalled, but there are things we can do in addition to voting — mostly, encourage others to vote in various ways. I’m writing postcards through postcardstovoters.com targeting registered Democrats who can (but might not) vote in key competitive races, I’m giving modest sums of money, and I do continue to express my outrage via resistbot. I’ve signed up to join texting teams texting Democratic voters (haven’t participated yet) and may do some canvassing. And I’m giving tiny amounts of money strategically (as are many others, making tiny amounts larger).
Not to say we shouldn’t feel outrage and despair (we should), but there are things we can do (in addition to vote) to channel some of the energy that (at least in my case) they are (sporadically) generating.
Oh — and yes, this post is spot on. Thanks. Though of course there are lots of ways in which historically we didn’t live up to our ideals, either, like, you know, allowing de jure segregation (and worse). So our failure to engage and follow through on what are ostensibly core values is not a uniquely new problem.