A New Civil War

The American Civil War of 1861-1865 cost the U.S. over 600,000 lives, roughly 2% of the population. The American South was economically devastated, and America's absence from global economics led to expanded colonization in Africa and Asia. Arguably that is a broad summary statement that ignores a multitude of nuances but this is not about a history lesson on the Civil War. I am concerned for my country because I see the same polarization and identity fixation that led to the American Civil War. In the last week I have read/hear a couple of items that disturb me. Sean Hannity's show is increasingly claiming the "liberal left" is planning a coup. Senator Ted Cruz's latest fundraising letter claimed a liberal takeover. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick claimed that the "left" wants a state income tax. To be sure, there is vitriol on the left. There are lots of 25th Amendment talks that are counterproductive and the Trump hate - which I totally get - ignores the issues in Congress and at the state level. Anti-fascists are destructive anarchists. Although I would suggest that the Tea Party cohorts of Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are anarchists too, the are just the computer virus within the system instead of the baseball bat destroying the unit. Ultimately, this polarization makes Americans hate one another and that never ends well - see the American Civil War. Those of us who are just the average American need to reject that kind of talk.Turn off Hannity. Reject Cruz and Patrick. Ignore Louise Mench. Hold liberals accountable, such as when Johnny Depp joked about assassination or when Hillary disparages a huge swath of America as "deplorable". That is not excusable. We in the middle - socially, politically, economically - must create a dynamic environment and HOLD OUR POLITICIANS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WELFARE OF AMERICA. Wanting accountability does not make me or you a part of a coup d'etat! That is our system of government. And our government is doing things and planning policy that is not sound and is backward thinking, regardless of where you are on the political spectrum. We can massage how much government and how to use taxes and how to apply taxation and regulation but those are the characteristics of government. Our government has social responsibilities to the unborn, the elderly, children, women, those who lose their jobs, veteransm and much more. A democracy is about different viewpoints and challenging viewpoints. Anyone who suggest that First Amendment protesting or free press is a coup d'etat needs to go back to school. Likewise, anyone who supports extreme nationalization needs to go back to school. We are facing a challenging century, just as the late 19th century was challenging. We can take the easy road and hate one another or pull together and face this head on. It will be confusing, complicated, and messy. But triggering hate for one another is wrong. "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Institutions: What are they good for?

I've been thinking a lot about institutions. The institution of marriage. Religious institutions. Educational institutions. Social institutions. Government institutions. Most people praise and honor institutions in the abstract but not when they interfere with personal desire. Take for instance marriage; most people feel marriage is a sacred institution. How many people voted for Trump because of the SCOTUS position and the dissonance of the Obergefell ruling (gay marriage)? Yet, half of marriages (hetero ones) end in divorce. The abstract of marriage is sacred; but half of us recognize it isn't as simple or desirable as that. Take religion; most people label themselves as "spiritual" and want the right to go to church, whether or not they actually go. Religious values matter, right? Be nice. Love one another. Give to charity. Except for when we are anonymous, when we can be rude or snide. And don't forget when religion becomes a club, a cultural hallmark that has nothing to do with spirituality or Jesus, God, Allah, Buddha, or whatever. In this case, we honor the "church" as a religious institution but we have trouble identifying which churches fit that and what the appropriate institutional members look like. Each person thinks it looks like theirs and not someone else's, as though it is a label one can purchase or a badge you can earn. Educational and social institutions, like schools and clubs and communities, are important. Except the voucher movement and online education are fracturing what the educational institution looks like. The same can be said for Facebook and Twitter fracturing the social institutions. If I can take my property taxes to any school or if higher education is out of reach for many then is education even an institution? Politicians control much of what we teach anyway, so it might legitimately just be an extension of the state. Social institutions of all types are collapsing - malls, social clubs, political organizations. Kid participate in competitive sports over community sports and mom and dad shop online rather than shopping together. We can't even go to the pharmacy without alcohol being sold, so almost every social occasion is lubricated and intoxicated. (Some religious groups excepted of course, but see the previous paragraph....) Government institutions include local, state, federal levels as well as the three federal branches (executive, legislative, and judicial). Also included is the right to vote and the right of free speech/free press and the right to jurisprudence. Read any news story or talk politics for 5 minutes and the damage to our perceptions of a government for the people, by the people, and of the people is shocking. Citizens were so disgusted in November of 2016 they just skipped voting. Skipped it. Or skipped the primaries that chose the final two candidates. Or maybe life just got in the way - I won't say every person skipped voting out of protest. That is self reflection and not for me to point fingers. We do know that voter ID laws and gerrymandering have skewed the right to vote and now POTUS wants an election commission. POTUS wants to limit the press and most people ridicule the media, rightly and wrongly, but never promote accountability or praise. The poor and people of color know that the law works against them. Red states are attacking blue cities and the federal government can't even agree if we need access to health care. (Cue Marie Antoinette "Let them eat cake" or as John Cornyn said, "Let them choose not to have healthcare".) Citizens do not trust nor do the believe in their government to act FOR them. So if all of these institutions are failing then what are they good for? Do we want them as a society or no? I think this is a legitimate question to ask ourselves. As much as I would like to slap a big TRUMP on this decay, it started a long time ago. Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers? McCarthyism? 1929? I am not sure when we forgot to pledge our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor to each other in favor of the pursuit of happiness but somehow we got things mixed up and our institutions suffered for it. We better decide pretty quickly what they are good for and stand up for them without fear and without recrimination based on a foundation that strengthens institutions not weakens them.

What really matters anymore?

It all started with Bill Clinton's "what is the definition of is" and "I did not have sexual relations with that woman". There is no right and wrong, only the legality of black and white. (Unless you are black, in which case....well, that's another blog.) The irony is that the party of values that trashed the Democrats for two decades over the fuzzy meaning of words now find themselves in the same situation. Is it collusion to want to win? What politician doesn't play dirty to get elected? Did he really break the law? These are the same mental gymnastics Democrats went through with Bill Clinton, and this points to the problems with Hillary. But enough about the 2016 election - they both sucked and both are corrupt. But let's just admit that. The Trumps are as crooked as Hillary just differently. Stop apologizing, stop defending, stop justifying. Tell Kellyanne just to admit "Yeah, they are douches. But they won." Let's just call a spade a spade (back to the black and white concept). So the Trumps are corrupt, just as the Clintons are. As a teacher, how do I encourage kids to "do right"? Don't bully. Don't lie. Don't steal ideas and call them your own. Don't touch people who don't want to be touched. Don't make fun of those less fortunate. Don't use your position (with wealth, with social status, with opportunity) to hurt or limit others. Yeah, all of that is bullsh** now. (Pardon the language - but even that doesn't matter anymore.) Get what you can. Steal what you can. Lie what you can. Hurt who you can. That is politics now, and it is society too. This is what makes me sad. Nothing really matters anymore. Not right, only might. May I suggest that we all watch Richard Harris in the musical "Camelot"? We have become a modernized middle ages where the nobility run over the peasants and the peasants bow and scrape. What really matters anymore? Obviously, most of us hold our family dear and that takes most of our attention. We have jobs. We have bills. We have kids, grandkids, or furry animals that depend of us. The temptation to retreat into that is strong especially in the national environment of anything goes. Except it doesn't. Right is right, not might, not wealth. Yes, Democrats AND Republicans are responsible. Ethics has been obscured by legalities. Jesus came to cast aside the law. We can safely hold to "what is right" not what is legal. I don't care if you believe in small government or big. If you believe in regulation or free market. The anathema that faces us right now matters, matters as much as the existence of our country. You and I may differ on policy specifics, but we can both agree what happens now matters. It matters a lot. Take a stand. Draw a line. Raise your voice. Put your Senators and Representatives on your cell phone, local and national offices. (Ted Cruz's office is a joke FYI.) Stand up for what is right.