Letters to the Editor
DCLaw1
Published Letters: 996 Editor's Choice: 2
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Thank you, Glenn
[Read the article: A genuine political sea change?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm glad you share my sentiments. I felt pretty naked and vulnerable stepping out with such an optimistic comment, and wasn't sure how it would be received, if it were even noticed at all. I want to reiterate that I don't say such things lightly, and my feeling comes from both intuition and an abundance of concrete evidence popping up everywhere.
From the events you mentioned in today's post, to the practically innumerable examples of insiders speaking out, corruption being exposed, opposition gaining strength and confidence, and the steady, heavy flow of new revelations literally every week, I think the trend is unmistakable. And, again, it is also psychological. There is something immeasurable happening, permeating people of all political persuasions. I use my super-conservative friend as a sort of canary in the coal mine. He is well-connected to conservative networks, and is unmistakably signaling distress coming from those quarters. I go easy on him personally, as a friend, and also because I think he's himself seeing how out of control things have gotten. Enough about that, though.
I just got done watching for the first time Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room, I think is the name of the documentary. It made me reflect even further on the changing social/political climate. The Enron fiasco is, in so many ways, the corporate counterpart to what has happened and is happening in our government (and it's no small coincidence that the two were so well connected and shared such common goals). Here was a small cadre of men who thought they could outsmart everyone else, manipulate and evade rules in order to pursue radical "big ideas," using immense secrecy and unaccountability, continually rationalizing that they were "on the side of angels," at the enormous expense of everyone around them and, eventually, resulting in their own demise.
That pernicious psychology and sociology, with all of its many, clearly identifiable features, is common to both the Enron bigwigs and the current administration. Not only that, but this mentality has existed literally since the beginning of humanity, embodied in countless historical examples, and will continue to exist for as long as humanity exists. Lest I make it sound entirely evil, however, it does have its place. It is strong and resolute, sure-footed and unyielding -- traits often useful and necessary in certain contexts.
On the other side, however, is the psychology and sociology that we are seeing take resurgence now. It bears the hallmarks of reflection, scrutiny, logic, and restraint, among other characteristics. These polar psychologies and sociologies (one could say yin and yang, I suppose) cannot be trapped by political party or ideology. They exist independent of such smaller things. But often, at different times and in different contexts, parties and ideologies often serve as their "hosts," finding convenience and furtherance in specific vehicles of ideals, ideas, and communities. The two poles, unspoken first principles, form the invisible gravitational force behind so much that we see concretely. Is it pure coincidence that most scientists hold values currently defined as "liberal?" That networks like PBS are not only favored by liberals, but also focus so strongly on the arts and sciences, and slow, no-frills discussions of ideas over ideology? That networks like Fox most heavily use visual and aural demonstrations of power and decisiveness, and fixate so strongly on mainstream faith and institutions of mainstream faith? Examples abound, and too often people fixate on these fingers pointing at the sun, instead of the sun.
I don't want to get too metaphysical (too late?), and I don't want to make it sound like either psychology is absolute and ever exists in pure form without some interweaving of the other (again, like yin and yang). And neither should either psychology exist unbalanced. What we are seeing now, instead, is a gradual restoration of equillibrium of the two in our culture and system. Or, at least, the beginnings of a restoration of equillibrium.
And, as with all things, equillibrium is the only state of progress and true strength. But the first budding shoots on that revitalized tree are reckoning, healing, and justice. May they blossom.
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Anonymous:
[Read the article: A genuine political sea change?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Every Single Republican In America Belongs In Jail
No more fucking compromise and no more surrender.
I want to see the GOP completely discredited, disgraced, deconstructed, defeated, disbanded and destroyed.
Every single Republican alive is a traitor and a war criminal and they should never, ever be allowed to have a voice in our national conversation again.
If you are not being earnest, know that this tactic won't work here.
If, on the other hand, you are being earnest, you actually have far more in common with the people you revile than with this community.
Biggerbox:
The following quote from Thomas Jefferson has helped sustain me in recent years. It now seems more prophetic than merely hopeful.
"...we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles."
I've never seen that quote before, but that is so... just so incredibly good. Precisely what I mean about the timelessness of certain first principles, and how they transcend political party and the home-team mentality.
And thank you to everyone who found resonance with my comment -- yet another cause for hope!