I've been thinking about the contradiction between how amazing humanity is, and how awful. Like... they can create stuff like this, create things that are just mind-blowingly beautiful. Create amazing 30,000 word fanfiction, or professionally published works. Draw things that hang in a museum, or just get shared around on social media...
And at the same time, we can be so very, very stupid. Petty. Spiteful. Shallow.
I am in love with our fascinating contradictions. How we can create stories about Stabby the Roomba. And at the same time, well. Just look at the mess we're living in right now.
I've been thinking a bit about that. Well, okay. Thinking about how the political powers tend to do idiotic things that ruin a lot, making things worse when it didn't have to be that way. (It's funny... conservatives are supposed to be all about believing that there's value in the past and trying to conserve it. Resistant to change, sure. But... Roe vs Wade happened before I was even born. To me, conserving the world I grew up includes preserving that ruling. And I'm not opposed to change, I just don't like change for change's sake. I want to respect the past, and not throw it out without actually thinking about what value it serves... but if throwing it out lets us live in a better now then we should throw it out without hesitation. Like... I talk about 'tools in the kit bag' and whatnot, and the point is that we can make use of whatever we have to in order to build a world where we all have life, liberty, and are able to pursue happiness. I don't like throwing out the past just because, not when it isn't well thought out and just encourages people to be more selfish and petty... but the current forces that label themselves aren't really conservative. They're not conserving. They are trying to radically change things back to a past that either never existed, or was remarkably unfair to a lot of people that deserved better.)
Anyways. Something I've known about my own psychology for a while, as someone who was an officer in the Army and has held leadership positions... and is also the second child in a family of six.
I have never cared about being in charge just to be the one in charge. If there's someone in the group who seems to need to be in charge, well... as long as things are going well enough I won't fight them for it. And by 'well enough', I mean that it's not worth quibbling over stupid things. Like... I don't know. Colors. I have my preferences, but if there's no real need for an invitation to be blue or green or red and someone else has a firm opinion on the matter, that's fine.
But when I've lost confidence in their leadership, when I see them making decisions that harm people... bad decisions when it really matters, well. That's another thing entirely.
There's more to it than that, of course. The military teaches discipline for a reason, and there are very real consequences to having internal division. Subversion, mutiny... those sorts of things can get people killed just as much as someone's poor decision-making.
It's just... you never really lose responsibility for your own actions, saying you were ordered to do something is not enough. And every so often you really have to think about the possible consequences, and what you're willing to live with. There's a reason we insist the military swear an oath to the Constitution, and not loyal to any one person. If you're given an order that's illegal and immoral, you have an obligation to disobey. We don't have blind obedience. Never have, and hopefully never will. Never should.
We complain a lot about how few people vote in the United States. How so many people just tune politics out, and think both sides are the same. In many ways, a lot of the stuff that happens in DC trickles down in ways that we don't immediately connect to elections and politics. Most people just want to earn a decent wage, have food on the table, not feel stressed about whether a medical bill or car repair will make them lose their job or home, be able to get decent presents for the family at Christmas, and maybe get a nice vacation once in a while.
Simple wishes. Sure, everyone wants to be filthy rich... but as long as basic needs are met most people don't want to 'join the rat race', or 'dirty their hands with politics'.
Which generally leaves the politicking to the ones that are okay with doing that. Many of which seem to do it because they want power, and don't show much in the way of wisdom at all. (Which just adds to the perception of slimy, dirty, evil politicians that no decent person would choose to be... thus keeping many decent people from even considering running for office. Note that I'm saying 'many' and not 'all'. Everyone has a unique story of what drove them to do such a thing, some of whom were motivated for the best of reasons.)
This election looks like it's going to have a higher turnout than normal, partly because so many people are realizing that they can't afford to sit it out. That this time the differences really do matter. There is an ugly arrogance to the powers-that-be, who seem to think that they know best. Even as more and more people are struggling just to meet their basic needs. Even as millenials, who haven't been teenagers in a while, are drowning in student debt.
Even as owning your own home increasingly seems like an impossible dream. Even as a major health problem can lead to bankruptcy and poor credit. Even as the middle class continues to shrink while the rich keep getting richer...
And as people who claim that they're doing what God wants have shown over and over again that they apparently don't understand the Bible they claim to revere. Who have decided that they know what's best, so much so that it's okay to undermine our rule of law, undermine our Constitution, undermine all the things that make America great... all because they lack faith.
They complain about how 'liberals have taken over', about college professors and Hollywood movies and political correctness. They think that they are losing, and that they stand for what God wants to have happen...
And here's the thing. If you believe in God, if you have faith, then you will keep doing the right thing... hoping and praying that God will find a way. You might die in the process, you might not see the results yourself, but you are trying to live a good life.
When you decide that, in order to win, you have to justify doing something wrong. That you have to lie, for example. Or that the rule of law doesn't really matter... the you lack faith that doing the right thing is enough.
You don't think you will win if you play by the rules. Don't think you'll win if you're honest and upright. If you argue for what you think is right by saying what you truly believe. You think you have to pull the wool over people's eyes in order to get them to support you.
All of which is a way of saying that you don't believe.
You don't believe you can win any other way. You don't question why you're losing, don't question where you went wrong, don't question what it is that has made people turn away from you or disagree with your arguments. You've decided that you know what's best, and that it's up to you to make it happen.
I do actually have quite a bit of respect for the beliefs and traditions in our major religions. They speak to people for a reason. I know I talked earlier (with Confucianism) about why I care about certain things more, but they are fine traditions that do help a lot of people. (I just prefer having the choice of which ones I believe are worth following. I have no intention of abstaining from pork or beef, for example. But I can respect that people following traditions that demand that are getting value out of doing so. I just think it should be a conscious choice, not blindly following what everyone else is doing just because that's the way it's always been. I can give you some very clear and secular arguments for why killing is bad, stealing is bad, and lying is bad. Why showing respect for our intrinsic humanity is a good thing, though my forms of respect may not be the same as someone else's.)
Anyways. In the process of trying to force everyone to 'do the right thing', you show a patronizing disregard for other people that I think God finds even more offensive. The Koran says that there should be "no compulsion in religion". And yet people keep trying to find ways to force others to do what they consider right.
The terrorists trying to make women wear veils, using violence to dictate what music people listen to and what shows they watch... that's compulsion, and it does even more harm then letting people wear what they want and listen to whatever they choose.
It's no different no matter what beliefs you are trying to impose, whether it's sharia law or the ten commandments.
Trying to subvert our democracy out of the arrogant belief that the vast majority of the American public is somehow wrong, led astray by 'evil' Democrats...
Justifying expedience in pursuit of that goal... it shows a tremendous lack of faith.
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