Political Anger

I posted a link from my phone, before I finished reading it, because the article was so timely and relevant. There's a lot of good stuff there, a lot to unpack, and I decided to go ahead and log on to talk about it. You know, on a PC where I can use a keyboard to type... so  this can be a bit more in depth than what I'd do from my phone.

The driving force was this paragraph, right here:

When people believe that social institutions are functioning, they’re much less likely to feel vengeful urges. One study, for instance, found that when laid-off workers believed firings were handled fairly—that a process was adhered to, that seniority was respected, that worker evaluations were properly considered—they were less likely to protest or complain, even if they disagreed with the outcome. Alternately, if workers believed that managers were playing favorites or manipulating the rule book, sabotage was more likely. “Think about presidential elections,” Tripp said. “Every four years, roughly half the nation is deeply disappointed. So why don’t they get out their pitchforks? Because as long as they believe it was a fair fight, they tolerate losing. But when both the process and the outcome seem unfair, that’s when we see riots.”

This is what makes me pay very close attention every time voter fraud - or similar unfair systemic manipulation - is mentioned. Such allegations have the potential to truly destroy our system, but covering them up makes things worse... opens up the potential for further allegations that the system is unfair. They have to be handled openly, transparently, and with a result that is seen as understandable and (mostly) fair. That we followed the proper process, and that it wasn't just a matter of who had the political pull to get away with something.

That is, to my mind, the big challenge of our day and age. We, the public, have grown disheartened and disillusioned with our system. There's all sorts of things going into it, and different people will point to different elements. The recession, and it's impact on an entire generation as they graduated from college... and the belief that the system is no longer working for them, that they can work hard and go to college and still wind up struggling and drowning in debt. 9/11, the war on terror, the invasion of Iraq. The rise of Fox News, the movement towards 'infotainment' and 'truthiness'. Injustices you can point to, based on political affiliation... from Clinton's e-mails to Trump's collusion with Russia.

I know at least a little about US history. I know there is no perfect 'ideal' world where things worked. Hell, the very first shift in power involved one newly formed party trying to pack the judiciary. Election days used to be big old drunken brawls, and many of those involved couldn't even vote. That's not even discussing the party bosses, and backroom deals. Still, our system has somehow muddled through for a couple of hundred years, and people have (mostly) believed that we can fight for change within the system. That it may be long, and hard, and agonizingly slow, but you can build the support you need for whatever you want. The Civil Rights movement, constitutional amendments, etc.

That is what gerrymandering endangers. That belief, that trust. That is why every article discussing the discrepancy between the popular vote and electoral outcomes is so important. Not to say that they need to be aligned, our system comes with some roadblocks designed to keep us from shifting too fast with every change in public opinion... but there's a difference between a few delays because of built in checks and balances, and a complete impossibility of working within the system because foolish politicians tried hard-coding things in their favor.

Something has stuck in my mind for, I dunno, over five years now? I have a friend I try to visit at least once a year, though due to circumstances it's been longer than that since I last saw her. Anyways, I remember talking with her husband about something-or-other, and he expressed a complete lack of faith in the system. He felt it was too far gone, too corrupt, too much of a mess... that it was impossible to fix it from within anymore.

I don't like that attitude. I've generally been a believer in change from within, and using the tools we've been given. But I have to admit it's been harder and harder to hold on to that faith. And, unfortunately, a lot of others seem to feel the same way.

I dunno, like I said... I know at least a little about our history. I know that there's always been struggle, and that success often comes just when things look their worst (and perhaps this article helps explain why?)

What I also know is that we live, as the alleged ancient Chinese curse says, "in interesting times". I'd probably feel more confident about what that meant if I saw any indication that the leaders of this society - political, business, and others - showed some sort of collective wisdom, but unfortunately far too many of them seem keen on illustrating just how different intelligence can be from wisdom.

Evil, Justice, Hitler, Etc

I should be asleep.  Given that I've been waking up at 4am for work, I've been trying to go to bed by 8pm.  But I started a good book today - In the Garden of Beasts, and I realized that if I didn't type this out I would be composing it in my head instead of sleeping.

In the Garden of Beasts is written by the same guy who did The Devil in the White City, which I definitely recommend.  This time, he is writing about what the American Ambassador to Germany and his daughter witnessed during Hitler's consolidation of power. 

It's fascinating, because instead of using what we now know happened with Hitler, Erik Larson is using the letters and notes of these individuals at the time they were there.  In other words, you get a better sense of why the things we know in hindsight weren't so obvious at the time.

What's fascinating is that something normally a good trait (i.e. our willingness to suspend judgement, to assume that there are mitigating factors, etc) can be used to fool us. 

There are people who are trying to warn everyone - the Ambassador, his daughter, the world - that Nazi Germany is rearming, is intent on starting a war, and is serious about coming up with a 'Final Solution' i.e. killing off all the Jews.  And yet so many people didn't want to believe it, or didn't see it, or were able to dismiss certain rumors and stories because things looked so normal and they didn't see it themselves.

And yet we don't normally want people to accept rumors and hearsay.  Don't really want people to assume the worst and act on it.  That can create dangers all their own.

In a way, it reminds me of other things.  Of the unwillingness to believe someone would sexually harrass another.  The unwillingness to believe the police have a history of acting badly towards minorities.

Yes, there's a danger in assuming someone is guilty without a real investigation.  There's a danger in publicly shaming or harming the innocent, simply because people believe things they hear.

And yet there's also a danger in assuming people couldn't possibly fill in the blank.

Which kind of brings me to the notion of justice.  Difficult though it is to be unbiased, and to get true justice, the attempt to get the facts and truly figure out what happened or is happening is necessary.  Critical, even.

Otherwise, its just a matter of who has the power to get what they want.