What We Do Next.
G has developed an attitude that, as a parent, I find a bit disturbing but as a human, I find totally relatable. I was watching out the window yesterday as a group of men changed the tire on a car. The car was on the road, in the snow and slush. The jack, also on the snow, had raised the tire considerably higher than I would consider necessary. In my opinion, this warranted observation in the event that either the car or the jack slipped, endangering those changing the tire. I stood by, ready to call 911 should anything happen. I casually mentioned my concern to G, who responded with a callous-sounding “Not my problem.”
“Not my problem.” This wasn’t the first time I’d heard those words come from his mouth. What I’ve taken the statement to mean is something along the lines of, “Dad, I’m in the middle of a game. Don’t bother me if it’s not really important.” When he’s focused on something, he hates being distracted. I get it.
What I worry about is that attitude becoming a part of his worldview. There are already too many people who, upon hearing about the LA fires and the tragedies there, respond with, “Not my problem.” They had the same response when hurricanes ripped apart North Carolina last fall. Wars in Gaza and Ukraine? “Not my problem.” The world is going to hell. “Not my problem.”
‘Not my problem’ leads to an isolationist perspective that is dangerous. There has never been a time when it was safe to show no concern for anything or anyone outside yourself. If there is famine in one place, we must be concerned about feeding the people and solving the issue that led to the famine. Why? Because famine leads to disease and diseases spread quickly and easily outside the famine area. Why do we care if Russia invades Ukraine? Because if Russia succeeds in one place, it will quickly move on to another, such as Poland, and then another and another until it achieves world domination that benefits no one. Why do we care about Gaza? Because of the fact that should Israel get its way, an entire ancient and valuable people group could be completely and irrevocably destroyed.
Our entire civilization continues to exist because people care about the condition of other people. We have hospitals because people care. We have medicines and vaccines that work because people care. We have multiple modes of transportation because people care. When humans stop caring about anyone other than themselves, civilization collapses completely.
Does the attitude of one 16-year-old boy deeply engrossed in his video game put the world at risk? No, not at all. But the attitude of an entire nation that is only concerned with the wealth of 0.1% certainly does.
Monday begins the six-week celebration of humanity known as Maha Kumbh Mela. The Hindu sacred event draws over 400 million people to a sacred river. Hindus believe that taking a dip in the river secures their salvation, but all around the event, parties, and parades are celebrating the wonderfulness and spirituality of humanity. This is an amazing celebration of people who care about their souls, their neighbors, their country, and their beliefs. Mardi Gras, by comparison, doesn’t come close to the size and scope of Maha Kumbh Mela.
We need events that celebrate who we are. We need to be reminded on a regular basis that we do not struggle through this world alone. We need to remember that despite differences in our beliefs, where we live, and how we appear, we are still all one humanity, a fraternal gathering of both success and failure, an ecological system that supports growth and learning.
If a car falls on the person changing a tire, that’s my problem. If fire leaves over 100,000 people homeless, that’s my problem. If the price of coffee keeps going up, that’s really my problem. I don’t live in a bubble and neither do you. Exactly what we can do in any given situation might be limited, but we can always do something.
The Broadway musical, ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying‘ has a wonderful take on the whole topic and I think it’s an appropriate way to end this morning’s post. Me, I’ve got you, and you, you’ve got me.
Monday, January 20, 2025
Hell Freezes Over.
Today begins a different reality. Today, Democracy takes a back seat to Oligarchy. Today, people celebrate evil intentions. Today, one’s skin color can get them arrested. Today, science and education are the enemies of higher stock prices. Today, Americans reject the qualities that once made the country great. Today, the media makes a hard pivot to prevent becoming the target of retribution. Today, one has to do the fact-checking for themselves. Today, we stop being the country our forefathers envisioned. Therefore, it is appropriate that this morning much of the continental US wakes up to polar temperatures and life-threatening windchill. We elected to go to hell and it has frozen over.
When I took the dogs out at 7:00 this morning, the air temperature was -1F. The wind blew from the North across frozen snow, creating a windchill of -11F. I could feel my mustache freezing on my face. The dogs, who had snuggled closely all night, were quick to take care of business and quite happy to come back inside. There were no birds singing this morning. As our blue-collar neighbors left for work, no one had their music turned up loud, no one was speeding through the intersection, and no one bothered to wave. The tight grip of the polar vortex leaves everyone looking for warmth and struggling to find it.
Already this morning, President Biden has made the unprecedented move of issuing preemptive pardons to retired Gen. Mark Milley, Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and Adam Schiff to protect them against retribution from the incoming administration. This isn’t normal. In a peaceful transition of power, there’s no reason to worry about becoming a political target for legal action. Only in a country preparing to yield to a dictator are such pardons necessary.
The country we face this morning is not one our children want handed down to them. In the midst of yesterday’s temporary TikTok outage, Tipper came to me with a video excerpted from last year’s Congressional hearings into the social media app. In it, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton ‘grills’ TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi. Here’s the clip:
Now, people who’ve been watching for a time understand that the entire Arkansas congressional delegation is like a herd of orange cats: they share a single brain cell and Senator Cotton never gets a turn at using it. This was Tipper’s first introduction to the nonsense, however, and as we watched the clip together she asked, “Who the fuck elected this idiot that doesn’t even know Singapore is not in China?” Our 14-year-old, who enabled a VPN on her own yesterday, understands that what is happening is bad news for the future of the US and she’s expecting those of us old enough to vote to do something about it. “You need to find a solution,” she warned.
After all the noise and protesting, few people in the US are paying any attention as prisoners are being released in Gaza and Israel. Instead, we’re all bracing for the impact of the Felonious Punk’s sweeping executive orders, which he says he’ll issue this afternoon. Believe it or not, there was a time when executive orders were rare. Prior to President Grant’s administration, executive orders were rarely used and only for limited White House purposes. While FDR holds the record at 3,721 (most related to WWII), President Biden has issued comparatively few, less than anyone since Grover Cleveland’s second term. The idea of coming into the office ready to issue 100 orders or more deliberately and maliciously demonstrates the president’s desire to bypass the role of Congress in establishing laws.
Here’s the thing: while federal employees are bound to follow executive orders as if they are law, the rest of us don’t. Executive orders are limited by the Constitutional reach of the Executive Branch. States can defy them. Cities can defy them. You and I can, and should, defy them. We do not have to be complicit in this rush toward dictatorship. We have choices and we are duty-bound as citizens to exercise them.
As chaos unfolds in DC, the rest of the world’s rich and powerful are gathering in Davos, Switzerland for their annual conference on how to run the world. According to Oxfam, billionaires’ wealth grew three times faster in 2024 than the year before. The wealthier billionaires become the more poverty the rest of us experience. With poverty comes disease and hunger. Along with the poverty comes a feeling of helplessness.
The good news: there are more of us than there are of them. We hold more power than any of us realize. All it takes is one nationwide strike to bring the powerful to their knees. We’ve been loathe to do that for fear that our 401Ks would suffer, but my friends, your 401Ks are meaningless if we allow the creation of an economy that won’t let you retire. We’re almost at that point already. There is absolutely no reason to not kick the stilts out from under the economy and take the country, and the world, back for people who are in the true majority.
I, for one, refuse to cooperate with the incoming administration. I’m not watching anything to do with the inauguration. I won’t cooperate with any executive orders. I won’t ‘turn in’ neighbors whose citizenship might be questionable. I won’t out people who fall anywhere on the LGBTQIA spectrum. I will support the use of alternative fuels. I will encourage those who defy this government. I will resist, dissent, and deny any unreasonable use of power by any government agency.
What about you? Are you willing to take a stand or will you roll over and play dead?
What the world needs now are more badgers and fewer possums.
Share this:
Like this: