Culture, Politics, Reason, Social Justice, Society, Violence

Silence the Fireworks, Raise our Voices

If we were great, our politicians would put country over party; if we were great, we would have a healthy opposition demanding electoral reform; if we were great, we would have healthcare for all and not let people die simply because they don’t have enough money; if we were great, the wealthy would not have such an inordinate influence on our politics; if we were great, over 30,000 people wouldn’t die from guns each year; and if we were great, we would not have a white supremacist and habitual dissembler as president. Ross Rosenfeld, No Reason to Light Fireworks this 4th of July, The Hill

More info, maps and charts at gunviolencearchive.org

Like Ross Rosenfeld, I’m not looking forward to Independence Day this year. It’s always a mixed bag anyway, the sulfurous clouds of ceaseless and mostly senseless backyard fireworks clogging the air, and sounding unnervingly like the barrages of mass shooting gunfire that have killed nearly 160 people in the U.S. this year alone.

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Compassion, Humanity, Politics, Race, Social Justice, Society

Why the Confederate Cause Should Never Be Celebrated

Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea (of “equality of the races”) ; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. This truth has been slow in the process of its development, like all other truths in the various departments of science. – “Corner Stone” Speech, by Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy – Savannah, Georgia – March 21, 1861

Not an American portrait of which to be proud – Click for NPR story

Whether you believe the cause of the American Civil War was slavery, or economics or the economics of slavery, the Civil War comprises a period in American history that must always be remembered but never celebrated. While there may have been people of integrity fighting for southern independence, the ultimate goal of that independence was neither noble nor of moral integrity. The words of Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, should leave no doubt as to the purpose of the Confederacy, which had nothing to do with heritage and everything to with white supremacy.

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Politics, Reason, Social Justice, Society

Tools for Truth & Action that Matters

“In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and nothing was true… The totalitarian mass leaders based their propaganda on the correct psychological assumption that, under such conditions, one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness.” – Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951

Official White House portraits set the tone.

So Donald Trump is the now the 45th president of the United States; a man who couldn’t be more different on almost every level from the 44th president. There’s enough written about the new president and the potential dangers of his fascist leaning, misogynistic, racist and isolationist views that there’s nothing new I could add here.

Tens of millions of women and men have marched, since the inauguration, and protests roil online and off about cabinet appointments and early administrative actions. And there are also plenty of people who are pleased about our new president.

Either school of thought, however, as well as those in between require vigilance – a willingness to stay informed, to understand the facts of the matters that govern our lives, and to take some meaningful action when governance strays from upholding the Constitution to authoritarianism, discrimination, or otherwise abusing the rights of the governed – the citizens by whom the president is employed.

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