"Do Your Best, with No Expectations!"
Democracy at risk. "There are no sidelines. There's no sitting this one out."
I am a teacher of arts: Teaching the guitar, Tai Chi, and acupuncture have, over my adult life, been both vocation and avocation. Cumulatively, that comes to over 120 years of teaching, and, if I had to distill my message to students into one sentence, it would be “Do your best, with no expectations.” That is the mindset which might best facilitate the student’s perseverance. Genuinely trying hard, with no guarantee of success, is the mostly likely path to success. Given the human ego and busy brain, it’s difficult to achieve, but I believe that it is crucial.
But wait; there’s more…
Here in the United States, we find our democracy, after many years of subtle and blatant attacks by the neo-Fascist movement, in danger of being toppled completely. The image of America that we were sold in school has been severely tarnished in recent years, but I believe our country, in the great scheme of things, has still been a rare moment of democracy and good will over the course of history. Looking back at many empires and governments, it’s clear that the eternal battle between good and evil (evil being defined here as “damaging to the quality a/or existence of human life”) has often been a failed enterprise for those supporting “good” (good being defined as “supporting the greatest amount of freedom and well-being for the greatest number of people”).
My generation has been very lucky. We came of age at the end of McCarthyism, and enjoyed a relatively progressive era until the rise of Trump’s Fascist regime. We then survived his presidency and managed to oust him by popular demand, in spite of insurrection and multiple illegal attempts to overturn a fair and legitimate electoral process.
In the meantime, Trump and his co-conspirators have managed to totally hijack the Supreme Court, and have attained a disruptive minority in Congress. The result is that the balance of powers between the President, the Supreme Court, and Congress, has been largely destroyed. If Trump regains the presidency, we’ll have the Supreme Court continuing to tie itself in knots trying to justify its obviously unjust positions, while Congress continues to be unable to accomplish much of anything, and Trump will be the madman at the helm, who attempts to outdo Adolph Hitler’s legacy of evil.
The next election looms. Texas politician Beto O’Rourke has said, "There are no sidelines. There's no sitting this one out. There is no hoping that someone else is going to come in and save the day. There is no cavalry. We are the cavalry”.
So, where am I going with all of this? What am I saying? Just this:
To all young voters…to all disenfranchised women and people of color, …to all disappointed seniors…to all Americans who still believe in the rule of law, and the democratic principles which underlie our admittedly flawed but well-meant system of government…in this season of political activism:
Well said! We definitely need to be activists in the coming months. It is critical that we get the young voters who feel totally disenfranchised to understand that they're truly are very important reasons to vote in this election even if they are not excited by either candidate.
Thanks, Rolly, for your passionate "call to arms." I agree with your assessment of our history and our current teetering on the edge of fascism. I would add that now is the time to volunteer, speak out, and vote. You can write letters and postcards, phonebank, canvas, compose letters to the editor, and register people to vote, among other choices. There are many excellent organizations to work with, including: Indivisible Philadelphia and its branches; Elders Action Network; Third Act; Vote Forward, and Defense of Democracy (protecting the right to read all books). Get involved and bring your family and friends along. As Rolly and Beto said, there are no sidelines in this election season.