Hammer and Sickle

The power hungry

Warning - politics. Individually - I am pretty liberal. But — I am a student of history and I am a strong believer in our constitution and institutions. I am worried.

Ideology and power are interesting things. Lenin and Trotsky, I think, were mostly true to their ideology. They may have been misguided, misled or just way off base but my impression while studying the origin of Communism (wow, 30 years ago!) is that they really believed in anarchy, communism and the good it would do for the masses. The leaders that followed in the following years… not so much. They were more into power. More into using an infrastructure, exploiting a system to establish and maintain their own power. Stalin even went so far as to kill Trotsky (it took several attempts) due to his idiologic rants - even though he was half a world away. Crazy, right? I read most of Trotsky’s autobiography when I was in college. Perhaps the most fascinating autobiography I have ever read.

Much like the communists and nazis, Mussolini used an idiology to raise up and empower the masses in Italy. When riled, the masses can contribute great power. When riled, especially in a country like ours where votes do actually matter (for now), a minority can come to power simply by voting ~ should the rest be apathetic or unaware of the danger.

I will not claim that the assasination attempt on our former president T was planned or staged. It could well have been one individual doing what he thought needed to be done. But it is a dream scenario for those riling the masses. It will be used to no end and it will push the extremism further. The riled masses will remain a minority. But - EVERY SINGLE ONE will vote. They will, out of passion in their beliefs, also do whatever they can to keep others from expressing themselves. Many - doing so because they believe in their idiology - their religion - whatever you want to call it. Their belief may be strong but it is probably not what they think it is. Unforunately, if they win, I think we will all find out very quickly just how power hungry the spin doctors are and they will no longer need their riled up masses. They will simply act with the power they’ve accumulated.

Generally, we are a well educated nation. Those that choose to listen to logic and reason will not give in, but those that listen to logic and reason are sometimes apathetic… content in their systems. Overconfident in how things work and the things that were written back in the late 1770s that have been established and they believe protect their way of life. They are, in truth, ephemeral, and need to be protected, modified and treated as a living document. It has been stagnant for too long.

About 10 years ago I thought the 99% were finally going to rise up and take control and realize that we could do better. We could take control from the 1%, rewrite some rules and make it better. Make it better especially for the lowest 20%. Start working to genuinly slow our climate issues. We have the power. We could do it. I was sadly disappointed.

Now a special group in the 1% has slowly and surely manipulated our system to their advantage. They have manipulated a portion of the 99% with promises and extrapolations. If we are not careful. If we do not get out and show we care, the riled masses will overwhelm us and there may be no going back. No going back politically. No going back environmentally. Even here, there is a tipping point and those in power, those with wealth, do have the ability to write the rules.

Please do not think that our systems are infallable. They were created by humans. They are run by humans. Sometimes those humans use even brilliantly designed systems in unforeseen ways to do evil things that are hard to imagine. We are on the cusp of … well, I’m more worried than I was during the cold war… let’s just say that.

…as an aside. Manipulation is rampant. The voices we hear pushing our president to do this or do that in his own efforts… ask yourself where those voices are coming from? Who…what… has placed those thoughts in our minds? B has been a solid president. I would gladly take 4 more years run by B and his crew. When B ran years and years ago we said many of the same things about him - yet he has done pretty well - by my book. He’s just the same guy, older. He has strengths. He has weaknesses. Do we really want to make a hasty decision/change? We knew what we had years ago. B is consistent, in my mind. Perhaps the other side actually wants us to change and is playing the game they are so good at? Don’t desparage the members of your team. Now is the time for unity. Strength. While I love the idea of voting FOR what you want. I have voted FOR many losing things. Many many losing things. I think this… this one time… it’s worth voting AGAINST what you really really don’t want. Even with a win, if it is close - it may very well be just like a loss. A landslide is needed. Be a part of the landslide.

…as another aside. I’m not big on using an evil body’s own methods against them. Do good, be good. Show that they are evil - but do not let it rule you. Do not let it modify your own behavior lest you absorb that evil into yourself and become it. Show your love. Show your empathy.