Posts will continue to be sporadic, but I feel compelled to make them.
My first reaction to the last general election was to despair. To run. To hide.
But I have not only my own children to think of, as they start their adult journeys, but the lives of my students and their families.
Not everyone is a good person — and the election and first few days of a new administration has proved it.
However, I do believe that most people are kind at heart, that we want the same things for our families: sound shelter, enough food, an education that helps us get our jobs, and jobs that fulfill not merely a paycheck but let us live as our best selves.
I am struggling to find the right way to approach what I see coming. I am struggling to know how far to go, how much to say (or write), how much I should push myself on various things like seeking to maintain my teaching certification and political action. My health prevents me many times from being physically present, but I am increasingly upset by the lack of response to my letters and other written communications.
One thing I have chosen to do is to not read articles or watch TV that features or discusses the appallingly self-serving and vulgar administration. That feeds into the narcissism — these are people who confuse notoriety for fame, and bullying for power. I shall not mention their names on this website. If our systems works (as I continue to hope it will — I still hope that the Republican party will backtrack on many of their threats against the working poor and immigrants), then the Constitution will guide us toward removal of those who threaten our posterity.
Thus, I am fearful — and also hopeful. At some point, the hatred and mistrust that is being sown by politicians and their sycophants will result in either massive devastation to our nation and the world; or the resultant backlash in the next election cycle (unless they find a way to circumvent elections…) will allow more positive change again. Possibly – and increasingly likely – there will be world-wide chaos once again. We are already seeing so much.
But I am also seeing increasing contacts being made by people who are working for positive results. I know that the Constitution provides strong guidance, and expect that our local work will yield strength. There is hope, if people of good will band together and say, with a unified voice: NO to tyrants, YES to compassion. The world has survived tyrants, war-mongering, and protectionism before. We can still restore peace and prosperity.