Stop Signs
As I was driving on unfamiliar streets on a recent trip, I thought about how much I rely on other drivers to follow the same traffic rules that I do. I assume, as I approach a 4-way stop, that almost all of the time, the other cars will also stop and let whoever got there first go through in an orderly manner. I realize I still have to look both ways and check, but I have a fair degree of confidence that I will be safe if I proceed as I have been taught.
We have certain societal and cultural norms that make life safer and more pleasant. If every car drove at whatever speed the driver wanted, and used whichever lane they liked best, and approached intersections in unpredictable ways, I would be terrified to go out. It helps all drivers, as well as pedestrians and cyclists, to have some predictability in our behavior. For my life so far, this has been a given. People who drive have to pass a written and a road test and have a valid license to operate safely in a community. While not 100% reliable, and while there are some bad drivers who are inattentive or under the influence of alcohol or illness, these are the exceptions.
Likewise, air safety relies on pilots understanding and obeying air traffic controllers. If planes tried to take off and land wherever and however they chose, air travel would be extremely unsafe and impractical. .jpg)
But now, with the Trump administration in office, many of my assumptions about societal norms have been challenged. I thought it was not acceptable to use certain words in public, especially if one is a public figure. When I see the president saying “F* you” to a heckler, and then White House press office saying it was an appropriate response, it bothers me. I could go through a litany of norm-shattering incidents in the past year, from Cabinet officers lying to members of House and the Senate during formal hearings; to pardoning convicted violent criminals and drug smugglers; to removing historically accurate information from official websites and museums; to destroying public health protections and undermining safe medical practices.
The current administration is so far removed from the realities of day-to-day life that they can’t see the damage they are doing. The president’s motorcade can ignore traffic signals. He travels in an armored limousine with Secret Service vehicles surrounding it. He doesn’t have to worry about someone running a red light. When Air Force One or the government planes used by senior officials take flight, they get priority over everyone else and can operate on their own schedule and with their own rules. They don’t have to endure flight delays or circling an airport waiting for a gate to become available.
Each individual act has consequences that I don’t like. Together they undermine our fundamental societal structure. Our governmental system operates based, in principle, on the people giving consent to chosen individuals to wield power on our behalf – of the people, for the people. When those in power recognize or fear that the people no longer consent or support the actions they are taking, they resort to lying, misinformation, withholding files, stonewalling court orders, and ultimately violence against citizens, in order to hold onto the power they were initially granted. This is very dangerous.
And so, on MLK Day, I express gratitude to all who are standing up for what is real, for what is right, and using what power and privilege we have to push back on these dangerous behaviors, policies, and practices. We still have power. We need to use it to vote, but that isn’t enough. We need to step up now, to keep stepping up now, before it gets worse. Kudos to those in frigid Minnesota who are resisting illegal ICE kidnappings and violence. Kudos to all of us who have stood on street corners with signs and slogans and chants. Kudos to all who have been able to provide funding to legal resistance efforts and to provide food and support to families impacted by ICE raids. We need to keep it up, make it bigger, and just say “NO” as loudly as we can to so-called leaders who are putting their personal insecurities, dementia, power lust, and egos above the needs of the people they purport to serve. May it be so.
February is Black History Month. It’s sad, but true, that although Black history is American history, it has not been taught at all adequately. As a result, in order to tell our complicated national story, we need to bring special attention to the role of Black Americans. Eliminating the idea of a special Black History month does not erase the unpleasant racist aspects of our history, nor the many contributions of Black leaders.
One of our founding principles is that all men are created equal. Historically, this principle has not been implemented equitably. White male landowners were the first people to have power in our new republic. Over time, rights were extended to women and to formerly enslaved people. To compensate for decades of discrimination, when opportunities for education, housing, financial credit, and employment were closed to non-white and non-male citizens, programs have been developed to help everyone get to a relatively equivalent starting point. The idea is inclusion – letting everyone have a chance. Allowing previously excluded groups into mainstream society doesn’t take away from those who already have a seat at the table. DEI programs don’t guarantee that anyone will succeed. Success depends on an individual’s capabilities, ambition, and performance. But they have to get to the starting line in order to compete.
It is not a new idea. But it matters now more than ever. WE THE PEOPLE hold the power. We can run for office, we can educate ourselves about who is running for office at every level – school boards, local government, all the way up the chain. We can get involved in political party bureaucracy and try to influence the choices of who runs and who gets funding and other types of support.
There may not be many Republicans who read this blog, but I wish there were more courageous Republicans who would work to take back the reins of their party. It would be good for the country to have a diversity of viewpoints within the fundamental framework of our constitutional democracy. How can we engage and empower all eligible voters to have their views and values represented and their rights protected? We need to offer more choices across the political spectrum. I’m not anti-Republican as I used to understand the Republican Party. I disagreed with many of their positions, but as President Biden said in the State of the Union address, “you can’t love your country only when you win.” I’m proud to have been a civil servant in both Democratic and Republican administrations in my years in Washington.
What to do? It takes leadership and time to move us into more productive waters. We first need to do everything possible to make voting safe and secure; to support and protect election officials who are essential in performing this sacred duty. Then we need to encourage and support good candidates from both parties who demonstrate integrity and a commitment to serve for the common good, not for personal power.
Help register people to vote. Offer to work at voting centers. Join a civic organization and learn about the role of different offices and work to elect people you trust. Donate money to candidates and organizations that are working to promote your views and values. Among other things, I have written over 3000 postcards to voters across the country in elections at all levels of government to encourage them to vote. It is vital to VOTE in every election you are eligible for. You vote is your voice. It matters. For the sake of my granddaughter, I have to believe it’s not too late!
I have advanced degrees in political science. I believe in a representative democracy as the best form of government, and a well-regulated private sector as the best economic system. But these things depend on people engaging in the political system constructively. Take a position, present it, run for office or if you’ve already been elected, offer it up as legislation. If there is support and you get elected, or if your proposal gets enough votes to pass, then we all accept that outcome as reflecting the majority will. If you run a business and you operate within our society, taking advantage of publicly-funded infrastructure, public safety services, public education, environmental health standards, etc., then you have an obligation to share some of the profits from your enterprise to ensure that such systems continue to serve into the future. And we, as a society, have the responsibility for ensuring that your economic activities don’t cause harm to your workers or the communities in which you operate. Our system should not, as it unfortunately does now, privatize profits while imposing costs to be born by the public.
It’s tax time, and I think we need to understand that our tax payments are an investment in a well-run public sector (some of which operates well today, and some of which is in need of significant reform). Without an effective government, we would not have measurement standards, for example. I could claim that my package weighs a pound whether or not it conformed to an official definition of a pound, and you, as a consumer, would have no way of knowing. You could not enforce a contract without a court system to hold signatories accountable. I could make a competing product using your corporate name and logo if there were no trademark protections. All of these things matter.
If we only apply the laws that we like, and if we spew lies and make threats against the legal system when they hold people accountable who we want to protect, we damage our whole society. We know there are imperfections everywhere. We know that systemic bias exists. It has been well documented. We need better education and systemic reforms that are based in reality – not imaginary problems created by space lasers or dead people. Everyone’s rights deserve to be equally protected. There is much work that is needed. Violence is not the answer.