There is an old saying that it is “always darkest before the dawn.” (Actually the weatherman on my local TV station explained that there are three dawns before actual sunrise, astronomical dawn, nautical dawn and civil dawn). The saying implies that things often must get worse before they get better. It is a message of hope. It is akin to Winston Churchill’s comment, “Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.” Right now we Americans are in the process of exhausting all the other possibilities while awaiting dawn. But unlike Earth’s rotation, dawn for America doesn’t just happen. We have to make it happen.
President Trump is in the process of deconstructing the America that our ancestors built, which has lasted 250 years. Government departments and agencies are being wiped out. Power is being concentrated in the White House while the president attempts to ignore or circumvent the checks on concentrated power that our Founders created. Perhaps that’s not all bad. After 250 years not everything in government was operating smoothly. Some things had to be changed.
It’s like Ben Napier’s favorite day of a renovation project as shown on the HGTV series Home Town. Demolition day. Take down the cabinets, tear down a wall, rip up plumbing. It’s dusty dirty work. Sometimes you need a sledge hammer, other times you need a bull dozer. I think President Trump would prefer the bulldozer. And while Ben can create some nice furniture in his woodshop in Laurel, Mississippi, the overall design of the renovation is done by his wife, Erin. It is her designs and homey touches that makes the renovated home a place that people really want to live in. President Trump is doing a great job of mimicking Ben in his demolition of the antiquated institutions of American democracy but we seem to be lacking an Erin that can make America a place we want to live in.
Joe Biden (or his handlers) also wanted to change America but his renovation project consisted of bolting solar panels onto the rickety structure, turning off the A/C, yanking out the gas stove and painting it all socialist red (not Democrat blue). I don’t know of any show on HGTV that would match these progressive ideas. Perhaps because socialist renovation projects have been tried out many times before but nobody wanted to live in them. Nobody wanted to vote for Joe or Kamala’s American renovation project so that renovation project is on hold at least until the next election.
But a renovation (of America or an old house) is not sufficient. I am reminded of another HGTV television show, Love It or List It, in which Hilary Farr and David Visentin compete to convince a family that they should stay in their old house renovated by Ms. Farr or move to a new house found by real estate agent Visentin. In many of the episodes the old house is a mess but I keep thinking that if you put the featured family in either the renovated house or a new house that whichever house they chose will soon be a mess because the real problem was the people, not the house.
And the same could be said about America. All the problems we face right now were created by us. We are like the people on Love It or List It that made a mess of their home. Reforms to our institutions or even constitutional reforms would be meaningless if we don’t reform ourselves as well. The epithets fly across the social media. It’s the libtards and demorats versus the fascists and deplorables. The anonymity of the Internet has loosened the restraints on proper behavior. We have become inured to the onslaught of insults. The president of the United States blasts progressive’s name calling for the death of evangelist Charlie Kirk while coruscating Democrats and leftists with the most insulting names he can think of.
But this coarseness has cascaded far beyond partisan politics and has infected all parts of our daily lives. I was saddened and depressed by the despicable insults hurled at the visiting team at the recent Ryder Cup golf tournament in Bethpage New York. A beer can thrown by a jerk in the unruly crowd even hit Rory McIlroy’s wife. I used to chuckle at the rowdy behavior of the crowd at the stadium setting of the par-3 16th hole at the Waste Management Open at TPC Scottsdale. It doesn’t seem so funny now. It is as if a toxic infection of rudeness and outrage is spreading across all walks of life in our country. And now the President is going to have a UFC cage match on the White House lawn with a weigh-in at the Lincoln Memorial. We have sunk very low.
I stand up for my beliefs in my commentaries and podcasts and try to avoid insulting or demeaning language. I apologize if every once and a while I slip up. I will try to be better in the future. But we all need to try and be better in the future. Constantly sharing insulting Internet memes will not make America a better place. I only share thoughtful articles that engage the frontal cortex, the center of rational thought, and avoid those that enrage the amygdala, the seat of emotion and anger.
So what can we do about all this anger that is tearing us apart? The first thing I recommend is to try and get control of yourself. Your anger isn’t going to solve anything. Reposting angry and insulting memes won’t convince anybody. It is just preaching to the choir and meanwhile clogging up social media. The chemicals in your amygdala will be flowing juicily and you might get other people on both your side and the other side to fire up their amygdala but the amygdala is built for fight or flight. It isn’t designed for rational decision making.
A few years ago I joined a group called Braver Angels whose website says “is leading the nation’s largest cross-partisan, volunteer-led movement to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our democratic republic.” Braver Angels has 124 “alliances” around the country and is growing rapidly and I highly recommend that you consider finding out if there is an alliance near you. But there are many other groups that are also trying to address these issues. Columbia University’s International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolutionprovides a resource center that lists many more of such civic groups.
Even if you don’t join such a civic group, you need to diversify your news sources. My go to news source is the Wall Street Journal but it is very expensive (I also am aware that it leans conservative). I also used Drudge Report as a news aggregator but it has been trending toward the yellow press of news sources that engage the amygdala so I am using it less now. A friend recommended a new aggregator called 1440 that takes a more rational and less sensational approach. So far so good. I avoid news sources like Occupy Democrats and Christina Aguayo News. Be careful about using news aggregators, some are owned or located offshore and some have been accused of using AI generated content.
You need to vote in primary elections and not just in general elections. Primary elections are where the radical bases get their radical candidates nominated, leaving centrists and moderates only bad options in the general elections. You also need to vote in your local and school board elections. Keep in mind that the teachers running for your local school board are probably members of the teachers’ union with which the school board must negotiate. Big conflict of interest there.
And finally, Thanksgiving is coming up. Forget about politics and love your family. Who cares if Uncle Joe is red or blue. He’s still Uncle Joe. And then maybe we will see a little glimmer of light of the coming dawn.