With the New Year approaching I am asking myself what I
want to do as 2017 marches on. I want to
exercise more, lose weight, eat better – who doesn’t? I want to open my mind and make sure that I
am not living in the echo chamber that I accuse others of living in. There are decent, reasonable and clear
thinking Conservatives. There are loony Liberals who knee jerk their way
through life and add little to the discussion or the movement.
Having said all of that let me say that I am a Liberal –
pure and simple. I am in fact a
Democratic Socialist. I am not
responsible for people who don’t know the difference between Vladimir Lenin and George Bernard Shaw. I am unwilling to take responsibility for
people who can’t or won’t understand the evolution of Socialist thought from
pure Marxism to the Fabian Movement to the Socialist Workers/Labor Party and on
to the modern day Democratic Socialist as represented by the philosophy of
Senator Bernie Sanders.
I am not responsible nor will I
apologize; and I will never change. Rooted in the values of Democratic
Socialism is my core value system which can be summed up simply as a devout
belief in social and economic justice.
Nonetheless, I believe that a closed mind is a dead mind; and a dead
mind is useless. Accordingly, I strive
to remember the words of Malcolm X, “I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m
for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and
foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a
whole.”
While I will strive in 2017 to open my mind
and learn from those I don’t agree with, I intend to resist with all my talent
and energy what I perceive to be America’s first Authoritarian/Fascist
Administration. I have sat in the box
and been called out for my opinions by both sides – Right and Left. I can give as good I get, and nothing
infuriates me beyond reason save the self righteous who vilify and demonize me or
anyone else in the name of their Lord.
Firstly, they presume that he is my Lord. He is not.
Secondly, they surmise that because I don’t follow their faith that I
have no faith. That is untrue. Finally, they seem to labor under the delusion
that their snorting and stomping will either shut me up or force me into
compliance. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It has been my observation that these trolls
of God wearing their bigotry like armor and wielding their hate like a sword
are the frontline of Trump’s army. They
are not, however, to be identified with the entirety of his followers; many
millions of which saw the world mushroom into hostile territory as it was watered
by Republican greed and fed Democratic Neo-Liberal bullshit and globalism,
leaving them in the dirt.
When the Trump bubble explodes in their face
- sooner rather than later I suspect - it will be time to approach them with
respect and understanding in the spirit of solidarity. The material point is that the mushroom
nurtured by the Republicans and Democrats will turn deadly poison in Trump’s
hands. It will take a movement of the people, for and by the people, to create
an antidote to save ourselves, our children and our planet.
If we are going to figure out how to fix the
mess we have made, we will have to fix it together. It is just that simple. I don’t often quote the Bible. It isn’t my book, if you take my
meaning. Still, I have read it. Many Pagans do. One passage from “Proverbs” seems relevant:
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
Let us seek wisdom as 2017 marches on.
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