I’d originally planned a fun photography letter for today, but I’ll publish it another time.
In this moment, it’s hard to ignore the point. I am now officially a minority.
I had not, until now, fully accepted that my views of right and wrong, of good and evil, are not shared by most citizens in my country.
I want leaders to be admirable, ethical people. I recognize that no leaders are perfect. Past Presidents have been flawed or entangled. The Bush families’ oil ties impacted policy, Clinton’s abuse of power with Monica would be grounds for termination in many corporations. But now it’s clear that ethical behavior is completely irrelevant to the majority of US citizens. A candidate grabbing pussies, surrounded by a multitude of convicted felons long before he was personally convicted, those are Disqualifications for me, not Qualifications. I want to go in the other direction, and block conflicts of interest and abuses of power like those of Bush and Clinton. I’m in the minority.
Even my view of what Ethics means is not agreed upon by the majority. I don’t believe consensual sexuality (among adults) even fits into the topic of ethics. I’m no more worried about a person’s sexuality than I am about the completeness of a person’s stamp collection or their dish sets. But the majority of people here treat sexuality as a topic of ethics. To many, maintaining a heterosexual, male-dominated appearance matters much more than lying, cheating, taking bribes, discrimination, or using and abusing other people. I’m in the minority.
I believe Good is demonstrated by personal responsibility (owning both successes and failures or mistakes), ethical behavior as described above, generosity, compassion for others, and inclusiveness. I’m in the minority.
I support freedom of religion. I don’t believe that Christians are either good or evil as a group. To me, that’s a huge oversimplification. I believe Good is represented by the behaviors listed in the paragraph above, applied to all people, not just to a limited group. I’m in the minority.
I want the average person to have rights in the face of powerful corporations and wealthy individuals. I’m in the minority.
I want to learn how-to lessons from all over the globe and use the best ideas to help our own country grow and prosper and avoid avoidable calamities like we endured in 2008. Like Canada avoided them. If an excellent idea or process didn’t originate in the US, I’d still like to consider it. I’m in the minority.
I believe global isolationism leads to very bad things. Of course it’s tricky. But putting our heads in the sand universally has never worked out. Luckily we eventually defeated Nazi Germany following our last attempt at isolationism. But it’s clear that, once again, I’m in the minority.
I’m worried that too many of us would have supported Hitler had we been in Germany in the 1930’s. I’m convinced that the majority of citizens here are supporting a similar leader now. Many people scoff at the comparison; I do not. Rather, it seems that many of my fellow citizens would prefer to broadly emulate Hitler’s Germany. Draped in Red, White, and Blue colors.
God help us, I hope I’m wrong.
Until next time,
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Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. George Santayana, 1905.
Thank you Don. Feeling the same way today and it helps to read this. This is my first article I've read from you but I am following you now.