The Madman and the Moral Arc of the Universe: An Epistle

I just finished this email to some friends and family members. I wasn’t planning on using it for this purpose, but maybe, in this hour before we find out where we stand in relation to threats of rendering us parties - unwilling, to be sure - to genocide or not, this may prove helpful for some.

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I know some of you are concerned, perhaps even worried, about the pronouncement of the Occupier in the White House’s words threatening to wipe out an entire country. I know some of you have children and grandchildren, and you’re no doubt wondering what kind of country, what kind of world they’re coming into.

I’m not going to say everything’s going to be fine. I’m not about to assume that nothing’s going to happen. Even if the madman pulls back from the abyss, the heart of what this country was has been forever blackened. 

Idiots will complain that Trump’s erratic and errant words and behaviors will harm the markets, but they overlook what those words and actions actually do. We have not had a moment of genuine peace in this country since he assumed office. He has fomented hatred and division on a scale unseen. There is no “both sides” here. 

It is people who decided that “both sides” are the same who don’t vote and one could say and see that an extensive amount of those elected not to participate. Others likely figured that “there’s no way he’d get elected again, so I don’t need to go to the polls” while others may well have been subject to discouragement by local officials and gerrymandering. But of course, we know that fully a third of registered voters turned out to actively support this madman. The margin was small, but it is significant that many of our fellow citizens are both apathetic and/or cynical and/or subject to obstruction and others are genuinely happy to throw in with a madman who wants to stay out of jail, who wants unlimited power, who hates everyone who doesn’t bend to his will.

This implies that the U.S. suffers from a very deep malaise. Actually, more like a rot.

So I know you’re all wondering where I’m going with this. The same place I usually go. I think you all know me pretty well and maybe even read my ramblings, so you know that I’m going to say, try not to give into despair, but do not turn away. 

Bearing witness does not infer internalizing the ugliness. Bearing witness means watching the unfolding drama with clarity. Yes, it is upsetting and you’d have to be dead not to feel that upset, but first, simply look. Don’t cling to it; but understand that there is an inner strength in everyone (even some of those cynics and among those who formerly supported him) and that is what will stem and turn the tide. 

Which leads me to the second point: you don’t have to do everything. But do something. Contribute to someone who’s running for office on a platform you support, attend a rally, poke around and see if there are any local organized groups that support immigrants or are working to preserve election integrity. Write an op-ed! I’m not the only one here that spews verbiage on the regular! I know some of you have a way with words that makes me wonder how I possibly think I should write!

I know some of you have family members who do community work and I know some of you do, too. That’s the most valuable; you’re already doing the work!

At the Harris County Democratic Party Gala this past January, Beto O’Rourke said that if you have a friend or family member who questions what you hope to accomplish on your own by doing this or that (maybe just filling out petitions, making phone calls to your reps, etc.), well, it’s not about what “I’m” doing. It’s what we’re doing. Remember, whatever you wind up doing, you’re not doing it alone. 

But just because there are others doing the work, doesn’t let us off the hook. We still have to show up in whatever way we can. Remember, you’re not impotent, you’re not unimportant, and your voice matters however you choose to use it. 

Use it joyfully. Use it lovingly. Use it with strength. Everyone I’m writing to in this email embodies these qualities. Joy, love, and strength. When you’re sitting down to dinner with your family or when you’re out with friends, recognize those qualities in one another. A harder ask is to try and see those in others who may not necessarily have those qualities on blast.

This last is a reminder for me, mostly. I don’t want to let my anger get the better of me and even though I cannot refrain from calling the Occupier in the White House, a fuckknuckle chucklehead, I know that somewhere in there is a human being deserving of pity, if not love. But he still needs to be brought to heel and to justice. I share in the abstract Dr. King’s observation that the universe bends in an arc to justice, but my impatience shows itself on that element all too often.

Okay, friends and family, I’m just thinking of you right now and felt compelled to share these specific ramblings with you. Don’t worry, I’ll have more for the blogosphere sooner than later, but we are at a pivotal point in history and in about an hour, we’ll find out if a madman unleashes and plunges us into greater darkness or if the universe’s moral arc has begun to bend toward justice, after all.

With all the love in my heart to all,

J

Sent from my iPad