Take The Capitol
I was shocked and angry watching those hoodlums scaling the walls of our Capitol, then breaking in and flowing through the halls. I didn’t know then that they were goaded on by our now-gone-President. The live coverage of the scared and confused Congressman being hustled by guards to a secure place, had me shaking too. How dare these crazies break in like that. Who do they imagine they are? Where are the police?
Two weeks later we were still trying to make sense of what happened as we felt the relief and promise of unity brought by our new President. Here’s how I see the violence of that Capitol invasion. I’d very much like to hear your take on what brought that day upon us.
Nobody’s a Fool
I don’t believe anybody gets out of bed to make a fool of themselves, or to act crazy. What we each do make sense to us, even though others might not see it that way, and sometimes we might look back on our actions or words with regret. Those “crazies” breaking into the capital building weren’t crazy, at least as they saw it. Like you and me they were perfectly reasonable. Sprinkled in the crowd were a few anarchists, fascists, some sociopaths, and possibly a few psychopaths. But most of the people there weren’t opportunists, using the situation to push their ideologies or psychoses.
I honestly believe that most of the people there felt they had no other choice. They’d exhausted every other avenue. Now their leader was saying, “Take Congress.” And they did. They felt anger and rage. Insurrection seemed their only remaining path. And that’s terribly sad.
Looking in The Mirror
Sad because our whole country, I included, colluding through action or inaction, allowed this to happen, allowed those people to sink into desperation. Now we point our fingers at those invaders on our screen as if they acted in a vacuum. That’s impossible. Everything has a cause.
It’s easy to Monday-morning quarterback. On reflection I see how scaling the ramparts of the Capitol may be the natural extension of a process that began decades ago, perhaps with President Johnson’s signing of the Civil Rights Act. The exact date is not as important as the fact that since that signing, no liberal president has received a majority of white votes. Since then, the national division, active in our nation since its birth and now called tribalism, has grown.
The Uncrossable Chasm
Political Tribalism means that one political party will block policies, not because they disagree with the policy, but because it was proposed by the other side. An example is the Affordable Care Act, which was relabeled and repackaged as “Obamacare”, then branded by Republicans as unacceptable even though the Affordable Care Act was essentially what Republicans proposed and successfully build in Massachusetts. In other words, “Obamacare” was a Republican program lambasted by Republicans purely because it was legislated under a Democratic administration. Such is the irony of tribalism.
By saying, ‘Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire:’ President Biden’s inaugural speech promised relief from the decades of scorched earth politics. Good luck with that! Violence and confrontation are deep-rooted; The War of Independence, The Civil War, and the many land-grabbing wars, such as those against our Indigenous People, France, Mexico, and the Philippines, and our savagery of Blacks. When the January 6th rioters entered Congress, many of the magnificent paintings they passed were battle-related. We are a violent nation, and proud of it.
Those rioters rationalized their action as following our nation’s rebellious traditions, overthrowing illegitimate leaders — real or perceived. They were right.
Back Words with Actions
Powerful interests support these traditions. Corporations and the powerful have wrested major tax breaks, siphoning funds from education and social programs that might have lifted many of these alienated people out of their frightening conditions. By removing a helping hand, we left these rebels a life of severe anxiety and stress, a painful and shortened life.
Marin, my home county, has an average life expectancy of 84 years. In contrast, residents in the deep South and other red states (where so many of the alienated protestors reside) live an average of 75 years. How do we tolerate such disparity? What makes unnecessarily shortened lives OK? Have we turned our backs, guilt and compassion free? In our blind rush to name, blame, and punish the guilty, we ignored our own crooked fingers, identifying each of us, front and center, right there in the rampaging mob.
How can we make amends, not blaming but taking shared responsibility? If that mob’s seditious act was unacceptable (which it definitely was), then so is our pretense that they acted in a vacuum, without our passive collusion.
Group Hugs
I’m hoping that our new leadership, in the White House and Congress, will address this devastating social alienation. I’m counting on the new administration to promote equality and inclusion, instead of supporting the violence, hatred, and inequality we have so painfully suffered under.
After 4 years of relentless fire-hosing, I’m so relieved that our new leader in the White House speaks openly and proudly for good values. Let’s embrace imagined foes. Let’s hug ourselves and our neighbors. With the COVID-19 vaccine spreading nationwide, we’ll soon be able to do that in real-time. Won’t that feel good!
Please let me know how you see this situation. As always, I appreciate your thoughts and comments, and suggestions.
Thank you.
me, Barry Phegan
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