The more time that goes by, the more clear it is that people feel the need to *do* *something*. Whether it's protesting in the streets below Trump Tower, or wearing a safety pin, or repeatedly calling their Congressmen to get them to oppose whatever new ridiculousness is being foisted on us, everyone has an opinion on what we should *do* *now*.
Believe me, I'm in the same boat. There are so many forms of protest that it's hard to know where to start. Especially when, as soon as one form starts to gain some solidarity behind it, a backlash comes through that says that it's a nice gesture but it's not enough, or here's proof that such-and-such a method is really ineffective, so why bother?
As I've sifted through the different possible methods to voice my distaste at the sense of legitimacy and empowerment that racist and xenophobic groups have suddenly decided they have, and the general ludicrousness of a President that has only a tenuous grasp of what power a President actually has, I've had to take a look at the way I am currently living my life.
The truth of it is that there are responsibilities I have in my life that I just can't shirk while railing against tyranny and hatred. My resources are limited: I don't have much money to donate, or much time to volunteer. So, I have to ask myself, what is it that I *do* have? What can I contribute in a way that is even the slightest way unique? The answer, when I framed it to myself in such a way, came quickly. I've got *words*, dammit. *Words*.
Now, go ahead. Say that it isn't enough, that quiet, rational contemplation never got a country anywhere. Action, not words, etc.... But if the last week has proven anything to me, it's that there's always going to be someone telling you that what you're doing isn't enough, or that you're doing it the wrong way. If that's going to be the case, why not do it in the way that feels most right to you, and that plays to your strengths?
I actually started writing essay pieces several years ago, while I was unemployed. They ranged from science to pop culture, autobiographical to philosophical to political. Compared to my fiction, they were some of the most widely viewed and disseminated things I've done. They're still viewable right on this very blog, because I've never felt the need to publish them (plus, to be honest, I now look at them as a little too navelly-gazey for me to not be a little embarrassed by most of them).
My point is that I've been unconsciously preparing myself for this for a while now. And this is all stuff that I've got to get out one way or another, because if I don't it's going to coil itself into a small, searing ball directly under my sternum that's going to distract me from actually living my life.
So I'm going to do what, ideally, we all should do... find an avenue that is the thing that you individually can do best, and use it to battle the injustices you find. Because they're going to be coming fast and furious over the next few years, friends.
I have a caveat to this declaration, though, and it's that I'm not going to stop my fiction. I've come too far in my current novel to set it aside, and an argument can be made that art is going to be very important in the coming years. So here's the deal. Some Fridays you'll get some new chapters about the progressively weirder goings-on at the Whitetail lodge on this blog, and some weeks you're going to get an earful of my take on what's happening in this post-truth, post-Obama world. Sometimes you'll get both. Read all of it, some of it, or none of it. I'm going to write it anyway. It's not all I'm going to do, either. Reading and thinking is never *all* you should do. But this place, right here, is where I'm going to make my primary stand, with the weapon that feels strongest in my grip.
-Cowardly, Lyin'-
The most disturbing trend I'm seeing today -- one among many -- is the validation of white supremacist groups. I'm not saying that they're abnormally on the increase -- they've always been around, and always grow if they're given visibility -- but they have a platform now: a President who at best will not denounce them, and at worst will sees no problems in loading his Cabinet and staff with their members.
The leading edge of this group's ideology is that there is something inherently superior about being from Western European ancestry. They claim that it is their genetic destiny to monopolize the world's somehow-finite stockpile of adventurers and thinkers and inventors, and that subjugation of others is an inevitable by-product. This is, of course, bullshit. In reality, this mentality is an excuse and avoidance of the fact that White people aren't better than other races, they're just historically better at being exploitive, aggressive assholes, the bully in the playground that makes it impossible for anyone to relax or thrive.
So here's what I have to say to white supremacist groups: The world is more diverse and complex than just your little corner of it. I know, it's comforting to surround yourself with those who look and think just like you. It's certainly the easy way out, and it was an simpler goal in the past. However, the world is connected now and that's a one-way street. Those of us in urban areas have a better understanding of this. We know that cultures can be peacefully integrated and mutually benefit from it. It happens all the time.
You know those trouble spots that you're thinking of, the gang-riddled, lawless zones which you're convinced every city is? It's because white people have engineered them as places where inequality is the norm, where people have been hemmed in and oppressed by lack of education, lack of opportunity, and lack of support.
I can see where your isolated little worldview makes you think the opposite. In your narrow sight, America is dying. Crime is rampant, morality is out the window, most people are leeches sucking off the system set up by the divine right of the Caucasian race. But here's the reality that you need to lift up your head and see: The world is a more peaceful place than it has been in the recorded history of humanity. Inequity and poverty has always been a problem, it's just that until now it hasn't been *your* problem . Funny how you suddenly feel the need to solve your race's conflicts with others, now that you're not twenty points in the lead anymore.
And let's get that straight. As hard as you try to play it this way, you're not the victim. White people are still in the lead. Through no effort on your part, you lucky Straight White Male you, your particular genetics have allowed you to start out with a significant statistical lead. The idea that there's any other ethnic or sexual group even growing *close* to you in influence is frightening, because suddenly you might have to admit that you're not the center of the Universe after all. And in my opinion, that's one of mankind's biggest problems in general. It always has been.
Once you cross that psychological hurdle, you just might realize that your statements about how races can never really get along is just your own hatred, projected on everyone else.
Some of you are making it easy for the rest of us, by trying to backtrack the world into its violent past in your comfortable old symbols and costumes. But be aware that you are being watched. Even if you're not wrapped in a Confederate flag or you've taken off your white hoods, we recognize who you are. You will not win. Time and numbers are against you. Take your victory lap while it lasts, and then make way.
But bear this in mind: your new visibility makes it harder for you to hide. There have been a lot of disgusting verbal and physical attacks, and defacings since the election, but the most common thread running through them is that afterward, you seem to feel some kind of relief, even going as far to say, "Finally, we can say these things out loud again!" So let me understand this... you apparently have been in torment, holding back your venom lo these eight more-tolerant years, but why? Was it because you thought you were in the minority? Well, you still are. Because of who the President was? Well, then that just makes you a coward. Just watch the rest of us *not* hold our opinions back during this next administration, regardless of who the official leader of our country is. And let that demonstrate to you how weak you truly are. The only thing you have to contribute is temporary obstacles, driven by your own fear. Well, there's one comforting thing about being paranoid: No one will ever be able to prove you wrong.
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