“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” Mahatma Gandhi 

People like Gandhi come along once in a great while, partially because you have to be nuts to believe in the inherent goodness of our species. Our impact is phenomenal, but limited in its longevity. At the same time, accepting its futility is not a reason to give up. You don’t do it, because you think it’s going to work. You do it, because you can’t help yourself. 

I get a handful of news sources, not because I necessarily agree with them either. One is very progressive and I am not a true believer, because pragmatism swallowed me, just like Jonah. I enjoy it, because it believes in possibility, just like Gandhi. One of them covers a handful of international news each day. Much of its focus is in West Africa. You want to talk about a shit show? It is all over this part of the world. At the moment, the only thing that separates us from them is the myth that we are governed by the rule of law……………..

Christmas has occurred between the prior paragraph and this one. Wouldn’t you know it? Time has changed my story trajectory. If I now tell you where I was going, it kind of defeats the purpose of shit canning it. OK, I was going to get into our history and the guys, who wrote the key documents this country was once founded upon. I decided to focus more on the importance of rules, rather than specific rules. The more people you get together, the more important rules become.

Left to our own devices, we tend not to behave very well. I think what set this country apart from all its predecessor empires was the rule of law. Those white-powdered, wig dudes I am not writing about, appreciated the importance of keeping rampant power in check. They were so desperate to get out from under the thumb of a tyrant that they decided to sail off to a world they knew nothing about. Of course, they promptly got here and decided that the First People needed to get in the back of the line. Rules are an imperfect way of governing an imperfect population.

The power of the law is directly derived from the strength behind it. We are about to celebrate 250 years of this experiment. Rather than it being a time of introspection and a reverence for the lives lost seeking the best in us all, it will be a vulgar pageant. What those people ran away from has been birthed here. Geography is irrelevant when it comes to our essential flaw as humans. The truth of the human race is we all lose unless we all win the race.

Our government, the one most people hate, has done some extraordinary things for all of us, things we simply take for granted. If you live in India, you better boil your water before drinking it or cooking with it. We take it for granted that all our food is good. Social security and Medicare are phenomenal. When disaster strikes, it is there for us. It subsidizes life saving research. Please, I am talking about the intention, in spite of its imperfect execution. Just like we need those goddamn rules, we need governance.

What we have today is a complete disregard for the rules and a disdain for the efficacy of the public sector. Countries like Mali and Burkina Faso have no ideals to get in their way. At some point in our 250 years, rule making was stolen from us and bought by the elite. This transaction was purposely invisible until we now find ourselves living within the wallets of the uber wealthy. They now bankroll the president and most every decision made for us, without us. We are a gold plated version of The Gambia.

The reason for the above tirade is a direct result of a comment made by the editor of one of those sites I was talking about. He wrote to me, “Keep up the good fight and I will, too.” I couldn’t believe he put me along side himself. Trust me, I am no knight in shining armor, not even close. Of course, I read it and cried and am crying now, before getting to the period at the end of this sentence. 

In those moments, when my balance is completely thrown off, I look for the Buddha. “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” Well, the fat guy did it once again. Suddenly, I found the ground and my footing. Sure, I am up to my ass in pessimism, but that is not why I do what I do. I care, that’s why.

I got to interrupt myself here. I just read a story regarding the Bezos owned Washington Post and an editorial trashing the advocacy for a single-payer health care system. There are endless, credible studies on the billions of dollars this system would save all of us, but there is one problem. Corporations and their criminally, over paid executives, don’t make money on a system that benefits all of us, proven effective in so many countries.

Maybe, mine is a mutiny of words, fighting the good fight with the only tool I have. I was going to call it a weapon, but I don’t like that word in this context. I am for what is best in us. I could say it is what sets us apart from animals, but that’s not true. The natural world is beautiful and our job is to take care of it and to take care of each other. I am not sure what right I have to agree with someone like Gandhi, but I do. Trying is its own victory. You don’t fight the good fight, because you’re going to win. You do it, because it is the right thing to do. 

The effort is the victory.

LISTEN TO IT HERE:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/1292459/episodes/18417618-fighting-the-good-fight