Anger can be a healthy spur to action, but it can also become a deadly worldview that turns every disagreement into a apocalyptic struggle between good and evil, and we always imagine ourselves to be good.
The real dividing line in politics is never really between a mythic “good” and “evil,” nor even between “left” and “right.” The real struggle is always a tension between the “haves” and the “have nots.” The question is whether people are getting their needs met and human rights honored. And the truth is, left and right are both complicit in abusing the wretched of the earth as are all who imagine themselves to be standing in the middle.
It is human nature, when we witness something as terrible as the Trump administration, to simply rush to the other side of the isle and embrace whatever is there; but will that get us out of our quagmire? Of course, we must resist those policies which hurt the vulnerable, but can we save our world if we become lost in a struggle over who can tell the most persuasive lies? If we all take up the tactics of bottom feeding bullies, will we not also lose what is best in ourselves and become lost in the “fog of war”?
If the goal is for love to trump hate,
then be wary your words don’t berate
that know-it-all ass
who’s careless and crass
while he’s trolling with bellicose bait.
© 2017 Susan E. Eckenrode