Are We Done Here?

Many many years ago, during a mildly heated conversation at a local restaurant, I retreated from engaging and proclaimed that I was “non-political” (or something like that) – meaning that I didn’t really have any thoughts or positions that one would label as “political”. My brother was at the table, and he called me on it, saying that he didn’t believe me.

We didn’t resolve the disagreement then (or ever, really), but he was right. I think I never felt I had invested enough in issues etc to have an opinion that was worthy of sharing. And I guess I also never wanted to sound naïve or stupid or whatever; it takes more work than I was prepared to invest to be more than just a knee-jerk partisan. But, in retrospect, I do feel and believe and care (although still not investing enough in the issues). I do. And as I get older, I feel like I’m becoming a bit of a crank, too, losing patience with what I perceive to be hypocrisy, or stupidity, or cynicism, or just plain injustice. Know what I mean?

Lately I’ve been so disheartened and discouraged by what’s going on in this country (and the world in general – you know what I’m talking about) that, in a number of “adult conversations”, I’ve shared that I’ve thought about just moving to another country. People have mostly ignored me when I’ve said that. I think maybe they don’t think I’m serious (I think maybe I am), or they just figure it’s just a way for me to express my frustration.

But I really have thought that, if indeed there are tens of millions of people who, for example, truly think that a particular con man is the greatest leader we’ve ever seen and is just what we need, then I’m not sure I fit into this society and culture any more. I mean, I can usually “agree to disagree” (Amazon Leadership Principle) with the best of them, but right now I’m feeling pretty alienated.    

I can hear some of you saying “ha ha ha being in the minority isn’t much fun now is it, libtard, nyah nyah nyah nyah.” Well, as I just said, I do believe I’m capable of disagreeing and still having a sense of shared humanity and respect for civility blah blah blah. In fact, a few years ago I wrote a song (and created a video that I still feel pretty proud of) that was hopeful about our ability to find common ground and … uh … make … uh … the good old USA … uh … great again – or maybe great finally:

Others of you probably can’t wait to point out how bad it’s been at different times in our past, that the current state of extreme polarization isn’t new. You might be quick to ask, don’t I know that in the 19th century “politicians regularly wore weapons on the House and Senate floors, and sometimes used them.” (This same writer later published a book about violence in Congress.) We’ve made significant progress since then, haven’t we? Well, a few months ago there was a “raucous” debate about whether it was ok for members of congress to bring loaded firearms into committee rooms in the Capitol. To be honest, I wouldn’t be that surprised to hear of a shootout – after all that’s the current recommended means for settling disputes, isn’t it? I mean, why else would we need 1.2 firearms for every person in the country. (Infants do like their AR-15s, truly.) And as I was drafting this post, there was this. (“Quit the tough guy act in these Senate hearings. You know where to find me. Anyplace, Anytime cowboy.”)  And this. (‘“Well, stand your butt up then,” Mr. Mullin, a former mixed martial arts fighter, said, rising from his chair and reaching to remove his wedding ring in apparent preparation to throw a punch.’)

I’ve undoubtedly alienated a number of you at this point, and I’m sorry. I hadn’t really meant to get on an extended soapbox. But before I step down from that soapbox, I do have to say that part of my disillusionment also results from my coming more to terms with the deeply checkered past of this country. I mean, it was pure politics (and greed) that motivated both Northerners and Southerners to negotiate the Three-fifths Compromise. So it turns out that this country isn’t quite that “more perfect union” I was always taught it was. I mean, when did we finally decide women could vote, for example? Duh! And are we really the freest country in the hIstory of the world? Maybe it should be obvious, but it turns out it depends on whom you ask. (I’m thinking that now’s a good time to spin off a spirited discussion about American exceptionalism.)

In contrast with the earnest and hopeful “uniting us” sentiment expressed in my quaintly optimistic Broken Promise Land, more recently an accumulation of all that stuff that I mentioned above has motivated an allegedly non-political singer-songwriter to produce this cynical screed (click the image to listen):

I just had to get it out of my system.

My friend Jim (you know who you are) notes that there are lots and lots of serious problems with the current constitution/rules/etc. Maybe we should call them “bugs” – the Electoral College system, ability of a single congress member to hold stuff up, etc etc—Jim has a nice and extensive list, so best to follow up with him directly if you want to go deep on this. Jim suggests that what we really need to do is to fix these bugs, that we’re way overdue, despite the originalists’ faith that the Founding Fathers got it exactly right way back then (and additionally the view that today’s laws need to be based on “historical analogues” from life back in the late 18th century. (“In Texas, another federal judge recently ruled that it was unconstitutional to take guns from domestic abusers in part because men who beat their wives rarely were prosecuted, let alone forced to relinquish their firearms, until the 1970s.”).

I admit to being more in Elie Mystal’s camp when he says, of the US Constitution, "We act like this thing was kind of etched in stone by the finger of God, when actually it was hotly contested and debated, scrawled out over a couple of weeks in the summer in Philadelphia in 1787, with a bunch of rich, white politicians making deals with each other." In fact, I just recently learned that, in a letter that (rich, white politician) Thomas Jefferson himself wrote to (rich, white politician) James Madison, Jefferson said that the constitution should be rewritten every 19 years else it become “an act of force and not of right”. He further says “…no society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law. The earth belongs always to the living generation.” Take that, Supreme Court Justice You-Know-Who-You-Are.

So, maybe not unlike the cry of frustration that is I Like Politics, now there’s this (click the image to listen):

It has occurred to me that maybe I don’t need to move to another country. Instead, I could stay put, try to gather a bunch of like-minded, alienated folks (like the inhabitants of this very Blue “bubble” that I live in), and … wait for it … SECEDE!

It wouldn’t be the first time this was tried, of course. You may recall that, in a pretty well known and infamous period of our country’s history, thirteen states seceded from the United States (hmm….thirteen….same as the number of British colonies that originally “seceded” from Britain….coincidence???). I happen to have grown up in the second state to secede – Mississippi, on January 9, 1861 – so, to paraphrase my own lyrics, “it’s in my DNA anyhow”.

I had always been taught that seceding from the USA was bad and wrong. But, now that I’m beginning to question all that conventional wisdom about our country’s history and alleged “more perfect union”, I’m wondering if seceding might actually be the thing to do – in certain circumstances anyway. Given that the US of A was itself born of just such an act, perhaps it’s high time that we get clear about what circumstances would make it appropriate and justified. For example, how about now?

The Declaration of Independence says this:

“…whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends [Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness etc.], it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”

I wonder if my issues rise to the level of “destructive of these ends”. Certainly I will claim that my pursuit of happiness is being impeded. Maybe I expect too much. (“Know your place Boomer”, a user commented about Broken Promise Land.) But to get this secession idea off the ground I will need to assemble a pretty large number of like-minded folks, and I’ve not shown a proclivity toward political activism thus far. Hmmm.

Of course it turns out that I’m far from the first to be thinking about secession. There’s been talk of “Calexit” and “Bluexit”. (Whatever you may think about The New Republic, that latter article kinda nails it.) And Garrison Keillor has some thoughts on this as well, fwiw.

As you may have noticed by now, the way I deal with super hard stuff like this is to write a song, throw a bunch of half-baked ideas out there, offer no real solutions, and then blithely move on to the next thing. Here we are again — same old, same old.

So, what do you folks think, those of you who haven’t by now canceled your subscription in disgust? How do we best deal with the situation? Work tirelessly and constructively from the inside? Give up and leave? Burn it down?

Thanks for listening (and reading). And as that other Elvis said, what's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding?