ProgressOhio

If our democracy is sacred, why is politics such a dirty word?

Because power trumps principle, and fear buys votes. 

It’s a sad truth.  Power corrupts.  Not overtly, but in a seeping quiet shadow of dimming light. Most folks of influence begin with a pure heart, but they quickly learn the efficacy of the art of hate.  

The Attack ads we endure prior to each election are beyond shameful.  Political media “experts” spend millions of dollars, crafting demonic images of their opponents.  They Photoshop faces in dark shadow, play ominous music, use devilish voice-overs, and twist even the most innocent statements into apocalyptic terms.  No one likes these tactics.  Candidates hate them as much as the voters. But the fact is they work.  Psychologist Carl Jung taught “fear is the greatest of all motivators.”  People will move away from what they fear much faster than they will reach out for what the desire.   Its human nature and the power elite knows it.  

We must fight the fear.  We must reject the cries for hate used to buy our votes.  

Religious institutions also have a long sordid history of using hate and persecution to grow their membership, fill their coffers, and wield political power.  Powerful preachers use the pulpit to strike fear in our hearts, crying “The End is Near!” It might be the end of the church, the end of our way of life, the end of biblical prophesy, or even aliens riding by on comets.   The “What” we are to fear constantly changes, but the message remains the same. They know if we buy into this perception of attack, we will join their ranks and fight. And when we do, they remain on their thrones.  

Here in Ohio folks are all in a stew over illegal immigration these days.  Excuse me?  When I walk down the street I see nothing but white folks in Dockers pushing strollers to the mall.  If not for the giant propaganda machine of the far-right-elite-power-structure, this would be a non issue in this part of the country.  It is a function of fabricated hysteria designed to buy votes with the currency of fear and hate.  Why can’t people see that? 

Lady Liberty is a symbol and beacon of light to the world.  She represents all that is good and right in the structure of our government. She represents the ideal that a melting pot of people made up of different cultures and religions can in fact, live together in peace and harmony.

What a beautiful concept.

This principle is our gift to the world, and the standard we must learn to live by.   But alas, we struggle.  With each generation, we lose sight of the lessons of the past. With each decade we face the same old prejudices again and again.

It began with the Native Americans, the "dirty savages" to be wiped out during the westward expansion.  Did we learn nothing from Kevin Cosner’s movie Dances with Wolves?  Twenty years from now he will win an Oscar for his new movie “Singing with Migrants!”   

Do you recall how vilified the Chinese railroad workers were in the 1800’s?  After that we spit upon the Irish immigrants, the Italians, and the Jews as they came through Ellis Island.  We hated Catholics, Mormons, Atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans, and the Hari-Chrishna followers of Reverend Moon. 

During the sixties we had a civil war between the culture values of Leave it to Beaver and Easy Rider.  We are told to fear these groups because they will destroy our way of life, when the truth is, they ARE our way of life. 

Diversity, debate, and the freedom to be different is what America is all about. 

We have a long and shameful history of persecution against Black Americans, and to this day we marginalize their communities to the point of extreme desperation.  We know the laws are unfairly enforced, yet we still fail to administer equality under the law. 

With every election cycle there is a new group to hate, a new cause for fear; a new enemy within.  It’s a game of smoke and mirrors folks.  The real enemies are the people who use these techniques to divide us in their quest for perpetual power. 

In the seventies, we were told to fear “the angry man hating feminists”, who would destroy the structure of the family with their bra burning bedlam. Then the target of political hate became the LGBT folks... again.  (They have always been a convenient stand-in target when the right is not in a creative mood.) Now, we are suspicious of the Muslims, in the same way we feared Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor.

Abu Ghraib is eerily similar to the interment camps of WWII.  Did you know there are teenagers in these camps?  Every time I think of these children of war, I see an image of Dick Cheney sending secret e-mails from his limousine.  As a mother, it makes me downright sick.   

In the next election, the primary target of our hate will be the illegal immigrants who have powered the agricultural and hospitality industries of our country for decades.  Not all immigrants, of course, just the poor brown ones.  You see, there are racists among the elite, people like Pat Buchanan who know they will be removed from power if 12 million brown people are allowed to vote.   Pat and his buddies are scared.  They are scared right down to the tips of their Armani shoes, and they want to transfer that fear onto us. 

Who will they ask us to hate next?  Is it your turn yet?   

We must reject this premise of fear and hatred of the perpetual Orwellian “other.”

Peace is a function of rejecting fear.  Peace is reaching out and uniting within our shared humanity. Peace is the highest form of religious practice, and indeed the closest we might ever come to understanding the heart of God. 

The power to end this insanity lies with US.  If we refuse to respond to such propaganda, if we protest against it, if we vote for candidates who run positive campaigns, and administer inclusive laws, if we reject the hatred of the religious right, only then will the madness finally end. Only then will Lady Liberty smile upon us with pride. 

Remember folks, your vote counts. 

The government you get is entirely up to you.