inclusion, and hope

 

the devolution of our politics

politics used to be arguing

about whether we take the short cut

or the long way around

to get to where we agree we want to go,

now vital decisions seem beyond us,

so we follow a leader who only follows his own impulses

and denies what we all know at our deepest,

for example, the climate is changing disastrously:

should we use government to enforce changes, to demand better mpg for vehicles,

to curtail emissions into the atmosphere,

or should we incentivize business to move forward with electric vehicles,

should we incentivize progress with carbon credits,

should we persuade businesses to recognize that the interests of all supersede

the selfish hope of making a buck,

too often we fiddle while our world burns,

common sense and fiscal reality

should drive our decisions about who pays taxes

and how much they should pay if we want to survive,

instead we pretend that nothing should stop the disaster of our hunger,

a lot of what I feel today is the need for common sense

to cut through all the nonsense that can cocoon us away from the truth,

the individual can be wonderful but can also be a pampered child,

only "happy" when it is indulged,

the tyranny of the stereotypical "terrible two" 

manifest in leaders who should know better,

they who give no thought to the consequences

when the long evolution of government and rules

is thrown away for a huge tax cut for the rich,

to "pay" for it a bit,

many are to lose their safety net, and can then fall,

we force scientific research to die,

weather folks to not have the tools to help us survive

the disasters that willy-nilly reality visits upon us,

our leader tell us that all problems are 

from the other,  because of the other,

that we do not need to curb our impulses,

no matter how self-serving and hateful they might be,

in politics, we used to agree on the future we want,

and we disagreed as to the path to get there,

we were unified in heart, unified as to ends,

we just disagreed as to means,

now we disagree as to who is in the universe that matters to us,

I remember Jesus who asserted that all are brethren:

even those who do not share

our skin color,

our religion,

our socio-economic status,

our ease with gender definition, 

the potential of progress calls to us to see the future,

through the lens of what is best for all Americans,

now too many define "America" as

white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant, now maybe Catholic, also,

Jesus and our Founders call us to sacrifice,

for inclusion, not for exclusion.

by Henry H. Walker

May 24, ‘25