History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes
As crazy as our new president and our time feels today, as high as the stakes are, I have hope. I have hope because Americans are more engaged and more informed than I’ve seen them in two decades.
16 years ago, on January 20th, 2001, I joined artists, activists and citizen journalists on a rainy day in DC to protest the inauguration of George W. Bush. At best, it appeared to us that our country had “jumped the shark,” at worst, some felt we had just witnessed a coup d’état. Al Gore had won the popular vote, but because of contested results in Florida, the Supreme Court stepped in to end the mandatory recount and name Bush the winner.
I thought it was an act of patriotism to protest, but many of my close friends and family thought I was nuts. Why couldn’t people see the warning signs — Bush’s treacherous cabinet picks, his denial of climate change, the Project for a New American Century, our ponzi-like dot com bubble economy? That day in DC, CNN cut tight camera angles that avoided live shots of tens of thousands of penned-in protestors. The paper of record underreported our numbers by an order of magnitude. It felt lonely and scary to be marginalized and written out of history. The majority of the country either didn’t see the coming train wreck, or worse, didn’t care. After many uncomfortable conversations, I decided it was better not to talk about politics at home or at work. I was simply too too angry and too impatient to listen well or communicate effectively.
Things are different today. While I’m not going to DC, many of my friends are. They are organizing buses and contingents and marches. They will be impossible to ignore. This time around, my friends and family aren’t out of the loop, they’re out on the streets. The Times even devoted coverage to the protests ahead of the event. All this is new. Americans are more engaged and more aware of the stakes. Even when we disagree, even with the fears of fake news, we are a much more curious citizenry today. That in itself is progress.
A friend shared a nice post from Parker Palmer yesterday, The Soul of a Patriot. It’s worth reading the whole piece but this quote stood out:
[T]his “post-truth presidency,” with all its moral deformations, is nothing new. The country I love is inherently flawed, as are all human constructs and all human beings. That’s why our flawed founders placed the endless task of seeking a “more perfect Union” at the heart of the American agenda. January 20, 2017, is not when “things fall apart” in the U.S. It’s one more in a long history of such moments. We’ve overcome before, and if we love our democracy as fiercely as we should, we can overcome again.
I’m proud to be American. My grandfather and uncle served in the armed forces. I’m grateful to the many who have sacrificed to protect our country. To show that gratitude, I’ve chosen to contribute in more peaceful ways through art, activism, media, citizen journalism, open source software, civil disobedience, staying vigilant and informed, and by keeping a healthy sense of humor. Most recently, I’ve been volunteering with The Interdependence Project by helping to lead a group dedicated to making a more sane and just world. We meet on the first Friday of each month in New York City and it’s a great group of folks. Stop by, we’d love to see you.