The Race for Decency

A sea of angry emotion pulled back from a more moderate shore.

The riptide grew stronger and the under tow of political pragmatism washed away into unintelligible depths. This is not a natural disaster like hurricanes Harvey and Irma and now Marie. Their damage is terrible but in many cases fixable. You can rebuild physical structures far more easily than the egregious effects of amoral beliefs unleashed on a nation, ideologies that cling like sea urchins to a desperate collective consciousness. The tidal wave of populism has crashed into our shores of democracy, with a force that could bring irreparable harm.

There is no quick fix to changing peoples minds from believing in the absurd or rehabilitating innate prejudices that now have been given airtime to breathe. The United States since no time since the Civil War has been so ostentatiously divided. The new name for description of what is happening in this country is “The cold civil war.” How long will it take when the word cold is replaced with a more destructive characterization?

To say we are at a crossroads would be only highlighting the obvious without giving true measure to this existential crisis.

It is not North Korea that is a clear and present danger; it is the culture of hate and ignorance that has made a successful invasion into our ethos. Apathy is the constant fuel that feeds this beast.

Savor the consolation that hope does spring eternal. Value every opportunity to bring change to that which is intrinsically Wrong. But don’t let time be the perceived notion that there is plenty, so no need for urgency.

The desire to make this country whole again is on the clock. Time is not on our side. The days like the season grow shorter. And America’s night longer.