Autumn 2020

 Beat in the USA.

This won't be a poem. Guess it's my version of a Ted talk, which in my case means ... I have no higher moral ground to stand on than anyone else, I have no credentials, or as the kids would say, "cred."  I still type two spaces after a period because I'm a Boomer.  Anyhoo, all I have left is my feelings, then, to express myself about the state of the world.  My ideas are based upon those feelings.

I've been a Bernie supporter since 2016 which means I've not been able to unsee what Bernie and so many  others have shown to be a more congenial viewpoint that doesn't give me headaches or put me into an impotent rage, etc.  I've found both his campaigns have given me an astronomical return on investment which still feeds my small supply of necessary courage.

The one thing I have come to take as a given is that the 99% have exactly one form of power that would truly be able to adequately contend with the power we are seeing now in this country and around the world. The rich pretty much have cornered the power when it comes to money and actual political power (writing laws, using force to push through acts that hurt millions of people, etc.). All we have are numbers. That's it, and that's all, as Senator Nina Turner said in her speech at the NYC rally in Queens in 2019.

The obstacle, of course, is lack of unity.  In order for our numbers to be effective as a political power, we have to come together - and a shallow unity is worse than no unity at all, which is at least honest.  But both are obstacles to our using real power.

Imagine this -- not all of us can be activists, like the mostly young people who are out marching in the streets like beautiful young warriors -- but we can support them and love them.  I'm 65 years old, so to me they are just beautiful young people and I feel protective of them as a matter of course.

Imagine if enough of the folks who are not in the streets got together just to support the young people, really felt for them, cared for them and let our media and government and institutions know that with a big voice.  That is a form of solidarity that would lead to unity.

As for my feelings, I have no problem feeling comfortably in solidarity with those who will vote for Biden and those who will not; or rather, that voting choice is not what prevents me from being in solidarity.  What does prevent me from being in solidarity is the centrist, neoliberal, establishment view of those who agree with me on some issues but that view keeps getting in the way of real unity.

And obviously it's mutual.  I've read many centrist writings that show me they are just as implacable to my view as I am to theirs.  So that should be acknowledged and not papered over, I believe.  Any unity strong enough to go after the tyrants has to be deep and honest or it won't gain the power necessary to right some of these wrongs that so many of us agree are wrongs.

There are leaders out there right now who are doing this work.  There are activists at every level, from in-your-face warriors to humble no-nonsense comrades who are gifted at caring for others.  There are just regular fellow citizens both domestically and globally who do essential work that keeps us all alive - the workers are a strong force to help unify.

It's hard to be patient when so many are suffering.  But I don't really feel that we're waiting; we are all feeling what's going on and we're all part of this moment in time and we're all connected whether we can see it or not.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.