Easter Rising
“We have to learn that freedom imposes responsibilities.”
-- Michael Collins; A Path to Freedom
The Bernie Sanders campaign made significant progress this week. It is important to not overstate those gains -- for the Clinton campaign also made an advance. Yet, we should not understate the importance of this week’s results -- despite attempts by any form of opposition to convince us otherwise.
We are in strange times. Harsh times. Revolutionary times. But it is non-violent revolutionary times ……brought to us by a combination of good, dedicated people, and the amazing ability for people to communicate -- almost instantly -- with people all over. And, in my opinion, that definition of “good, dedicated people” isn’t limited to the supporters of any one candidate in the current Democratic primary contest. There are “good, dedicated people” all around.
I’ve always admired the description of humanity as a mountain. Dr. King understood this on a level unlike any American in our nation’s history. A person doesn’t have to be at any level, in one’s journey upon the paths of that Mountain, to be moved psychologically by King’s example, and his vision.
Everyone perceives the message of a social prophet like King in the exact level of their understanding. Thus, on Sunday, I’ll be thinking about those people who have the same blood flowing through their veins, a hundred years ago, who were participants in the Easter Rising in Ireland. And I always like to think about King and the prophet Jesus, and the many similarities among such human beings..
It’s always interesting, for me, to compare the central message of the enlightened ones, from diverse places around the globe, at different times in the Human Family’s history, have delivered. The biggest difference between these is the mode of communication. An active interest in sociology can help us appreciate that.
With the Bernie Sanders’s campaign, we are seeing “changes” that are not easily identified by the numerical official outcome of any primary. It rhymes -- without question -- with some of the dynamics of 1968. People of my generation know what I mean, even if inexactly, when I say that.
Let’s look at but one similarity, which will allow me, somewhere in the next few paragraphs, to get to the point. Back in 1968 -- much like today -- “college students” were not respected by the Democratic establishment. The political insurgency that resulted from this utter lack of respect -- and the establishment’s counter-insurgency program -- resulted in a fracturing of the party, and the election of Richard Nixon as President of the United States.
For many of us in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, there is a recognition that today, aws in ‘68, the establishment wing of our party suffered from what is known as “hubris” -- not into the context of the current definition, but rather, the original intent of the Greeks. Indeed, Prometheus had the most sincere of intentions: to improve the quality of life among humankind. It is followed by nemesis. -- a rather unappealing option.
The hilarious thing is that both Sanders’s and Clinton’s supporters, many point the finger at the other, and are fully convinced that the other camp is causing the increasing tensions between the two groups. And, interestingly, both sides recognize this internal party conflict could result in Donald Trump’s being elected president. While the world shutters.
The underside of Marin Luther King’s hope is anger and fear. Everyone understands that anger and fear are -- at very least -- the primary motivation factor’s in Trump’s standing within the republican party. There really isn’t any excuse for allowing anger and fear any room within the struggle for social justice. We see far too much of it, even here on this forum.
We have opportunities and options that were not available to people in the late 1960s. We can take this country to higher ground. Indeed, it is happening across the country now. And I attribute these changes -- these increased linkages -- to those people involved in the Sanders’s campaign. It is very encouraging.
Peace,
H2O Man
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