I didn’t go out yesterday, a good question is why? One of my favorite bands, Cole Quest and the City Pickers was playing. I do not see them often, yet it didn’t give me the motivation I needed to get moving. Part of the problem is that my back still hurts. That’s taken precedence over my elbow and shoulders. I think that’s soft tissue damage that as incurred by my compensating for join pain. I’m seeing the orthopedist on Tuesday, we’ll see what he has to say.
I have an idiot story, I don’t have the photos I took at the Budgiedome the first half of Saturday night’s session. I of course wiped the SD card it was on. I did that because I’m an idiot. It doesn’t help that my camera’s clock got scrambled and the times are all off. I’m afraid to see if the videos are still there. I did manage to edit the photos I had. At least I accomplished something.
I watched Justice League. What is it that Marvel gets right and DC wrong? It’s not that it was bad; I enjoyed it. But it’s just not as engrossing. The portrayal of Barry Allen/The Flash is a total rip-off of the latest MCU version of Peter Parker/Spiderman.
I’m listening to Dar Williams’ Mortal City as I write it. I suggest that you do too. I’ll make it easy for you.
https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/6EVUAMSaUKG6mxVQcWDdJG
I’m not going to write about Dar or about music or about Iowa or Christians or Pagans. I’m going to write about values and ideals that I’ve had since childhood and this album evokes them, Dar evokes them, Falcon Ridge evokes them. I’m addressing this to the people I love that share my love of the album, the artist, and the festival, and share those values, but whose blind spots I see. I’m not saying that they, or should I say, you, have blind spots. That’s pointless, we all have blind spots. I’m in the passenger seat adjusting the side view mirror for you. You’d do the same for me.
So where do I start? I think at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, a centerpiece of my childhood. It was filled with wonders that seem unrelated, It showed off science and technology but also exposed us to the cultures of distant places. What unifying theme, the fair’s motto, symbolized by the Unisphere was “Peace Through Understanding.”
There was something in the air as the hippies called for peace, love, and understanding. I go to Falcon Ridge and the people live that spirit. But there’s one inconvenient truth, it’s much easier to have peace, love, and understanding, with people like yourself. It gets more difficult when they are different. It gets most difficult when they don’t seem to share your values. What are we to do? Listen to the motto of the World’s Fair. Peace comes through understanding.
Taking the first step, realizing that they are people like yourself, and that they have reasons for doing things; reasons that you might be able to relate to, even if you think the reasoning invalid. During the election Hillary referred to half of Trump’s supporters as a basket of deplorables. The right jumped all over that. She walked it back, in the right way; she said that it was less than half, but still significant. The right missed the point she was making. That the rest are NOT deplorables. That they are complex human beings who supported Trump for a variety of reasons.
People are not heeding the message the Hillary was trying to convey, that we need to understand what’s going on in their heads. Too many people resort to “They are all racists and homophobes and xenophobes; all Trump supporters are bad people.” Ironically those opponents of Trump are thinking like Trump, categorically. It’s good versus evil. It’s easy to think that. It feels good to think that. I can understand thinking like that. It doesn’t make it right.
People are complex, mixing good and bad in ways that don’t even keep the two separate. When I was on City Island I had to change buses in the middle of Pelham Bay Park. It was raining, there was no shelter, and I did not have rain gear. A guy in a pickup truck stopped and gave me a ride. I was grateful and told him so. He said something to the effect that he had no choice, he couldn’t let me stand out in the rain and suffer. That’s a good person, right? He is certainly kind. We talked as we drove to the Island. He said racist things that turned my stomach. He went from being someone I wanted to be friends with to someone I didn’t want to have to deal with. Is he a good person or a bad person? He was kind to a stranger, always considered one of the great virtues. He spoke ill of those that were different, that’s a great sin. The truth is you can’t honestly say he’s a good person or a bad person. He’s a complex human being. You have no idea if he can or can’t change. I have no idea. I’m not going to say I know he can. Maybe he’s in the basket of deplorables, but maybe he isn’t.
I can bring it closer to home. One of my personal saviors that have allowed me to survive is as kind and generous as anyone I’ve ever met. She loved the stranger as she loved herself. She is not a racist. She fights against Trump and all he stands for. She’s also an anti-Semite. Yes, I’m Jewish, yes, she was incredibly kind to me. She also used anti-Semitic slurs and if someone Jewish did something wrong she’d always point out that he was Jewish. It was not that mean person, it was that “Dirty Jew.” It was so deeply ingrained that she couldn’t help saying these things to me. Should I just give up on her. Should I say, “she’s a bad person?” That the reason she’s an anti-Semite is because she is bad and dig no deeper?
If so how many others will you have to dismiss out of hand? How many others will you not try and having a meeting of minds with because you don’t acknowledge they have a mind to meet with?” How many people will reject you as a bad person? I have another friend I love; he goes out of his way to say that he hopes Trump dies soon and not just dies, but has a horrible painful death. That doesn’t sound like my idea of peace, love, and understanding. That sounds more like the moralistic right. But I love him too.
I have a Facebook friend, that says things on Facebook that outrage me. He said that he’ll unfriend anyone that calls him a racist. You can see that only a racist would say that. Why don’t I unfriend him? He keeps his posts on his own timeline. He doesn’t insert his racism onto other people’s. He doesn’t make personal attacks. He has been kind and helpful to friends of mine. We have things in common. If I unfriended him, it wouldn’t be virtuous, it would be me making my life more pleasant. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a good reason to do things. But there’s a cost. I would not have a window into his mind. He is an educated intelligent person, the mystery to me is how he deals with the outright mendacity and stupidity. I’m looking for hints as to the mental contortions he makes. People have told me to not bother. That he just hates. But that’s rejecting his humanity. Most people think they are good. One of the great things about Infinity War is that Thanos wants to kill half of the universe for what he sees as the common good. Most people are heroes in their own minds. There are exceptions. Some see the world as not divided into heroes and villains but as winners and suckers. I’ve met a few of those, but never one that thought he or she was evil. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist. My gut is not reliable enough for that, but I trust that it isn’t enough people to sway elections.
I know that some people will think I’m a racist for treating racists as people with flaws, not evil icons. Others will think I’m hopelessly naïve and laugh at me. Good thing I don’t have to come up with an original response to that. Turn off Dar for a second and watch this. Then go back to Dar. Get your lighter app ready while you watch.
Wise Madness 