With less than two weeks remaining until Christmas Day, I thought this might be a good time for me to change things up a bit. I devote a good deal of time, energy and column inches to ridiculing the twisted, sometimes inhuman philosophies of those on the Far Right end of the political spectrum. It’s richly deserved criticism, but in doing so I’m running the risk of falling prey to the one of the things I find so objectionable about the Far Right.
It’s very easy to hold forth about what you’re against, about what you find objectionable, inappropriate, and/or just plain wrong. When all you do is tear something down, you never have to elucidate what you propose to build in its place. We hear a lot these days about what angers those on the Far Right, about what they oppose. What we generally don’t hear is what they would DO. It stands to reason that if you’re proposing to tear something down that you tell us what you’re going to build in its place, no? Of course, it’s much easier to tear things down. You never really have to address the problem you decry, but you can act as if you’re making things better.
For my part, I write a lot about what I find objectionable about modern Conservatism (Which really isn’t Conservatism at all, but that’s another story for another day). I have a difficult time processing how mean-spirited self-righteousness and the politics of divide and conquer moves America forward. Rather than expound at length about this truth, today I’m turning the light around so I can focus it on myself and what I believe. In the spirit of Christmas, then, allow me to share the world I want to live in. It’s not “pie in the sky;” everything I hope for is achievable and doable. It’s just a matter of resolve and doing the right things for the right reasons.
My Christmas wish is for a world in which…
health care is viewed as a right, and owning a gun a privilege.
ALL Americans, regardless of means, are guaranteed a basic level of health care.
no American is denied appropriately prescribed treatment by the real “death panels”- insurance companies.
compassion isn’t viewed as a sign of moral weakness.
“Liberalism” is defined as a philosophy steeped in a tradition of caring and compassion and the belief that government exists to serve the people- ALL people.
smug arrogance isn’t offered by Conservatives as a viable substitute for a factual and supportable argument.
Christianity is based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not used as a club with which to bludgeon those who don’t think, believe, live, and/or love as you do.
works count for far more than faith ever could.
Ayn Rand is recognized for being the compassion-deprived, soulless monster she was.
religion serves the interest of the people, not vice-versa.
the Catholic Church actually follows its own teachings and serves the poor, the sick, and the hungry among us.
corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
the morally bankrupt don’t get rich through exploiting others for their own selfish benefit.
corporations aren’t viewed as people.
the Supreme Court doesn’t hold the interests of corporations and the wealthy few above the 99%.
those at the low end of the economic spectrum can earn a living wage and provide for themselves and their families.
CEOs don’t make millions per year while their employees, who makes the CEOs compensation package possible, are left to scrape by on $8.00 an hour.
the pay of CEOs is capped. It should be viewed as unconscionable that someone could literally be paid thousands of times what their front-line employees are.
women are legally guaranteed control of their own bodies and access to quality affordable health care.
abortion is safe, legal, and rare.
those with strong religious beliefs don’t assume their faith provides them the absolute right to judge others harshly.
each and every American is free to love whom and how they choose.
no one walks into a store or a coffee shop with an AR-15 slung over their shoulder.
10,000 Americans don’t die from gun violence each year.
a parent never has to fear for the safety of their children from random, senseless acts of violence.
mental health care is viewed as a right.
schools and other government services are fully funded.
cities don’t file for bankruptcy while simultaneously committing hundreds of millions of dollars to help build a new hockey arena.
the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber (yes, I’m a child of the 60s).
America isn’t the world’s moral policeman.
the money currently spend on our military is repurposed and used to help provide economic opportunities at home and abroad.
“Live and let live” isn’t followed by “unless they’re [insert name of despised minority class here], in which case they deserve to die.”
religious freedom doesn’t mean “You’re free to believe as I do…or else.”
scholars who work to solve the world’s problems are valued more and compensated better than someone whose claim to fame is throwing, catching, or running.
people cared as much about looking after those in need as they do about the fortunes of their favorite team.
government is viewed as the expression of the things we choose to do together (apologies to Barney Frank).
politics is viewed as “the art of the possible.” (apologies to the late Tip O’Neill)
homelessness is seen as a problem to be solved, not the manifestation of someone who refuses to do for themselves and expects handouts from a government conditioned to enable the behavior of such “takers.”
life isn’t defined as a “dog eat dog” proposition and survival of the fittest isn’t our highest and best value.
“low information voters” aren’t ruled by their fears and prejudices.
racism isn’t spread by “dog whistle politics.”
the color of one’s skin matters less than the content of one’s character (apologies to Martin Luther King, Jr.).
respect for our differences counted for far more than self-righteousness and intolerance.
we become the change we wish to see in the world (apologies to Mohandas K. Gandhi).
the Golden Rule is the Prime Directive.
I could go on…and on…and on, but I’ll hazard a guess that you’ve probably long since smelled what I’m cooking, right? I suppose my argument could be boiled down to one very simple salient philosophy:
Just think what this world could be, what we could do, if we pulled together to make this world a better place. Isn’t that what Christmas is really supposed to be about?
Merry Christmas…Merry Xmas…Merry whatever you happen to celebrate. Even if you don’t believe in God (count me in) and therefore the birth of Jesus Christ, there are still plenty of good reasons for the season. Find one…and then act as if that means something, in whatever way it manifests itself to you.
THAT’S what I’m for.
