The Easy Way Out Is Neither

" The man who occupies the White House cried today. Good. Keep crying, Mr. Bush. The more you cry, the less you will go to that dark side where anger rages to a point where you will want to blindly kill. Your dad's and Reagan's old cronies -- Eagleburger, Baker, Schultz -- are all calling for you to bomb first and ask questions later. You must NOT do this. If only because you do not want to stoop to these mass murderers' level. Yes, find out who did it. Yes, see that they NEVER do it again." Michael Moore.

The dilemma of our age is that those who have been trained never to cry, never to admit their vulnerability, will find an outlet somewhere. I can't predict where or how it comes out in the wash, but I am witnessing this rage today.

Protesters who are outraged that they are forced to be judged on their acceptance of vaccines have done some real harm to our democracy, and they may believe that forcing people to get vaccinated has done harm to those who believe they live in a democratic society.

It's a dilemma created that benefits only those with the power (money) to carry on getting richer at the expense of the rest of us.

Then there is rage that antivaxxers are bringing us closer to authoritarianism by targeting health workers and systems.

Regardless of what you believe is true or false, a division has been created and there are plenty of interests  that benefit from division, rage, war and insecurity.

The quick way to break down democracy is inequality and fear. Talking to one another, trying to understand, creating opportunity takes a lot of effort while a portion of our world have been trained in ways not always clear, that reconciliation of humanity is naive. 

If this was done through philosophy, respect and dignity, we could tackle the issue. But unfortunately we have been raised in a toxic colonial white supremacy that has, with its stories, policies and entertainment, promoted the idea that force and competition is the only thing that will protect us.

For centuries we have been trained to believe we are strong if we can force others to do what is best. From a virus to war to the rule of law ~ we are told we must take control. So we identify a "scapegoat" then kill them. And the strength of conscience, justice and civil society is broken, not for the greater good, but power-over, until the next crises arise out of our heavy handed habits.