Since November 5, I have received calls and emails and have been stopped at holiday events by people concerned about the outcome of the election. I was stunned when I heard that people were looking forward to my columns and my Stockbridge Updates editorial to make them feel better.
The weight of making their burden lighter descended on me. As I myself struggled to understand, I wondered, “What on Earth could I say to them?”
I believe in serendipity. I believe in a kindly spiritual presence and a rational universe. I believe in man’s ability to be benevolent, if not always man’s willingness. While struggling to think of something to write, the phone rang. It was a near stranger calling to discuss a work matter. The conversation lengthened far beyond anything related to work.
He said, “I believe in the Golden Rule—simple as that.”
I said, “I believe the Golden Rule is the philosophical underpinning of democracy.”
He said there was a great deal we could not control and just as much we could not understand, but we could control how we treat our neighbors. We can control our own actions.
My mood lifted and my spirit lightened as I said, “True.”
I thought of events since the election. I thought about the propensity for the Democratic Party to form a circular firing squad, as Barack Obama once called it. Nationally, the Democrats were criticizing President Biden and parsing what Vice President Harris did wrong. Locally, they were attacking one another online. It stung me. I tried to step in locally and say, “Please, Democrats, don’t do that.” Oops, don’t step in between warring cohorts. I became the common enemy and they united. It was funny in a way.
I listened to the man on the other end of the phone, “Life is hard enough.”
It was also painful as they called me names. I finished his thought, “…without us making it harder for each other.”
So I became the bad guy, and they made common cause. Good for the Democrats if they can get along. Or is it?
Suddenly, I realized what we needed now was forming right before our eyes. Yup, many think these are troubled times, but the solution is marching alongside the trouble. The solution is a new, strong, and vocal political party. Both parties are tired and making us voters equally tired. It doesn’t matter who is attacking whom or why. It matters that the attack mode is laid aside. It matters that rational thought and respectful debate are ala mode. Statistically, the membership of both “major” parties is dwindling. The largest voting bloc today is registered independents. It is a trend to be nurtured.
I realized we learn more from seeing the value in our vice president than from searching for things to attack and criticize. The central point, the good news for all of us, is that by careful planning or by happy accident, the beginning of a solution is at hand. Harris brought together Republicans, Democrats, and independents with a common belief in democracy, the Golden Rule, and freedom granted to citizens out of faith in those citizens.
Good grief, one party correctly states the problem and then offers not a solution but a search for someone to blame. The other party offers solutions to problems but not without using a solution as a bludgeon to destroy the other party—you know, the stupid, selfish, and dangerous party. One party wants to punish anyone in their way; the other party can’t punish anyone—even when they are in the way of good government and the rule of law.
One party seems bent on oligarchy or worse as they destroy the middle class. The other party destroys the equanimity of the middle class by suggesting social changes that are irrational and uncomfortable. By gosh and by golly, it is time for mistletoe, holly, and a dollop of common sense. It is time for a new party to present the new values. Call it the Lincoln Party; call it the Constitutionalists; call it whatever but base it on good cheer, the Golden Rule, and a demand to learn that helping others helps us, that being cheerful to others makes us cheerful.
It is better when life is cumulative and not diminutive. On that basis, I am sorry I lost three Democratic friends, but I gained clarity about a way forward and a new coalition, one that includes members like the fellow on the phone who wisely concluded, “Be nice. It’s the least one can do.”
When my sister died, it was devastating. She was beautiful, the soul of decency, and my best friend. However, then, as now, there was a bright side. I knew Elizabeth Kubler Ross, and I called her. Who better? She said, as did poet William Carlos Williams, there are a lot of bastards out there. She advised ignoring them, “Drop that hand. But, when you find a good person, take that hand, and hold on. Keep looking until you are holding many hands.”
“That,” she said, “is how to heal.” That is how to form a new political party.
