When I wrote about forming a third party, I received email responses asking, “Where do I sign up?” Well, I guess if we talk the talk, we are expected to walk the walk.
The only comment posted on The Berkshire Edge—the others came to my private email—read:
A wonderful column from a wonderful human being! Whether you agree on the concept of a new party or not, the Golden Rule works, with various similar iterations in almost all religions. Brava!
“A wonderful human being”—wow! Receiving that comment, after writing for all our local newspapers for over 22 years, is the best possible compliment, and I am honored.
We all know how uplifting simple kindness is. We all have received a kind word on a dark day and brightened. So how am I going to walk the walk? Just as he said, with the Golden Rule.
The party slogan could be “Do onto Others,” (Doo! Maybe). The party could be called the Coalition of the Kindly. We could attract members by claiming that kindness and following the Golden Rule together form a bulwark against the bullies and their nastiness.
Too sweet? Unlikely to be successful? I don’t know. When the villains have skulked away and are forgotten, we still remember George Bailey of Bedford Falls. Harming others may be loud and instantly impactful, but kindness has a quiet ripple effect that spreads out over time. Throw a rock into calm water and watch just how wide the ripples spread.
For many years, I belonged to the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP). It was organized to apply psychological theory and diagnostic tools, originally developed for individuals and families, to large populations. Through that diagnostic process, ISPP could better understand how large groups might respond to political stimulus.
It seemed as if Isaac Asimov’s 1951 Foundation Series had come to life. It was Asimov’s fictional theory of psychohistory being applied. The real-life attempt at predicting mass behavior was mimicking the blurb on the back of the book cover, “Using statistical laws of mass action, it can predict the future of large populations.”
Over the years, ISPP membership broadened, became interdisciplinary and the goal less focused. Too bad, wouldn’t 2024 have been the moment to accurately predict an outcome? Wouldn’t now be the moment to understand what folks will do next?
The fictional “psychohistory” was absolute—predicting without error. In the real world, we can merely speculate.
In part, predicting the masses’ behavior depends on understanding how they evaluate the circumstance to which they are reacting. Follow the rule of thirds. Offer membership in our Coalition of the Kindly and assume one third will say “yes,” one third “no,” and one third will say, “I don’t know and don’t care.” So my comment writer was correct: Not everyone “will agree on a third party.”
I get it and never meant a third party in the traditional sense. It cannot be an ordinary political party with fundraisers, spin doctors, and seat seekers. When folks are seeking money and power, they are more vulnerable, differently focused. They want more than someone saying, “You are a wonderful person.” Being a wonderful person is the only goal of the Coalition of the Kindly.
OK, putting together walking the walk and the Golden Rule, my email is at the bottom of this column. Reach out to me and consider joining in. That is, if you agree on the Golden Rule part; if you can just about see how goodness and mercy, clear vision, and olde-timey values could form a bulwark; if you can almost see how to go forward unafraid, well then use my email carole42@verizon.net, sign up, and let the dialogue begin.
So then what?
Timothy Snyder, author of “On Freedom” and “On Tyranny,” suggests people should watch and listen in order to fight back. Even though leaders who wish to destabilize and overturn democracy lob bombs of misinformation daily for the purpose of exhausting and frightening the population, Snyder says these leaders can be opposed and the opposition can win.
Actually, it may be easier than you think.
- Korea marched in the streets in opposition to martial law, and there is no martial law in South Korea. Behind the scenes, the marchers had unexpected allies.
- So did we Americans. With a goal of defending and protecting democracy against those who would personally profit from destroying it, carefully selecting a central constitutional principle, people organized against the suggestion by the executive branch that the legislative branch convene and immediately recess. That upsets the constitutional balance of power, empowers the executive branch, and thereby supports autocracy—the rule by one. Consider this: It also takes power away from Congress. The unexpected ally was Congress because Congress would prefer hanging onto their constitutional power. A nudge, a “go for it, got your back” email, letter, or telephone call is all that was necessary.
Snyder suggests that those who wish to fight back must never react to every stimulus. Medicare payments at risk; the FBI becoming the privatized police force to punish Trump enemies; the FDA nixing its approval of the polio vaccine, resulting in the death of millions of children.
No matter how evocative each bomb is, no matter how true it is that words can destroy as surely as real bombs, save your energy. Snyder warns we must be strategic, select carefully, and then be unwavering. Forces grow; they are not instant—not “add water and stir” or “zap for 20 seconds.” Be patient and have faith. Mahatma Ghandi sat peacefully cross-legged hurting no one, speaking kindly, and drove the British out of his country.
Forces grow and find surprising allies. Hey, listen, if you voted for Trump because you liked his policies and thought he would bring down the price of eggs even though you realized he was not a man of good character. If six months from now you are standing in the check-out line with cartons of $7 eggs and $4 milk wondering about your choice, email us. I don’t call folks stupid for being conned. I am focused on the time and money and plain ill will that was invested in conning them. I don’t think the victim is stupid; I think the perp is mean.
Look for examples and count the road to success and the cost. It took Syria 13 years—long enough to win, long enough to level Damascus. Do not hesitate.
Do you know how many Americans were opposed to abolition? Do you know why? They feared, correctly, that abolition would lead to Civil War. If we wait to reclaim our government this time, dithering about what to oppose and when, if this is the time and this is actually a battle for the soul of America, it will cost just as much as last time.
The rewards of action are enormous. The companions of the Constitution are the children of the Age of Enlightenment. The men who wrote the Constitution were resting upon the growth of science over superstition, reason over prejudice, the power of humanity to direct its fate over predestination. They go together, enlightenment and democracy, and they will be destroyed together by opponents of democracy.
The belief that government can be a benevolent provider is the underpinning of those who support democracy. The demand to follow the Golden Rule, the decency of us underpins it all! Our collective resistance, standing together and hissing nastiness, selfishness, and willful destructiveness is not just a successful opposition; it is the only way to oppose without becoming what you fight. It is as simple as that. Does it work? Yup, think of how America stopped smoking. Anyone know where Matt Gaetz went? Join in.
