A strong dose of realism. An infusion of common sense. A swift and piercing shot in the arm of pragmatism. However you want to take it, that’s what is needed right now, in this moment of fragile and consequential global economic, environmental, and social change.
A lot has changed in the past few years. Some might say, everything is different. Some might say that the speed of change is welcomed. Others might say, let’s pump the brakes, hard, come to a complete stop and turn this car around! And yet others are burnt-out on all the supercharged rhetoric and have grown, much like a stereotypical Gen-Xer, apathetic to the state of change and affairs that are actively shaping our world.
The Pendulum [and Culture] of Extremism Has Distracted Everyone from doing their Civic Duty
I sense and believe wholeheartedly that people are sick and tired of extreme personalities, points-of-view, and polarizing politics. Think of the earth and humanity swinging like a pendulum between the polar extremism of the far left and right, as shown below. The pendulum of extremism has been steadily swinging between the far right and far left of logical thinking and pragmatic behavior for the past few years. There are clear and present risks on either side of the far left and right. There is also a zone of pragmatism, closer to the center, “where constructive things can get done.”
The zone of pragmatism is not devoid of risk. It does however, provide greater opportunity for constructive dialog which can yield compromise and more cohesive decision-making. For the past few years, the pendulum of extremism has swung rapidly and even violently between the polar right and left. This has created and fueled tension, uncertainty, fear, and cynicism among citizens and consumers. Overlay this period of divergent and divisive discourse with economic insecurity and social unrest and people begin to feel as if their American promise for prosperity has been lost.
Not all, but many of us have been passively watching and listening from the sidelines, as an ‘entertainment of extremism’ has created a lot of noise and interrupted our lives. This culture of extremism has introduced new names and faces of people peddling their skewed perspectives on all that is going awry in the world. It has been frustrating, disheartening, and annoying to witness the proliferation of people with polarizing principles ratcheting up their entrenched positions, often with extreme points of view and behavior.
We are living in a dangerous moment of derelict extremists cooking up distrust and divisiveness in American politics and culture. This culture is also a broader mirror to what's transpiring in global society. For some, the past few years of extremism may have been a needed release, in order for a wider population to see, hear, and try to understand the realities of the changing world around them. With peace, prosperity, and the planet now in the balance, the stakes are too high to simply be entertained and not engage in substantive, meaningful, and respectful dialog on our fate and freedom.
There is no need to walk you through all the historic events and societal pain points, or the twisted labyrinth of nonsensical lies we’ve been telling ourselves, or which have been told to us as associated with demagogue politicians, unsocial media, entertainment news pundits and sources, or those newly informed neighbors, friends, or family members that led to our wildly swinging pendulum. Doing so would be a lose-lose endeavor. If you’re reading this, then you are clearly alive and have formulated your own perspective on how the world is unfolding and what it means for your life. My objective is not to sway your pendulum of perspective in one direction or another. I do hope however, that we can agree that extremism is not leading any of us to a better quality of life or to greater prosperity. In fact, it’s wasting our time, energy, and patience.
Extremism has led us down a demonic path of unproductive self-righteousness. In this talk louder, act bigger and bolder, bullyish climate of nonsensical debate, everyone is losing. We all know that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” and certain demagogues in training have made it their selfish mission to say and be as outrageous as they possibly can. They know that the media loves soundbites, and that most Americans have short attention spans and are easily entertained. Such dissidents deliberately seek to obfuscate reality, distort the truth, and try to be as squeaky as they can be. Looking back at the disdain and distrust exhibited by so many people over the past few years, it’s no wonder we continue to see an escalation in mental health, civil unrest, geopolitical disfunction, and social upheaval. In this toxic and extreme climate, people have been unloved, fearful, angry, alone, hungry, and in search of truth and justice.
Peace, prosperity, and the planet lie in the balance this election cycle. In recent years we've witnessed a deterioration of social institutions that have traditionally provided the glue that binds people, ideas, and political will together. As social constructs have been turned upside down, it has created a vacuum that has been filled with an endless barrage of sensationalized soundbites that have fueled anger, apathy, and distrust. People are, generally less tolerant and trusting of each other. When the social glue no longer bonds us together, we falter. As a result, democracy is weakened.
Unfortunately, ‘we the people’ have turned on each other, more than any time in my living memory. We currently lack the necessary leadership, common purpose, and common sense in how we are pursuing what I call, ‘planet pragmatism,’ – which is a means to say – prosperity for all living things, people and planet. Plain and simple, people are in search of principled leadership and a new pathway to prosperity. Accordingly, I believe people are yearning for these same traits across the spectrum of stakeholders that shape and occupy their lives – from politicians and elected officials, corporations and governments, to community-based organizations and our public safety and service professionals.
Put the Playground Bully in His Place
Let me extend with you this quick metaphor. When I was a child, which does not feel all that long ago, there was a decorum of how one should behave in public that was projected and expected by elders, men and women alike. I want to focus on men for just a moment. Male figures including my grandfathers, father, uncles, and other men never stood for anyone (typically other men) that were outright demeaning to other people, aka bullies.
Bullies come in many shapes and sizes and cover a spectrum of personalities and behaviors. Truthfully, most of the men I knew growing up were not the posterchild for being inclusive, unbiased, self-aware, or what many today would characterize as woke. In fact, they were just the opposite. For better or for worse, this was the community I grew up in forty years ago. It was masculine and flawed. It perpetuated male dominated control within institutions and across societal constructs including religion, marriage, occupational and community hierarchy.
Anyone that has self-awareness and humility understands that each of us have our biases and flaws, encoded by our genetics, the environment in which we grew up in, and a myriad of other factors. The men I grew up with were, and remain, imperfect. They had and continue to have, their faults, as men, husbands, fathers, grandfathers, citizens, and has humans.
That said, most of the men I once knew, at least those that remain alive, have evolved considerably in their demeanor and decorum. They have generally become less rigid in how they think about their community and the world around them. They have, as painstakingly slow as it may have seemed, become a little more aware, inclusive, and mature. Again, they are not perfect, and there remains a long way to go for many men. That said, there are some men that have regrettably, retreated. These dissidents have attempted to insulate themselves from the dynamics of a changing society and world. Some have doubled down on their inherent biases fueled by fear, ignorance, and false innuendos that are reinforced by the sheltered echo chambers that they choose to identify with and hide behind.
I can say with a definitiveness that the men I once witnessed within my childhood community were not afraid to speak up and speak out. For example, they did not stand for profanity being used in public, by anyone. They did not stand for any person that degraded and mistreated women, children, or their fellow neighbors. The men I saw four decades ago were outspoken, but not in an ego-driven selfish way. Rather, the men I grew up with carried themselves with strong character, unified by an unspoken creed to uphold values such as mutual respect of others, kindness, neighborliness, and servitude.
Right or wrong, I began to associate the character traits of those men from my childhood as American values. Forty years ago, men and women stood for something. They protected their home, their family, their faith, and their community. They fought for their ideals. They didn’t make a federal case out of every action, word, or gesture. Regular people took it upon themselves to uphold their principles and their doctrine of democracy, in the everyday pursuit of prosperity. Where are all of those people today? Those trusted souls that stand up for the common good, and for everyone? Well too many people, as I have come to understand, are sitting on the sidelines – quiet, alone, and afraid. They are fearful of a bully – one that should have been sent home to his mama, long ago.
To be clear, what I’m trying to describe is deeper than the “tough-guy and tough-love father figure” too often romanticized in movies (typically written, directed and produced, by a man). Sure, I suppose that man once existed. But what I witnessed in my youth was something more visceral and foundational to upholding the values of society, at least for that time. Men kept other men in check, plain and simple. Let me further explain, before you cancel me on any grounds pertaining to an entrenched and toxic culture of masculinity that has only perpetuated a decline of social cohesion and progression.
My choice to introduce this topic is neither to praise nor defend men, let alone attempt to define what role they should have served in the past, or serve within society today. Discussing how society pursues prosperity within the confines of gender roles and responsibilities is now rendered unproductive and unnecessary. At this point in time, we are all in this together. We all have our unique individual and the collective roles and responsibilities we need to serve if we are to continue down the path of ‘planet prosperity.’
For now, let me sum this up another way. The men I knew forty years ago would never have allowed a womanizing, disgusting demagogue and dictator wannabe to bully his way into power. The men I knew would have popped that punk in the mouth the second he put another person down. The men I knew would then have dragged that arrogant boy to his house for another round of reckoning by his mother. I am not advocating for violence; I am simply making an observation and point on the character and will of individuals living within society today. For many reasons we have been complicit in the recent advance of bullies, the animation of their bad behaviors, and the ascent of beastly leaders. It has long been time for us to stop this nonsense that perpetuates the swift and polarizing pendulum swings which we have ridden the past few years.
Don't Be Fooled by False Saviors; Democracy Only Exists in the Present
So, with sincerity and as an obviously charged point of view I ask, where do we ALL stand today? Who will avenge us? Let’s not allow one man, or his simple minded and selfish acolytes continue to emasculate us. It is all our responsibility to take the playground back! For anyone that is seeking a ‘savior,’ in their next President, Congressperson, Senator, Legislator, or CEO – sincerely ask yourself, what makes you believe that you need a savior? Have you not been doing your job as an active citizen and steward of your community, your livelihood, and the planet?
False saviors are not what we need right now. We need true leadership, the type that understands the job is not about them, it’s about those they serve. We need leaders that are principled and pragmatic, grounded by strong values, character, discipline, and resolve. What we need more of right now, more than what any singular leader that holds a political office or that is perched on the pedestal of tech or business power is capable of providing, is for “we the people” to cooperate in the zone of pragmatism with common sense for the common good, with the tenacity of those that once pushed playground punks out of bounds.
No singular leader will make miracles happen. We need to reign in the swift and polarizing modulation of the pendulum of extremism. We don’t need a savior, a dictator, or divisive deviant who only knows how to bully his way to power by making others fearful of sharing their values and beliefs. The only saving we need right now, is from ourselves. We can and will regain our purest form of democracy, one that is most peaceful, prosperous, and powerful when it is governed by the people, for the people. To get there, we need to quell the unserious and unfit dictators from advancing any further. The time has come to stop those that make a mockery of democracy in their tracks.
Enough is enough, already. Haven’t we all been adequately entertained, or worse, become anxious and fearful, by the pendulum of extremism? It is time to get back to the real and serious business of genuinely serving and uplifting each other as we continue to pursue individual and collective freedom, prosperity, and peace, at home and abroad.
Democracy and prosperity are never a given. They must be proactively pursued. Democracy does not exist in the past or the future. It only exists, as it always has, in the present. Right now, we are losing, at the hands of men (and one bully of a man in particular) that want “you, me, and we,” to be afraid, ashamed, and alone. I don’t believe that is not the democracy that anyone remembers, or wants now. The alarm has been ringing, and too many of us have been hitting the snooze button for far too long. It’s time to wake up and remember our role as a steward and as a shaper of democracy, for a better today and much brighter tomorrow.
The big political stage is set. The outcome will obviously matter a great deal. We must not forget, however, that the protection of democracy and pursuit of prosperity remain our ultimate right and responsibility. The November election results will undoubtedly play a significant role in shaping America’s future. As citizens and consumers, we have an obligation not to allow the line-up or outcome of the political stage to subjugate our individual rights and overarching democracy. For democracy to prevail we must be willing to let those that are afraid, alone, and unseen be able to be heard and seen.
As stewards of democracy, we also have a responsibility to roll up our sleeves and get to work. The act of participation in an open and free democracy extends much further than casting a vote. The complicit culture of in-fighting, intimidation, and ignorance is ripping our communities and country apart, and it must stop. Through more constructive, inclusive, and respectful discourse, we can rediscover what principled leadership looks like and allow it to work for our generation. But we must also be willing to temper the climate of extreme sensationalism that may drive ratings, but only serve to pit American against American and further widen and deepen the chasm that is undermining our democracy from within.
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