Coping

I am, or was, a political nerd. I studied European History and Political Science at university. I grew up in a family that I later quipped held the DFL as our religion and the union our god. I volunteered on George McGovern's presidential campaign. My first political action of protest was several walkouts in high school protesting the Vietnam war. I dutifully attended our caucuses and was a district delegate for the DFL several times. This is to give a little background into my deeply held convictions and action. I say this because I have come to a point in my worldview where I have stopped paying attention, or as much as I can. I would like to say it started with Donald Trump. No, it did not. The downfall really got rolling with Ronald Reagan, then Bill Clinton, moved onto Bush II and came to a crescendo with Barack Obama. Trump was a natural conclusion. If natural can in anyway be used in anything Trump. As I see Europe taking a step into authoritarianism and the US teetering on the brink, perhaps a little more than teetering, I think back to history and realize all things seem to come around again. There is something in human beings which has a self-destructive bent. It's like a moth drawn to a flame. We cannot help ourselves. The planet is heating at an accelerated rate and we scream for more oil production. A pandemic happens, a deluded moron talks about drinking bleach and it's treated as another day in the life. We have an insurrection and the Party of Patriots applauds. These same stellar beings have fallen head over heels for Vladimir Putin, the very people of the party of Joseph McCarthy. The same people who decried Sharia Law when a national healthcare system was proposed but cheer the so-called morality laws being enacted across the country. The True Patriots who cannot see democracy eroding right under their noses, who pipe up with "we're not a Democracy, we are a Republic". These people who call me a sheep as they gather gape-jawed in worship of a grifter. Billionaires go into space while their American brethren cannot afford insulin. I have realized I have no control over any of this. It's a steamroller on the history loop. Unfortunately, we are running out of time. If nuclear weapons don't end our future, climate change will. It's the elephant in the room, it may be ignored but it's larger than we are and eventually will walk over us all. 

My coping mechanism is to live my life the best I am able. I tell Mark we drink the wine, eat the food. Plant the garden, pet the animals. Be kind. I have no control over what Vladimir Putin will do. I have control over what I do. My world has narrowed down to this.