I am highly frustrated at this moment. I will get over it. I have been in similar frustration many times over the 83 years I have meandered planet Earth this time around. What do we do with such frustrations? In times past, walking into the woods, along the beach listening to splashing waves, or speaking to a friend in the park, eased my rough edges. Whatever the frustration, time, space, friends, and places in nature were easy to find. They were free, and they were the medicine that soothed my soul.
Freedom is not so accessible these days. Over time, greed, manipulation, fraud, lies, and electrical-magnetic changes interrupt the air, water, and earth beneath our feet. Angst and impatience among families and friends turn us against one another. A harsh word or laughter at the wrong moment may bring anger and a rash desire to get even. A fight may occur, or the idea of getting even may turn to buying a gun to stop the hurt by suicide, mass shooting in a school, or slaughtering people of different colors, religions, or countries.
Many men are putting their greed for more power, money, and control over their “imagined empires of potential enslaved people.” They are inflaming this time of great chaos, lies, and tribalism. Many people are pushing back, ready to face death, rather than bending to the demands of would-be dictators or corrupt governments. They refuse to be slaves to political fights, lies, taxes, denigration, color, religion, gender differences, and women’s control over their own bodies. They are ready to demand a total collapse of world order to actualize the power of the people shouting in their own languages the famous Patrick Henry’s call, “Give me liberty or give me death!”
What can we do? Get educated, not by governmental tyranny, instead by reading, researching, and demanding that all institutes of education allow students to access all books, movies, and electronic sources, to allow debate, and to learn history not only from the victors of tyranny but by the losers and the lost. Organize massive nonviolent protests demanding equal opportunities for all citizens regardless of color, ethnicity, or place of birth; refusing to pay taxes until corporations, politicians, managers, lawyers, and all businesses are held to the same standard; eliminate the insane law that corporations are equal to individual people, and return schools to well-trained educators, not unhinged parents or politicians.
We cannot go backward. Nothing can improve by continuing the same processes that brought it to fruition. War begets war. Crazy politicians beget crazy politicians. Police, politicians, corporations, governments, reporters, and judges must follow the same rules and be held to the same consequence they invoke; or be removed immediately from any office they hold. The supreme court judges must get honest, be held to the highest standards and laws, and be held to time limits. If death, illness, or crime inhibits their ability to perform, a nomination process for a new judge must begin immediately, regardless of the party in office.
Businesses and corporations must all be held to the exact legal requirements as individuals. Communities must ensure that rental properties, homes, and shelters treat all people respectfully and in the same manner, regardless of color, religion, ethnicity, or wealth.
No person can be made to be honest, speak kindly, help one another, protect the environment, admire wild animals, stop pollution, or imitate bird songs. Yet, any such action might be an excellent cure for any frustration.
M. Chandler McLay © February 15, 2023