Responsible Progressivism

(Originally published on Medium.com)

I have lived the entirety of my life in the shadow of hate, and in the warm embrace of love.

As have most people — I daresay all people who are yet alive, for I don’t think there is a person alive who can live without at least some love, and who has not experienced at least some hate.

I have seen that hate attempt to overshadow love out of fear for a present situation, out of fear of the unknown, out of a desire to impart knowledge, out of sheer frustration at not knowing what to do or how to respond —

As we have likely all seen, and even done, at times.

And we all know the pain that such acts bring, whether we wish to agree or disagree on the far-reaching ramifications of such pain; and whether we wish to agree or disagree on the ultimate verdict in judging such actions.

But what seems undeniable to me is this:

We humans have been trying to manage our societies, communities and cultures with a heavy hand, with the sword, with hatred and violence for a very long time, with what quiet exceptions we barely know, as those quiet exceptions often fade away in the annuals of history and become as myths and legends, with very little left from which to learn.

And yet, we are — every day — faced with the choice to hate or to love; to respond with hatred or with love; to disregard and dismiss or to pause and understand.

Doubtless, it is a difficult path to tread: to love and to understand; for it may take an extreme amount of effort, patience, information, trust to continue loving, and to reach even the slightest understanding; and consequences may be hoped for, but not guaranteed.

Yet it is just as difficult a path to walk in hatred, and to let violence take our hand, our heart, our mind firstly and rashly — for the consequences of this path are not seen and may not be understood for moments, days, years, centuries, millennia, eons — if ever.

So, with two equally-difficult paths in which consequences cannot be known or guaranteed before-the-fact, how does one choose which path to take?

We have discovered at least some things, in our paths as humans:

We have organized our societies, predominantly and increasingly, towards non-violence — presumably because we have learned that this keeps our species alive.

We have increasingly removed and restricted violent acts from the realm of permissible behavior, even to the point of disapproving of and attempting to disallow psychological and emotional trauma towards each other (although we admit proving such trauma is both simple and complex).

So, why do we permit our political organizations, affiliations and interactions to remain predominantly violent — physically, psychologically and emotionally — and to rely upon violent ends — physically, psychologically and emotionally — in so many ways within the realm of politics?

Why is it that we cannot have a truly rational conversation regarding political organizations, political perspectives, political actions, political machinations?

Is it the nature of politics; or is it merely the habit we have adopted, unthinkingly, from such violent ancestors as those who would violently take power over other humans, who would use violent psychological and emotional means and methods to take and hold such power over other humans, to captivate people in fearful ways in order to assert a dominant will through violent methods — instead of guiding a people towards a rational predilection through intelligent persuasion?

It seems clear to me that we are upholding a violent tradition — without realizing what we are doing.

And actions are always stronger than mere words, unless those words are our predominant action.

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