Photo: houstonchronicle.com
Back in the day, and even still, I’d have a good laugh over George H.W. Bush’s plea, or vision, of a “kinder, gentler” nation.
I have not delved into H.W.’s history, or even the Bush family’s history, so what I am about to write may be heresy in some circles. (I am familiar, however, with his deeply entrenched family ties to the House of Saud.)
I think our 41st president wanted to be and, on the whole, was an honorable human being.
My sister met him once in Houston at a local country club and she remembers two things about that encounter. He politely held the door open and he engaged well with children. Or, at least, acknowledged them. She’s a good judge of character and a lifelong liberal, so that’s good enough for me.
His presidency arrived at the end of the Reagan era which, in case you don’t recall, was a decade of things like Iran-Contra hearings, churches being surveilled for their participation in sheltering refugees, a tiny island being invaded because, well, why not? and the demonization of welfare. H.W. was Reagan’s vice president.
But he had also been Reagan’s primary opponent in 1980 and it was H.W. who famously ridiculed the ultra-conservative party members going on and on about ‘trickle down’ economics. He referred to it as ‘voodoo economics’ and, in hindsight, I sure wish conservatives had grown a conscience and a spine and relegated Reagan and his reactionary thinking to the trash bin of history.
But I’ve been thinking about H.W.’s call for America to become “kinder and gentler” because that is exactly what we sorely need right now.
I mock the journalistic autopsies on how we don’t understand the common man because the answer is clear as day for anyone to see. The common person is fed up with indifference, disparities - real and perceived, corruption and injustices. I realize now that I could have addended “real and perceived” on every one of those because that is a complication of the problem. The common man is easily duped into believing lies, misinformation and disinformation. And it is insidious and ubiquitous in the modern world.
I just finished an article outlining how the fantastical QAnon conspiracy theories are intertwined in innocuous “Well Being” franchises like essential oils and various eastern religion guru-talk. They are being used like ‘gateway’ drugs, if you will. They start out with the benign conspiracies and draw you in until you’re willing to believe the most bizarre conspiracies because they are coming from your highly trusted social influencer site.
I also just listened to a podcast how Alternate Reality Game designers see the QAnon cult as a version of an ARG. These games are designed to be addictive. The designers see QAnon as being rolled out in the same way. Part of the addiction, for ARGs and QAnon, is the community it provides. And therein lies how difficult it will be to eradicate it.
It is no wonder we have people storming the Capitol Building and being unwilling to consider the idea that we all love our country.
I also read this great column (which is succinct) from Anand Giridharadas of why America IS exceptional and it is what prompted me to write about the American need to be kinder and gentler. His column is titled, “We are falling on our face because we are jumping high. - A dash of perspective in a dark hour.” I don’t have the answers to how we get to a kinder, gentler nation but here are a few thoughts that have popped into my head while writing this.
Corporations are not people and never have been. We need to codify that.
Dark money needs to be ferreted out along with the politicians who take it.
Health care, housing and education are rights in a civilized society, not privileges.
Qualified immunity for law enforcement officers does not seem like a good idea.
Endless wars need to end. If we are going to clamp down on terrorism, let’s start at home.
Voting rights need to be expanded. The ghost of John Lewis and all other civil rights activists demand it.
The minimum wage should probably be increased and then tied to inflation.
Public monuments glorifying racism need to be removed and placed in museums.
The government needs to hire online marketing whizzes to sell science to the public. 24/7. Creative, humorous, addictive marketing techniques. Maybe a musical like Hamilton, with incredibly catchy tunes, that explains climate change.
Social media, as I’ve said previously, needs to clean up their act and actively try not to do evil.
I don’t know what to do about the cultural issues that divide us but I am hoping an embrace of science would help. I am also hopeful a more civically-minded government will initiate the ideas that could help heal our cultural divide whether people like it or not. Examples in the past would be the enactment of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and the ACA, or Obamacare as conservatives like to refer to it.
I am thankful that Hollywood and the movie industry are doing everything they can to advance the cultural ball down the field. I try to do my part by not engaging in flame contests online. No one is going to win. You’re just creating a toxic environment.
I try to do the same in my offline environment. Like that old, well-worn statement/sentiment that circulates every now and then:
Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.
I know that can be tough when encountering anti-maskers who get belligerent and stand their ground in department stores or supermarkets but, unless it is your job, I wouldn’t engage. I think not reacting to these people would be the best immediate antidote to their fury.
H.W. Bush also got ridiculed for his ‘thousand points of light’ speech and program, but it was his way of saying, hey, look, there are good things going on in the world, and we should acknowledge them. Just like John Krasinski started off the arrival of the pandemic with his immensely popular Some Good News broadcast. Just as David Byrne has championed the Reasons to Be Cheerful website. I’m sure there are many other examples of the chronicling of the positive happening in the world.
Kinder and gentler seems the most unicorn-like of pipe dreams. And we won’t get there if we do something stupid like double-down on austerity measures right when we need beneficence the most. We won’t get there if we don’t keep electing real, live, actual public servants who see their jobs as serving the public. (How novel!) We won’t get there if we don’t find a way to make the internet less destructive to social mores.
But it is a mindset that everyone - and by ‘everyone’, I mean a whole lot of people - can embrace. And it doesn’t cost a cent.
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Here’s a brief synopsis of QAnon, or as Rex Chapman put it - a QAnon PSA.
Also, Jimmy Carter with a guitar he made from a tree he planted! With every passing year, I’m more impressed with the peanut farmer from Georgia.
Thanks for reading, sharing and dropping me notes. I very much appreciate the random interactions and blasts from the past. - JLM