Analogies: Setting the Rules

Imagine you were starting a TV reality show with two groups of people - group A and group B. Each week they had to play some sort of game or contest and the winner got first choice of a limited supply of food for the week. To start things off, group A gets to choose the game and set the rules for the first contest. Don’t you think it’s likely they would set up rules to favor themselves? Even if they tried to be fair, you know the game would be tilted to their advantage, because there is nothing to stop them and no punishment if they do. It’s just human nature.

So Group A wins the contest. No surprise there. But here’s the kicker: the winner of the contest each week gets to set the rules for the following week’s contest. Winner's rules - that’s the American way. Now after several weeks of Group A winning and Group B going hungry, Group B will complain it isn’t fair. But Group A says they're simply following the rules. Group B starts each week with just as much chance to win. And maybe even feeling a little sorry for Group B, Group A now tries to set rules which are actually fair, though after months of eating well and Group B living off their crumbs, it’s hardly surprising that even under equal rules Group A keeps winning. But it's fair, right?

It’s not just about making sure everyone follows the same rules. It’s about setting up fair rules. It’s about leveling the playing field by making up for unfairness in the past. Life is a set of rules called society, and it wasn’t created by some neutral third party. Our rules were determined by those who took advantage of their advantages in the past, and they are propagated by those who win in a system that advantages them. Fairness is a different path entirely.

Analogies: Removing a Pencil from your Eye

Imagine I stuck a pencil in your eye. That’s clearly wrong. It was done with deliberate intent to hurt you and as long as that pencil was there you’d be in pain, half-blinded and full of rage. But what if you went to the ER and the doctor said he couldn’t remove it. He didn’t want to upset me and I clearly wanted that pencil to be in your eye. How else will you remember that I hate you, how else will I remember that time when I was able to hurt you so much? Two wrongs don’t make a right. Crazy, right? Who cares what I think - get that damn pencil out of my eye and do it NOW!

Most of the Confederate monuments in this country were put up long after the war. They were put in public spaces often without discussion, paid for by private groups, certainly without the support of African Americans who often weren’t allowed to vote at the time. They were erected to remind those descendants of slaves who really controlled those public spaces. There is nothing honorable or decent about the actions they memorialize, a war fought against this country to support the institution of slavery. They were a pencil to the eye of equality, and as such need to be removed. That it still entails debate is a sad commentary on the moral fiber of our country.

It's not Trump, it's Republicans

Trump is no longer the story - he is what he is, we all know what he is and he’s not going to change. Sure, what he does still deserves attention and has very important repercussions on the world, but the deep-seated problem we need to discuss is not about one man. It’s about many. Republicans have embraced Trump, they voted him into power, they support his policies and actions, they deny or decry any reality that doesn’t agree with their fantasy world-view. The entire party apparatus has built the Trump phenomenon through decades of attacks on political institutions, public norms, and the rights and liberties of those who disagree with them. Trump is the result, not the cause.

A majority of Republicans would support postponing elections to keep Trump in power, a majority would like to ban immigrants based on religion, a majority believe Obama is a Kenyan-born Muslim. They believe Trump won the popular vote, that climate change isn’t happening and certainly isn’t caused by human activity. They don’t believe Trump Jr. met with Russians even after he admitted it and released the emails confirming the meeting. They believe trickle down economics works, that crime is at an all-time high, that colleges have a negative effect on our country. They don’t believe discrimination based on race/gender/religion is real or significant, that Russia hacking our elections is a problem, or that humans evolved from monkeys. They really don’t like Obamacare but they’re okay with the Affordable Care Act.

I’ve talked before about the false equivalency that’s so often drawn between our two political parties, and some of that is policy ideas and honest debates over data analysis and historical records, but most of it comes down to the crazy. Republicans - party leaders, conservative think-tanks, right-wing media - have gone out of their way to destroy a fact-based, reasoning electorate in order to tribalize their side into a win-at-all-costs political machine. In many ways it has worked: Republicans dominate government both nationally and locally in spite of being a minority in overall numbers and on the polling for most important issues. And now we’re stuck with ‘the base’, the twenty-five percent or so of Americans who are die-hard Republicans, who will vote for anyone with an R after their name, will believe anything their dear leader tells them, who will ignore/deny/attack any facts or information that threaten their world-view, and have become so detached from the shared reality rational people use as a base for communication that they cannot even hear us.

It’s a scary time. Trump will burn out but the problem will remain. They’ll jump behind the next demagogue who suggest the ‘others’ are to blame and willingly toss away the foundation of our democracy through a constitutional convention in the name of safety. Safety from a threat that doesn’t exist. The only hope I see is to pull back those who are standing at the edge but have not jumped, those Republicans who have misgivings about our current state of affairs even if they’re willing to go along for a chance at a tax cut or two. But in looking at the beliefs held by a majority of the party, it’s hard to see where these reasonable, rational Republicans might be hiding out. Wherever you are, please come out into the light before we all end up in a darkness too deep to escape.