Expectation of Others in this Difficult Political Time
by Christine Merser
Over the past few months, I have had many conversations about the lack of action from others as we face this critical moment on America’s version of the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. Many of us are trying to get everyone into lifeboats, while others are finishing their dinners, talking about it all but doing nothing.
I was born with agency. In our family, where my dad was revered and feared, I was the only one who had any agency with him. In school, I was a leader, always walking into the room without a thought about whether I belonged or not, or, for that matter, whether I had earned the right to have a voice that spoke first. In business, I was never afraid to sit at the table where I wanted, next to whomever I wanted. It wasn’t exactly arrogance—it just was, well, me. I never thought about it.
So, when fear and loathing started to emerge about a year ago—that DT could re-emerge from the ashes of what should have been his political death—I got back on the activist horse I’ve had at my disposal all these years and have spent considerable time over these last months trying to make sure next Tuesday is not the end of the country that ensured my natural agency had places to root. I’m proud of what I’ve done, and I’m grateful to many of you following me at We The People Dispatch, where a daily to-do and thoughtful commentary have grown over these months.
But I’ve been hurt and terrified. Furious, in some cases, at the lack of action from so many around me. WTF? Are you really going to sit there and do nothing other than take up time talking about how awful it all is and how scared we all are? Where are the masses hitting the streets?
After Biden won in 2020, I was in the car with someone very close to me. He was celebrating. I wasn’t. I knew that this wasn’t going away, and my fear was that the actions we all took to make sure DT wasn’t re-elected would end with Biden’s tenure. He got very angry at me.
“Give it time; let’s see what happens.”
“There is no time. We have to continue because this isn’t going away.”
“You don’t know what they are doing.”
And he continued to parrot what he read in The NY Times, and I continued to reflect on what I was reading and fearing it was nowhere near enough. He was content to discuss it daily but take no action toward changing it. I was not.
Then there were some of my wealthy friends. They continued to want to protect their money without any encumbrance like taxes or oversight. It still overshadows all their better angels. DT is their guy. They don’t really care about the rest of it. I stood up, shaking with rage, appealing to their potential loss of all their gold and trinkets if the world falls apart, if not to their moral fiber.
Then there were my Jewish friends (all still intact, I hope) talking about how America has to commit to what Israel wants, or they’re out. Is it possible they don’t understand that Trump could end up putting them in camps in a few years? Literally. Consider voting for Trump because you don’t like what Biden has done, or hasn’t done? Huh? This week, I’m wondering if they saw the Madison Square Garden foreshadowing and are running to retrieve that early vote they sent in a week ago?
And people we all know who have children. Girls. They talk the talk but aren’t doing anything. Nothing. Huh?
People call me, talking about the apathy of action, and we are all stunned. Speaking to my sister each day, we reinforce fear and concern, both of us stunned by the state of the union and the lack of action among our fellow citizens. Such wasted energy.
I woke up this week, and I realized that we all care. We are all patriots (okay, not some of my wealthy friends, but leave them out of this for now). My core comes with a tool called activism. It’s in my DNA. It’s who I am, and I am so grateful to have it, that it was nurtured by my father and my grandparents. I am one lucky, newly humbled human. I will march on, and as things unfold, others will join (they already have). I will lament the wasted time and negative energy I’ve put into being mad, sad, and terrified at the lack of action by so many of my fellow Americans.
Others have different tools, many of them oh-so-valuable to me and the world. The man who kept telling me to hush and see what happens (for years) was not born with agency. He rose from the basement of a tenement building to great heights and has done much for his people; he is a good soul. But his DNA is different from mine, and I threaten his path, and he threatens mine. Both paths have value. Every person in my life has value. Every person has strengths and weaknesses, including me.
But I still see one action that everyone must do. Vote. I beg you.