and a powerful path forward for good grownups
Yesterday, January 6, 2021, American law was flouted when people broke into the Capital building, committed violence and halted the business of “The People’s House.” They did this on behalf of one of the most powerful men in the world, not themselves.
Our president also broke the law in that he overtly called for an illegal march and “fight” to interrupt the regular, boring business of the Senate. Some say this is insurrection. I agree. Proving this is tougher. Let’s leave that to the lawyers.
Even more meaningful to me, are the natural and mythic laws that were not only broken, but boldly flouted too.
While Trump and his followers may “get away with” much of their profound illegality, they cannot escape the retribution of the inner and ancient gods.
The consequences that come from breaking profound human laws are real and deep. The stories we all know in the Greek Myths, the historical rising and failings of great civilizations, and what we love and hate in sports arenas inform the inevitable endings of the powerful. The consequences may not happen at our own hands or by our own laws, but they will happen. They must. Those “merely” complicit cannot escape their fate either. Soon will be the time when they’ll need the force of Mercy on their sides, but I’m not sure they will know how to dance with her. Retribution, that is one they know and dance with often.
Law One: Don’t shit where you eat.
The people’s house, The Capitol, is populated by people collectively chosen by citizens, and is responsible for how taxpayer money is spent. Committing violence and subverting this body is tantamount to crapping in your kitchen.
Law Two: Protecting bullies brings bad endings
“Protesting” Congress on behalf of a single individual is an attempt to centralize power in one place, under a single person who intimidates (instead of includes) citizens and powers he does not like. Historically, the stories of those who have aligned with the cruel and powerful, tend to fall as violently as the head.
Law Three: Fighting for underdogs brings honor
And just as fighting on behalf of a singular power brings bad ends in literature and myth; fighting on behalf of the meek, the underdogs and the powerless brings glory.
Law Four: Crying hypocrisy is a distraction
Regardless of how we call out hypocrisy– or have our own highlighted by our enemies– it has no import. Most people stop with that little nugget of outraged satisfaction. But do not get fed by that: all that matters is our action, each day, and our loud and clear call for freedom and fairness for the meekest among us.
Law Five: In Love and in Politics, loyalty must only be given to the good.
You may withdraw it freely just as the powerful do.
Loyalty has many Senators and even the Vice President shaking their heads today, “but I did all this for him, and this is what he did?” The confusion of trusting loyalty as a good force in and of itself is an error. Loyalty is a gift to be given, and taken away when appropriate. Those who accumulate power and avoid consequences will utilize loyalty as a shiny object to grant ficklely, and yet demand it consistently from others. Do not fall for this trick.
Law Six: Never underestimate the power of the mysterious and its “discovery”
As in a good video game, Trump supporters are given mental cookie-like rewards each time they hunt down and find another conspiratorial nugget on the internet. They feel suspicious (a natural response given their poorly placed loyalties) and then find planted leads to follow that end in their belief in the unbelievable. There is deep satisfaction for a moment: the deep, mythic worry they naturally feel is quenched for an instant. They feel they’ve earned knowledge, and that this knowledge (q anon, global cabals, etc.) is superior to knowledge shared and documented by journalists.
This kind of “discovered” information never satisfies, because the paranoia they innately feel by being used as pawns to the powerful, keeps cropping up from inside. Again and again, they search, then misplace their trust (see law five above), and the cycle continues. New suspicion, new search, new find of the unbelievable answer, new misidentified enemy….
As those who ignore the actual abuse of children* by their leader “find” unsubstantiated cabals of pedophilia are childlike in their response to life. Childlike in their misplaced and firm loyalty in a parental figure who acts to strip the power of their vote and offer them only frequent, glitzy nuggets of righteous indignation instead. What is surprising, is that this group of children decided to act yesterday. This is notable.
Plain truth remains the most powerful in the ultimate battle, but the Jack Nicholson line is too: “The Truth. You can’t handle the truth!” Some, sadly cannot handle it, because they have invested (and pledged loyalty to) the mushy, misled mysteries instead. Ignore these ‘children,’ and carry on with action as the adult you are. This is your only recourse.
Law Seven: The Truth Shall Set You Free
This may seem like a contradiction to law six, but is not. Law Seven is the law of power of action. Knowing the truth and strategic action based on empirical information (what you can see, smell, hear, touch, taste, AKA reality), brings real results. While you attempt to shake a child-like mind into reality by speaking truth, you are more often just scaring it. Children do not like to think of the world as a difficult place, unless they have a strong ‘parent’ to protect them. If the evil force IS the parent, leave the children be. They cannot see the truth, because it will terrify them.
Instead, take action and interact ONLY with people who behave as, and appear to believe, as adults. Vote, use tools of organization, use the law, use writing, use economic forces, and people in the street to peacefully compel the leaders in place that you; 1) know and can handle the truth and 2) expect –and demand– outcomes that support all people, especially the meek.
Law of Sanctimony
More on this one later. This is at the core of many, many problems we are experiencing right now.
*separating children from parents at the border, keeping poor records, and transporting these separated children across state lines to the benefit only of private trafficking companies making money off their transport and care. Allegations of child abuse are also rampant.