Explaining Myself To Friends

When our hearts are pure, our differences are small.

Photo by Taylor Smith on Unsplash

This is a free public post. I wanted to explain myself to certain friends who I trust and value, but don’t often see. We have some disagreements, but I consider those trivial. I deeply value and respect them.

But nowadays we live far apart, and I want us to better understand each other. We don’t have to agree, but I think it’s important that we bridge the divide. In the process of my talking to them, others who follow me on Medium, and especially those who take an interest in the movement, The Saners, might want to read this, too.

The Recent Election and More

Skip and Gary — you supported Jill Stein (or perhaps skipped voting) in the recent election. Neither wanted Trump (so kudos to you both!), and you both probably thought that Kamala Harris was responsible for genocide in Gaza. Anyone who supported Harris was an accomplice, either intentional or inadvertent.

I’d like to believe that you saw me as foolish and mistaken and not as a proponent of genocide.

But to clarify, here’s what I really thought (and still think.)

1. We couldn’t count on either Harris or Trump to prevent the violence and slaughter by the Israelis in Gaza. Nor would Stein prevent it because she had zero chance of becoming president.
2. As Vice President, Harris did not make policy on Gaza or anything else. Under our system, the VP has very, very little power and typically serves at the pleasure of the president. That said, I would have preferred and been very impressed if Harris had publicly broken with Biden on Gaza. She did not.
3. Trump WAS president and DID make policy and we know both what he says and does with regard to Palestinians and Muslims. Right after taking office in 2017, he instituted a Muslim ban. I remember going to the airport in Philadelphia to protest the Muslim ban. I am an introvert, and uncomfortable around crowds, but I still attended this (and several other protests) over the years. (Today, I am less introverted.)
4. Trump is openly and clearly both racist and sexist and has instituted policies that are genuinely damaging to people of color and women. And many others.
5. Since neither Harris nor Trump seemed likely to stop the carnage in Gaza, and nobody else was going to win the election, our real choice was who would be better on other important issues.
6. All presidents serve within a system awash in corporate money, and the corrupting influence and power that favors the wealthy, and cares little if at all about anyone else.
7. Yet, within those restrictions, Trump was and is demonstrably significantly worse on nearly every issue. He wants to gut Social Security and Medicare and repeal the Affordable Care Act. As insufficient as these programs are, weakening or eliminating them would (and perhaps will, thanks to the election of Trump) create immense and real suffering for millions of people.
8. For all her shortcomings — Harris is a fairly ordinary politician and Trump is something else altogether — Harris would not implement the same level of abusive policies and behaviors that Trump clearly espouses.

I did not nor do not see Harris as a savior. But I do believe, under any system, who holds power can do more damage or less damage, and we should try to support the one who would do less damage.

I believe that we should have (and actually did) elect Gore in 2000. Not because he’s perfect but because he would have done far less harm to the climate than Texas oilman George W. Bush. In fact, I believe that 2000 was the most consequential election in history, because in 2000 we had more time and a better chance of preventing climate collapse than we do today.

But I also believe that in a system awash in Big Oil money, even Gore’s commitment to protecting the climate would have been woefully insufficient. But significantly better than what George W. Bush did.

Jill Stein, whatever her merits, had no chance to become president and a vote for her instead of Harris simply made it easier for Trump to win. I am not angry at you for supporting Stein or not voting at all. But I do believe you made a strategic mistake with serious consequences.

I certainly may be wrong. But I also don’t believe that the existing dominant systems — political and economic — in the United States or other countries including China, Russia, India, Europe and elsewhere — offer any real opportunity to solve today’s crises or create a better world.

I believe in movements. Conventional politics, at best, can simply delay the worst. But movements — properly focused and executed — can make lasting significant improvements. Indeed, the only hope to prevent climate collapse, in my view, is a movement.

How Can We Be Effective?

So, here’s where I believe there’s certainly a chance that you may be right and I may be wrong. I don’t believe that 3rd party candidates can win, and even if they could, I don’t believe that they could make much of a difference because they would be operating within corrupt systems that favor the (crazy and dangerous) ultra-wealthy.

Personally, I think Angela Davis would make a much better president than Jill Stein. But I don’t think she could win and even her brilliance would make little positive improvement under our American system of plutocracy.

Still, I’d like to see her in the Oval Office. And I’d like to see someone less evil than Putin in the Kremlin, even if it remained a stupid and cruel kleptocracy. And the same holds for my view of leaders in other countries. I want the least damaging leaders we can possibly get. I see 3rd party candidates, at least in America, as at best a remote possibility.

But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe we COULD build up 3rd parties and get significantly better leaders. And maybe, perhaps by using the soapbox and bully pulpit, a great leader could overcome the plutocracy by appealing directly to the people. One could argue that FDR did that, to some degree, during his 4 terms.

I may be mistaken, but I believe that’s very unlikely and nearly impossible. If you believe I’m mistaken, I must say I don’t think you are being unreasonable and under those circumstances you SHOULD oppose my position which looks like settling for lesser evils when better is possible and achievable.

That said, now you better understand my views.

The Saners

As you probably know, I have been focused on the climate crisis because, in my view, if the climate collapses then every other issue becomes moot. Searching for a group to join, one that had an effective strategy to prevent climate collapse, I concluded that no such group exists.

So, I started my own. The Saners still has a small membership (numbering in the hundreds) but we are in half of the United States and globally in more than 20 countries. I have begun trying to start up local chapters with people who meet in person to help each other, help their communities, and learn to be effective activists harnessing nonviolent noncooperation to disempower Big Oil and other dangerous forces in the world.

Now, I may sound unrealistic and naive. Sometimes I sound that way to myself! But I have spent quite a bit of time studying movements, what has worked historically and what has failed and why. I believe I now know enough (though I’m still learning!) to guide The Saners, and to help grow them into an effective force for good. I believe there is a genuine possibility that The Saners could succeed, or that we could inspire someone else to more skillfully harness nonviolent noncooperation and succeed.

I don’t really care how it happens, just that it DOES happen. If someday we elect Jill Stein and she prevents climate collapse, there would be nobody happier than me. If some other activist group — not The Saners — stabilizes the climate and ensures a better future for incoming generations, I will be deliriously happy.

I think I am very much like you. I want a healthy Earth. I want an end to exploitation. I want everyone to have healthy food, medicine and everything they need to live joyful lives. I want an end to all violence. I want those who consider each other enemies and who currently abuse each other to reverse course, see the error in their ways, and become caring friends.

Some of this sounds impossible but I believe WE can move the needle in the right direction. I am trying to do that. As I see it, you are attempting to do the same in your own ways.

That’s one reasons I respect and care about you. That, and a thousand other reasons.

Thank you for listening and for all you do. In particular, I need to point out how impressed I am with Skip who went to Europe and personally helped refugees who were otherwise not being greeted as fellow human beings. Skip set an example in a world where excuses for cruelty or inaction are rampant. I only hope that my efforts are as honorable and make a real difference as yours have done.

For those reading who may be interested in The Saners, you can learn about them at WeAreSaners.org and you can sign up at WeAreSaners.org/join.

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