The Unbearable Lightness of Inaction

“It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important.

You have to do the right thing. 

It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. 

But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. 

You may never know what results come from your action. 

But if you do nothing, there will be no result.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

This is a quick post with its message focused on the importance of taking action (versus taking none), regardless of whether the desired outcome is guaranteed. It was prompted by a contentious conversation I had last night at a local Meetup event with two individuals whom I'd never met before. One was female (under 30) and the other was male (50ish).

Both were Democrats who supported Hillary Clinton.

The man was cocky, had consumed a lot of shots, and everything out of his mouth was tinged with glibness.

The young woman said she was involved with Planned Parenthood; her uterus and vagina found their way into many of her sentences. In fact, the subject of her reproductive organs dominated the conversation so much, that at one point, I literally turned my attention elsewhere just to wipe the image of her uterus and vagina from my mind's eye.

Thankfully (or so I thought) the discussion eventually expanded to the broader subject of politics, Trump, the election, and the future of our country. These days it seems to be on everyone's minds.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

nothing is going to get better.  It's not.” ~ Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

Following are a few highlights.

They said we should just let Donald Trump be inaugurated, sit back, have some beers, and watch Republicans destroy things for the next four years, then use the 2020 election to put things right again. I disagreed. Vehemently. Repeatedly.

“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.

Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ~ Elie Wiesel

I attempted to educate them on the Electoral College and Hamilton's position, to no avail. They said it was unrealistic and ridiculous to even expect the Electors to do the right thing, and any attempt to sway them was a waste of time.

Hitting that wall, I switched to discussing Impeachment on day one. I gave multiple grounds for creating a Petition to Impeach. They laughed. They’d not even heard of the Emoluments Clause. I explained --

ME:     But we can petition the House.

THEM: Who can petition?

ME:     Each of us. Individually and as a country at large. It’s in the Constitution

          and the rules and methods for doing so are outlined in Jefferson’s Manual.

They laughed dismissively. Undaunted, I continued to make my case. They resisted engaging in respectful discourse, choosing to mock me further. But since --

"Dripping water hollows out stone,

not through force but through persistence.” ~ Ovid

--I continued.

ME:     Martin Luther King made a difference with marches and protests.

THEM: That was different.

ME:     Not really.
THEM: Yes it was.
ME:     Well, Rosa Parks was only one voice, and she made a difference.

THEM: Again, that was different. 
ME:     Not really.
THEM: Yes it was.

Silence. I returned to the topic of submitting Petitions for Impeachment to the House of Representatives, and explained the process, how petitions must be given priority, etc.

THEM: Who does the petition?
ME:     You do. I do. We all do. Individually. And then one from millions on behalf of
           the country at large.

More laughter. They see I'm serious.

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice,
but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” ~ Elie Wiesel

THEM: Fine. So, you submit a petition. Then what?
ME:     What do you mean, then what?
THEM: Will anyone even read it? Do you really think anyone is going to read it?
ME:     They have to read it. They're required to read it.
THEM: But they don't have to do anything about it. They can read it and ignore it.
ME:     No. They have to present it to a committee for consideration.
THEM: A committee of Republicans.
ME:     And Democrats.
THEM: How do you know they'll even do anything about it?
ME:     I have to trust they'll abide by the rules.
THEM: What rules?
ME:     The Constitution and Jefferson's Manual. And if they receive thousands of
          petitions, they must set aside all business until every petition is addressed.
THEM: Petitions are a waste of time. It'll be 2020 soon enough.
ME:     So you just want to sit back and risk that he may blow up the planet?

THEM: Now you’re catastrophizing. That’s not going to happen.

As we learned with this election, when you say something can't possibly happen, it sometimes does, defying logic.

“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out

the whole truth and acting accordingly.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I was dumbfounded by their cynicism and apathy. Despite their willingness to whine about the state of things, they didn't care enough to take action. They wouldn't complain if someone else did the heavy lifting and solved the problem for them, but frankly, they were happy to remain in their ignorant little bubbles -- uninformed, uninvolved, and uncommitted. Even if a Trump presidency had a negative impact on people's lives, as long as they weren't personally affected -- to be crass -- they didn't give a shit.

I couldn't wrap my head around their unwillingness to at least try doing something, anything... even it was a "Hail Mary."  Nope. They couldn't be swayed to care and stuck to their script: “It’s not going to make a difference, so we're not going to bother.”

They had the attitude that letting the country fall apart would teach the Republicans some kind of lesson, a "we'll show them" smugness, remaining blind to the reality that the "lesson" would disproportionately punish the rest of us to such an extreme, it might take decades for us to recover, if ever. Further, they assumed the Republicans would be unhappy with the consequences of their actions. What if they were wrong?

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before
starting to improve the world." ~ Anne Frank, Tales from the Secret Annex

Honestly, I'm still a bit shell-shocked from the exchange because I didn't expect them to mock me with such condescension. It was so unsettling, I made a quick exit and headed home to find comfort in the sanctuary provided by Twitter and some new acquaintances.

I’m fed up with people who complain about the election result but aren’t willing to walk the walk. And when you point out to them that you are taking action, they respond with derision.

Is it possible our efforts to stop Trump won’t change a thing? Sure. It's possible. But do you know what guarantees nothing will change? Doing nothing.

Ultimately, 2016 taught us that anything is possible. After all, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. So it's equally possible that our efforts to stop Trump will succeed.

Did you think it was possible for an unapologetically racist, misogynistic, narcissistic television reality show clown to become our 45th President? I didn't. But thanks to his treasonous collusion with Russia, they succeeded in manipulating our democratic process. If Trump is inaugurated, he will go down in history as the most unpopular president. Ever.

Meanwhile, Hillary Rodham Clinton made herstory, receiving more popular votes than any White male candidate in American history. She obliterated Trump, dominating him with a lead of 2,851,862 votes (as of this writing).

So yes, anything is possible. Which means it's equally possible he will be indicted, or impeached, or the Electoral College will follow Hamilton's reasoning and not give their votes to Trump.

In the meantime, I'm taking action. Are you?

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead