When it became time to go to my high school graduation, I didn’t bother.
While my classmates were donning caps and gowns and doing whatever else it is that you do at graduations, I was in Boston, playing music.
I like music, you see…but I hated high school. I hated it so much that two teachers had to carry me to get my senior picture taken, and I refused to take part in anything that I felt that I could avoid. I hated being locked up in that place.
Or did I?
A few days ago, I went to my 40th high school reunion. It was something that I looked forward to as a chance to see some old friends, some of which I hadn’t seen in 15 years; some I hadn’t seen in 40.
Many of the classmates that I still see regularly didn’t bother to go. I can’t say why.
What is it about high school that on one hand, I truly despised, and on the other, I remember with great fondness? Why would I be so eager to re-live an experience that I abhorred?
Maybe it’s the chance to see some of the people that I have known since first grade. Those people know you the best, and are the most dear to you.
Maybe it is the chance to reconnect, or the chance to make a new connection with someone you knew a little bit, a very long time ago.
One thing I know is this. I didn’t “fit” in high school. I wasn’t academically inspired, except on the rare occasions in English class when the topic was literature. So, I messed around, laughed, and did my best to under-achieve. And I endured the constant reminder that I wasn’t working up to my potential.
Or maybe I was. At that time, I had the potential to create mischief, and play music with my friends, which I did achieve, quite nicely.
Nevertheless, the question remains. Why was I so eager to reconnect with people that seemed, at best, to be fellow inmates of the asylum?
I see it pretty clearly now. I wonder if others see it the same way. Is it the same for me as it was for the cheerleaders, and the jocks, and the shop kids, and the pretty girls, the cool guys, and the smart kids, and the goofs like me?
The way I see it, it’s rather related to what some African cultures refer to as Ubuntu. We are, because of where our parents chose to raise us, a community. Within that community, we have connection and responsibility to each other. And it is a closed community. No one else gets to join…it is ours and ours alone. The history between us gets longer, and perhaps a bit more faded, but it is our history. So, when I look at Jacqui and Joyce, I see them as they are today, and as they were when we were 6 years old. That was more than 50 years ago. I see others as 12, 14, or 16…and I see them today. And it is an undeniable fact that we know each other, and share a connection that no one else has. Moreover, I can’t get kicked out of this group. I am a lifetime member whether anyone likes it or not. As we all are.
So, I went to my high school reunion, and reconnected with the members of my community, and I had a blast. There are some that I hope to reconnect with more closely, and perhaps they do too.
Now that I know why I went, and why I had so much fun, I feel sorry for those who didn’t, or couldn’t, make the trip. It is truly a loss for them, and a loss for all of the rest of us.
After all, we belong together.
Maybe I learned something from high school after all.
We seem to stand at a time politically, when individuals make a lifetime commitment to a political party, and make all of their decisions from this shaky foundation.
We hear this language in a variety of ways, but generally, people are willing to define themselves as either republicans or democrats. I don’t mean to exclude those that define themselves as independents, or libertarians. Only their number excludes them; they are a minority. By far, the definition we make for ourselves is either Republican or Democrat. Parents even raise their children by saying things like, “We are Republicans.”
It is these people, who falsely believe that America is a democracy, that are killing the ideals that the Constitution lays out for us.
They call themselves by the polite definition of either Republican, or Democrat. This stiff definition actually means that they are Partisans, at best.
There is not a thing wrong with being partisan. By its definition, it means that you have a fervent belief in something. That’s great. Strong belief makes for change.
However, consider the actual behavior of so many partisans. When their candidate is elected, they stand behind him or her without question. When the candidate of the opposition is elected, they do everything that they can to block the movement of their desire for change, and the laws that they propose. To most Democrats, Republicans are evil folks that must be stopped by political force, and vice versa.
They are intolerant of the opposing point of view. And that, by definition, makes them bigots. What do we know of bigots? We know that they are hateful, and that they are intolerant.
In fact, many of these Democrats and Republicans would freely concede that those who express their bigotry and hate through matters of race, are stupid. They are willing to label them, at minimum, stupid on the issue of intolerance of another person because of their race, or their religion.
Democrats and Republicans alike would do well to consider that this bigotry, this intolerance of the other side, is just plain stupid.
Sometimes stupid is irritating, sometimes it is dangerous. Political bigotry is dangerous to the republic.
The Constitution makes no allowance for democracy. The founding fathers were wise enough to know that democracy, as it gathers the strength first of partisanship, then bigotry, leads to the potential mob rule of democracy. Consider this, only as an example, from our recent history. Some Republicans do not support the current war in the Middle East. However, they cannot speak against it, because it is the work of their party. Why can’t they? Because of the belief that if they do, the opposing party will gain rule, and they are intolerant of the other side.
Therefore, they support something that they do not believe in, for the sake of political power. Can this be wise?
Be mindful that this comment has nothing to do with war; it has to do with politics. This same position can be amplified more strongly by the people that accept that American government has condoned torture, but refuse to speak against it, because they are Republicans.
Certainly, they are equally powerful examples of Democrats that refuse to be guided by their conscience, rather than their politics.
To continue in this behavior moves us further away from being a Republic, toward a Democracy, and finally an Oligarchy. If you don’t believe me, you can look it up. Try reading about the fall of the Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire flourished initially, because it was a Republic. The Romans had seen the mistakes, and the demise of the Greek democratic system. It was the shift in Roman government, politically motivated, that sought power in the majority rule, which ultimately led to Oligarchy, and the Caesar’s.
Do we have a way out? Perhaps.
We would all have to remember that America is a Republic, and therefore, a nation ruled by laws, not power.
Ultimately, it means that we have to make our decisions based on right and wrong, without giving a damn what side of the aisle we sit in.
Here are my recommendations, as summer approaches.
