Stepping Out of a Vicious Cycle
Getting at the Roots of It
Dear Ones,
I’m cautiously optimistic that some from the political party in power are calling for a reckoning regarding not just one issue, or this particular administration, but “the causes of Trumpism.” Perhaps this is an opportunity to look into something deeper, beyond partisan politics, where the possibility of transformative change lies.
I want to reflect a little today on this “something deeper.”
I recently came across a post by a climate aware therapist entitled How Do I Protect My Son From Toxic Influencers? When disillusionment is fertile ground for extremism. I was glad to see this question raised again because it brings up a real danger that has already been actualized. In fact, my own family has been impacted by this - a story I hope to share one day.
I’ve been seeing frustrated calls for more extreme action as people feel increasingly desperate and hopeless about the damage that is being caused by the administration. It would be a mistake to move in a direction of violence. We have plenty of data to show that nonviolent resistance is much more effective. Yet an escalating threat of violence is not only true here and now, within the US, but it is part of a larger global and historical cycle of trauma that will continue to intensify unless we either interrupt it or self-destruct.
A story I can share now that many of you may resonate with, is that I am the descendant of people who were abducted and sold into subjugation in another country. I am also the descendant of their oppressors. Thanks to the popularity of personal genetic testing, more people are discovering they are a part of this complicated heritage.
Like many of you, I’m reflecting on what it means that the administration is abducting people and using our tax dollars to place them into subjugation in another country right now. I’m reflecting on what it means that we are allowing this to be done to anyone, regardless of what we think of them - that some of us consider this an appropriate solution to social problems.
We’re shocked and we marvel at the barbarism and hypocrisy unfolding in front of us, but it's not new. It's simply done with impunity now and it’s supercharged with lightning fast technology.
The threat to human rights (and democracy) that people with socialized identities similar to mine are now working hard to resist, is largely a vicious cycle of our own perpetuation, directly or indirectly, through ignorance or “benign neglect.” It’s the suffering some of our ancestors inflicted upon “others”, rising like a biblical flood upon our slightly “higher ground”, standing as we have been upon their bodies and their labor.
In many ways we blame and punish people for struggling with the consequences of harm we’ve inflicted upon them for generations. In the US we like to think we are self-liberated with our rallying cry of “No kings!” Yet, it's complicated - we’re both liberated and imperialists - centuries of hypocrisy are revealed in our DNA.
When I visited England, I opted out of a tour of a castle infamous for its torture chamber. My spouse returned disturbed by the depth of imagination and creativity apparent in the variety of fantastical and horrible tools human beings developed to inflict pain upon other human beings. We all have a spectrum of possibilities within us. Those of us with European roots did not shed our traumatic legacy over the ocean somewhere.
Many people with socialized identities similar to mine were inspired to educate ourselves about anti-black racism and discrimination around the murder of George Floyd. But most haven’t engaged in a corresponding self-education around anti-Latino (and anti-Muslim) sentiments related to immigration injustices.
The US government has been torturing and disappearing people throughout Central America and meddling in their politics for around 200 years. Since the 1950s this has primarily been the concerted effort of the conservative party, but with the tacit consent (or mostly ineffective resistance) of liberals. These nations have been their testing grounds and their people our proxies for what we’re experiencing today. I would encourage you to become curious if you haven’t already.
In many cases, immigrants are fleeing Central America and coming here due to the fallout of what we did there. What we did there is what is happening here now - corruption, repression, the breakdown of the safety net, and skyrocketing inequality.
A silver lining of this moment may be the coming together of white people in a substantial way against racism and (authentic) antisemitism. I’m cautious because it’s easy to slide back into a relatively comfortable complacency. Change is hard. Extreme discomfort “may be” a catalyst.
If we could instead be moved by compassion and universal empathy, it may never again have to come to this. They are qualities that can be expanded through practice.
It’s obvious to most of us how traumatic experiences harm victims, but we don’t think about how they can also harm bystanders and perpetrators. The majority of people have to be desensitized to acquiesce to violence against others. There is plenty of evidence about the negative consequences of perpetrating and witnessing violence in the research on war. Our fundamental interconnection means that others' suffering eventually harms everyone (whether they realize it or not). We are experiencing that more overtly now.
Leonard Zeskind, founder of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights who recently died, long advocated for white people organizing to do anti-racist work together. His message was that white supremacy was always deeply embedded in US society and that the current president and his two campaigns and administrations simply have emboldened it and laid it bare.
Underneath this all is something very old indeed - the deepest roots of suffering; greed, hatred, delusion and ignorance, metastasizing and mutating as they grow unchecked.
Even as the administration tries to frighten us and make us feel powerless and alone, it may actually be bringing us together. Saturday’s democracy protection gatherings were impressive in size and scope. I saw a request for other countries to support us in our climate efforts as an “undeveloping nation”. I heard that our librarians are turning to their global association over their state and national associations where there continues to be good information.
For those at the top, money talks. Why not sign a General Strike card and be ready to go when the moment comes?
Capitulating to authoritarians is not a winning strategy in the long term. Though it feels paradoxical, as a higher education expert at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute recently said, “the path of least resistance is to fight." There is plenty of data to back this up. We can individually try to buy ourselves some time at the expense of our own integrity and others’ well-being - or we can resist.
It is especially effective when those with relative power and coalitions of people take a stand (such as in the case of the coalition of higher ed institutions). However, individuals can also be upstanders with great inspirational effect. For example, the webmaster at Case Western University was recently told to remove three DEI pages from their school’s website and she refused. Whether alone or together, we can say no to injustice and it matters.
Wishing You Compassionate Resolve,
Tracy
Garage Sale
We’re selling some of our gently used meditation space supplies for local pickup only in Leawood, KS. Click the item to purchase and we’ll throw in a free yoga mat with every lot purchase. Once a single item is purchased, the option to purchase a lot will be closed. There are no refunds and we will email you to arrange for pickup.
Lot of Meditation Cushions - $350
9 black zafu, 3 gray zafu, 2 orange zafu round cotton cushions - $25 each
4 gray zabuton cotton floor cushions - $40 each
Lot of 16 Yoga Blocks - $60
Set of 2 gray yoga blocks - $10 per set of 2
Meeting Owl Pro 360 Camera - $500
Resources
Podcast: Under the Shadow - The Beginning: Monroe Doctrine and Migration (Episode 1) by Michael Fox on the role of the US government in Latin America over the last 200 years. The whole series is an enlightening listen.
Today April 22: Fair Housing Forum: Tenant Session 6 p.m. | Matt Ross Community Center | 8101 Marty St, Overland Park. Learn about your rights.
Wednesday April 23: For Health Experts - 100 Days 100 Harms Webinar Time: 6pm ET Join the Climate Action Campaign and Physicians for Social Responsibility in a webinar for health professionals about the harms caused during the first 100 days of the Trump Administration. Speakers: Congresswoman Maxine Dexter, MD (OR-3), Mark Vossler, MD, Cardiologist, President of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Georges C. Benjamin, MD, MACP, Executive Director, American Public Health Association
Thursday April 24: Community Conversation on Medicaid - 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. | Monticello Library, 22435 W. 66th St, Shawnee, KS.
Saturday April 26: Network/Volunteer for Democracy - Indivisible Kansas City is hosting an event 10 am to noon. We will gather at the IBEW 124 Union Building at 301 East 103rd Terrace
Saturday April 26: Tesla Takedown | Noon to 2 p.m. 10111 State Line Rd | KCMO | *Note: Peaceful protest. Do not go on Tesla property.
Saturday April 26: Freedom from Oligarchy Sidewalk Rally | 11 to Noon | W. 87th Street Parkway & Maurer Road | Lenexa
Saturday April 26: Stand 4 Democracy Protest | 3 - 3:30 | Cooper Creek Park | Roeland Park
Sunday April 27: For Free State Days: A Statewide Show of Unity - Johnson County 2 p.m. | Thompson Park | Downtown Overland Park
Wednesday, April 30: It’s Our Mess: Why White People Need to Show Up for Racial Justice ✊✊✊ 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. CDT | Virtual | Join leaders from Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) KC as they discuss why — and how — white people need to mobilize now more than ever.
Friday- Saturday May 2–3: Human Transformation in a Time of Metacrisis at Harvard University Graduate School of Education 9:30am-5:30 pm ET. Join key thinkers across the metacrisis, Second Renaissance, integral, and liminal web scenes for a two-day gathering on education, human development, and systems change. Jon Kabat-Zinn is a Keynote speaker.
Thursday May 8: Unnaming Climate: Authoritarianism 7-8:30 PM Central - Collective Trauma & Imperfect Solidarity: How did we get here? What do we do now? (Climate Psychology Alliance)
Mondays, May 12-June 30: 8-Week Focusing course for Holding Space for the Climate Crisis and other Existential Emotions from 1-3 pm Eastern time
Wednesday, May 14 The Facist Social Contract | 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. CDT | Virtual | In this webinar, historian Drew Bergerson will explore the choices made by ordinary people both during Nazi Germany and in its memory. He’ll identify the unique qualities of fascist self-deceptions, examining what makes them different from the ordinary kinds of lies we all tell. He’ll also explore why they are so difficult to call into question. Presenter Andrew "Drew" Bergeron Professor and Historian of Modern Germany University of Missouri Kansas City School of Humanities
Boots on the Ground Midwest - a grassroots organization focused on improving the lives of our fellow Midwesterners. We protect and mobilize our community in response to the crisis in our federal government. Our power is in action
The Good Trouble Checklist by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
Third Act - a community of Americans over 60 determined to change the world for the better. Third Act harnesses an unparalleled generational power to safeguard our climate and democracy.
Sunrise Movement KC - a cross-class, multi-racial movement of young people fighting for climate, racial, and economic justice and a Green New Deal.
How to Meditate by Tobi Holloway
Article: The State Department is changing its mind about what it calls human rights by Graham Smith
Podcast: Climate One Interview with the EPA administrator under President Obama and the first White House National Climate Advisor and head of the Climate Policy Office under Biden on the current administration's roll backs of environmental regulations and funding cuts for agencies like the EPA and NOAA, as well as the likely consequences of these actions.
Documentary: The Colossal Damage the Great Depression Caused - The devastating consequences of the greatest economic crisis of the 20th century, which spread around the world and allowed Hitler to rise to power. Also discussed how Roosevelt’s reforms lifted many (mostly white) people out of poverty. Part 1 discusses the causes of the great depression (unchecked greed and corruption that led to the Wall Street Stock Exchange crash).
Reddit 50501 shows lots of photos and video of people protecting democracy around the country.
