Is it the end of the world if we blow it? For the first time in history humans have the power to communicate with just about everyone everywhere and look at what we do. We duel.
Scores would like to see their adversary silenced while others would just like to see their opponent smarten up.
This can be said about both the left and the right, keeping in mind a 110 pound student against gun violence ain’t ever sending a billionaire to the guillotine but a 200 pound armed militiaman does have the capability of feeding a liberal to the woodchipper feet first. Thankfully there still exists some morality beyond the keyboard and we have the law.
“To serve and protect.”
Notice any difference in how officials treat illegal right-wing demonstrations/occupations compared to unauthorized human/environmental rights protests? No? What do you figure the outcome would’ve been if a mob of Black and Native Americans alongside leftist allies had stormed The Capitol with weapons on January 6?
These are dangerous times, mass civilization on the brink of uncivil war. Being in the right or brave of heart does not guarantee you will win and the bad guys shall lose. Life, as a good friend told me, is not a Hollywood movie.
(Medium long shot, pan right) Behind him a Trump flag from his sister in Texas ripples from a crisp Northern Ontario breeze coming off the lake through birch trees. Life is certainly not black and white, there are shades and colour. There is love.
We are diverse creatures for a reason. Some believe a divine reason.Traditionally we’ve toiled together for daily survival and shared success. The dangers facing the tribe today are global whether or not you can accept truth.
Across the planet huge swaths of us (including me) live rather decadently exceeding the appetites of any bygone royal dynasty which is pretty sweet but pains the biosphere. Our existence has been brilliant in so many ways yet brief and tumultuous. We are not the boss here despite behaving like brats of capitalism in The Petroleum Age.
Nevertheless it is also in our nature to mature. We are capable of building a promising place for future offspring. This generation needs all sides at the table the way South Africa did last century to mend a terrible situation by first listening.
Had a terrific discussion earlier with someone who votes differently and we agreed on a lot but not everything. We parted as we started, with mutual respect. Like shared recognization in a song.
“A tournament, a tournament
A tournament of lies
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives
And I decline”
-R.E.M.
Mark Kirkwood Callingham is a semi-retired dad who works full-time for a faith-based homeless shelter in downtown Ottawa. He also has a plan to help the left-wing and the right-wing fly out of hell which isn’t as crazy as it sounds.
