We live in a moment, surrounded by life, death, change, defeat, hope, truth, and lies. Who we are as individuals, what we are, is fundamentally determined by what rules us, our desire for either power or love.
To me, the means by which I handle the waves, the slogging through mud, the horrors of our times, watching men ignore lies, ignore their oaths to defend the constitution in order to maintain their fiefs of power and money, regardless of what it costs, is my devotion to discovering what I believe to be the truth. Truth and love are more powerful than any force or illusion of truth that man has invented. And, despite the deaths, the denial, the blind who cannot see, believing what they’re told, the truth is that we will survive. I hope all of you reading this will, at the very least.
Personally, I believe that any American who incites the overthrow of our laws and Government should be tried and convicted of sedition. We are a symbol of democracy to the world, despite our problems. When you think about it, there are very few democratic countries in the world, in comparison to the number of countries ruled by dictatorships. We have stood as an example of individual freedom. To allow ourselves to lose that because politicians are afraid of losing power, is unconscionable.
The former president was able to foster his false claims, and desire to remain in office at all costs, by exploiting peoples’ anger, dissatisfaction, and ignorance. To be honest, I’m not very happy with our Congress, either. I believe it has functioned as a separate entity from the country it is supposed to serve. I think many members of Congress serve themselves and their party. But, my solution is not to create chaos and disorder. This country has more freedom than anywhere I have been in my life. It shouldn’t be thrown away because one man can’t stand to lose.
My solution would be to have a referendum in the next election, where we could vote to limit the number of terms a Senator or Congressman could serve, as they limited the number of terms a President could serve, after Roosevelt was elected four times. I would limit Senators to two terms, 12 years, and Congressmen to 6 terms, 12 years. It seems enough time to accomplish something, without allowing any one of them to build the equivalent amount of power to control how the Congress functions. It might help to eliminate the polarization and lack of exchange and compromise that is the basis of how a democracy functions. Without that dialogue, we are dysfunctional. That must be ended. And since I doubt that Congress would vote to limit itself and its power, we the people should.
How many people have to die before people who deny the reality will see the truth? Will the man who tried to overthrow democracy be brought to justice? I wish I believed that politicians were dedicated to truth and justice, instead of self-interest. Yes, the country is in trouble. We seem to have lost our way. There is a sickness in us worse than the Covid. We suffer from a virus of inability to live our lives to the fullest. And, this unhappiness is a sickness that is destroying the world as we know it. It is what makes some people, too many, blind to the truth. And makes others willing to ignore the truth because of what the power they are afraid to lose. Power to do what? To me their actions are cowardly. We need a bit of truth nowadays. It cleanses the soul and the mind.
I’m not hoping that things will get better. Hope scares me. People hope when they are terrified, or don’t know what to do. They stop living. I’d rather trust to moving forward. If we keep going forward, no matter how hard, we may be able to create moments that make life worth living.
At the moment, any moment of live contact gives me joy, even though we can’t touch one another, need to wear masks, can’t even sit and have a cup of coffee outdoors. Well, someday, this pandemic will be over. And, we will look at the loss, the damage, the people and places that no longer exist, because they couldn’t resist. We must resist. We must demand change.
I know many people are depressed, which is normal these days. And, some have given up. It’s a poor choice in my profession. Living depressed is normal for actors. Some even stay depressed when they’re working, worrying about whether they’ll get another job afterwards. As for money problems, regular jobs, good luck. In reality, actors should be better prepared for hard times than everyone. We get a lot of practice.
I know I write about a lot of subjects, but life is the source of my work. It is what I am passionate about. And, living in these extraordinary times, as bizarre sounding as it may seem, can also be taken as a gift.