It is a time of freedom and fear, of Gaia and of borders, of many paths and the widening of a universal toll road, emptying country and swelling cities, of the public bought into privacy and the privacy of the public sold into invisible data banks and knowing algorithms. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.

These are the times when maps fade and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread.

Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.


 
Dick Gordon, on NPR's The Connection, is currently asking the stupidest question I've heard in a long time: Why can't the Democrats come up with a new idea around which the Party can be organized?

This is a question right out of the Republican playbook, and it's a trick question. The real answer is that the Democratic Party doesn't need to come up with a new organizing principle. The Democrats have an old one that does just fine. On The Connection, Mario Cuomo identifies it as "we're all in this together."

That's a nice phrase, and it's true, but what it comes down to is much simpler:

The Democratic Party stands for the Golden Rule: Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You.

The Golden Rule makes sense not only because it is nice, but because when others (whether they are individuals or nations) are treated with respect they tend to become respect-worthy. When others are treated with fairness, they tend to act fairly. When others are treated with accountability they tend to take responsibility. The Golden Rule works to build more stable, more prosperous, more tightly interwoven and more just societies.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party stands for the Rotten Rule: Do Unto Others Whatever You Can Get Away With.

The Rotten Rule erodes trust, encourages venality, fosters violence, encourages fear, ignores justice, and wastes our energies on destructive gambits.

What the Democrats need to do is stop cringing, stop apologizing, stop trying to pretend that they're Republicans, reject the Rotten Rule and embrace the Golden Rule loudly, proudly and with vigor.

That's it. That's all. Nothing else.

Posted by James Cook at 11:55 AM. # (permalink)




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