Being naïve means being deficient in worldly wisdom or informed judgment.
It is a dangerous condition that usually leads people to make mistakes that create serious problems for themselves and others.
Yet they never intend for things to go bad. They are as dismayed as most others when they do. In hindsight they are shocked at what happened because at the time they were sure they making the right decision.
That’s the story of Germany in 1933. It was in ruins financially because of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles ending WWI and the U.S. calling in the debt Germany owed when the Great Depression hit.
Not surprisingly, having lost faith in the leaders of the Weimar Republic, when Hitler promised a new day, the German people naïvely believed him. Disaster they never saw coming was the result.
Naïveté was my first thought about the outcome of the November election.
I certainly don’t believe Trump is Hitler, or that Republicans are Nazis, but all signs point to a coming “reign of terror” as Trump and congressional Republicans enact legislation that will make for more corruption and social/economic injustice.
In a recent Washington Post article, David Weigel noted that Republicans now believe they have a mandate to do what they couldn’t do under President Obama:
– undo financial regulations and slash business taxes (tax cuts for the rich)
– strip Planned Parenthood of federal funds used for healthcare for the poor,
– repeal Obamacare (with nothing to replace it).
Add to this their plans to do the following:
– turn Medicare into a voucher program, privatize Social Security
– reduce Medicaid and Food Stamps to the point of elimination
– sanction religious intolerance in the name “protecting” religious liberty.
I think this agenda constitutes the stuff of a genuine American tragedy, undermining the nation we have been at work becoming for many years.
It is true that U.S. is far from a perfect nation, and in many ways much worse than super patriots will ever acknowledge. Inequalities in various many forms still characterize our civic life, and our divisions are deeper and more bitter than at any time in recent memory.
But we are also a nation that has never stopped working to become a more just society, more compassionate, more self-reflective, and more tolerant of one another.
We are learning what it means to be a diverse culture with people of different religions, traditions, languages, and customs, joined in the common cause of making life better for themselves while respecting their neighbors.
These areas of progress are now in jeopardy because Trump and Republicans don’t share the moral worldview that has been the foundation for the progress we have made over the last 50 years.
Scholar George Lakoff says that conservatives hold a moral worldview that he calls “the strict Father” model of family (Moral Politics).
In the name of small government, they believe the economy should be left in the hands of a corporate capitalism without concern for the degree of social injustice it creates.
In the name of self-reliance, they believe social programs should be minimal.
In the name of the myth of a Christian nation, they believe in legislating public morality to fit their version of Christianity.
So the last thing our country needs is for Trump and the Republicans to have free reign.
Differences in worldviews matter. They have theirs. We who oppose them have ours. They have made it clear they don’t like ours. We need to show them we don’t like theirs.
As uncomfortable as it may be, the reality we now face is that we are in the fight of our lives for our lives.
We need to be strong, stand firm, and be bold in confronting what is coming.
That we will be is the service we can render to the nation in this new year.
linnposts.com 
Moving forward will be difficult, but move forward we must. It’s a stark landscape we face. Trump and Republicans think they have a mandate and already are starting to act on that perception; voting to gut the House Ethics Committees power for example. The only thing I find as an alternative is resistance, active, bold resistance. Speaking the truth (hard facts) to those who don’t want to hear it is my resistance of choice, confronting the lies that seems to be offered as truth.
Thanks, Jan, for sharing your thoughts and giving us encouragement to fight for a better life for all of us, especially the marginalized, whose ranks will swell under the coming administration. Fight on!
Keep doing that confronting, Rollie. It is the first response we must make, and if enough of us do so, it will make a difference.
Thank you Jan for bringing rational thinking to the forefront. I fear that making the world a kinder place will be challenged in the coming years like it has never been challenged before.
Jackie, that challenge is upon us, I think, and we all have to be willing to meet it. I believe as a people we are moderate and rational and tolerate extremism without embracing it. We will see in the coming months whether that is true. Thanks.
Thanks Jan. The attempt to gut the ethics committee and the quick outrage with the corrupt republicans demonstrates both what we face and that we have the power to influence what happens. While I’m not very hopeful I’m getting ready for the struggle.
I feel the same way, Wilbur. I often think we underestimate the power of outrage. Thanks.
Thank you, Jan, for this one. Yes, the “strict father”, or authoritarian mentality, is what we’re dealing with. But that is as outdated as the “Divine Right of Kings”. It always seems to come down to the conservative mind “needing” to exercise a dominant minority social structure, old fashioned aristocracy, as though that is the “way it should be”. More people than ever are awakening to the false promise of such systems. I’ve read that the best fights to counter that mentality will likely happen at the local level where towns, cities and states will grow increasingly militant in their rejections of authoritarianism vs. democracy and install alternatives close to home. Of course, a “dying mule kicks hardest” so, yes, progressives will need to be vigilant and persistent. To the greater good!
Thanks. Bob. We can’t give up.
Jan,
You consistently remind us with fresh “evidence” and wise rationale that we must stand firm in the face of misguided — even ill-intended — efforts to change the moral values our people have historically cherished and fought and died for!
The sad result of this last presidential election is staggering proof of how quickly we can lose our bearings to fear and paranoia and demagoguery!!
Thank you, my friend, for carrying the good fight forward……….
Bill Blackwell
In the long run, Bill, we will make a difference. I have to believe that or I would give up entirely. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We need to hear them.
Too many people are afraid to express their views for fear of offending others. They often are silent when they know statements that are made are false. This is called a “sin of omission”, silence is construed as agreement by many, which reinforces ignorance. I feel we must all express our views as courteously as possible. Not an easy task.
No, it is not easy, but as you say, Liza, absolutely necessary. We said the election was not like any other. Post election time isn’t either. We are in for some bad days. We have to speak up to wake people up. It’s our only hope as a nation.
Jan,
Your cogent thoughts are, as usual, a clear call to action. As such, I welcome them. What concerns me is that we all seem to agree that we need to show our strong disapproval to the forces we see as aligned against us, but though we say so, what do we do in concrete terms? We so frequently say we must fight against the evils we see coming, but do we really do anything but vent!
We can, of course, write out Congress people and Senators, even write to the President himself. We know, however that our missives are among the many to be tallied, we hope, ours will not stand out. Then, we must know that not many do take the topime and expend the energy to contact our representatives.
I admit to being in a bit of a funk right now, but the question that nags, nags and nags: Is there a way we can form a strong, visible, national VOICE?!
Sorry for the “downer” tonight. Too many fruitless discussions lately, I suppose.
Cheerz!
Gene
Gene, I think your question is exactly the right one. One thing I believe in strongly, though it seems very small, is to be so well informed on issues that in personal conversations we can correct falsehoods and misinformation. Recently someone was complaining about Obama telling women who voted for Hillary to get over it. I knew that did not sound like Obama so I looked it up right there on the internet. What he actually said was that women who voted for Hillary would get over the loss. Fix News which he watches was responsible for the distortion. He was surprised by the truth, but accepted it graciously.
This is an example of how over time we can make a difference. Think of how many occasions we can correct false information if we have done our homework and know the facts. It may seems inconsequential, but I think it is actually substantial.
I will ponder your question more in the coming days. Thanks for offering the challenge.
Thanks, Jan. I probably should not post just before going to sleep. I’m usually more optimistic that the general tenor of last night’s post. Keep up the good work.
Cheerz!\Gene
Your thoughts are always helpful, Gene, so don’t ever hesitate to post them – any time.
I concur with Gene’s question of what do we DO? That has bugged me for a long time. In the past I have written members of Congress many times, only to get what I considered to be boiler plate answers. I have also been politically active, even being precinct chair at one time. I became disillusioned with my efforts, concluding that I never made a difference. I do try to vote as informed and intelligently as I can. But I still became frustrated, and I remain so to this day.
I wholeheartedly concur with Jan’s comment about being well informed and acting to stop the spread of rumors and fake info (I won’t call it news) that is so prevalent today. I firmly believe that the answer lies in an informed, thoughtful, and conscientious electorate. Then the question comes as to how to achieve that. I think Jan is right on as to how we as individuals can help. But my nagging question is still “How can we collectively make a difference?” My answer lies in intelligent voting. That of course brings the question of how to achieve that. I find that I have many more questions than answers.
Keep asking the questions, Wally. We will find the answers.
Wally,
I understand and share your frustration. Yet unlike you and my best friend Jan, I have become a hardened cynic, especially in the wake of Trump’s election!
Sadly and reluctantly, I am at the point now of concluding that there is NO ANSWER — at least in any near-term — for those of us who care about others and want to make a difference in that regard.
As you say, the answer lies in an informed, thoughtful, and conscientious electorate. Yet your experience with Congress and mine at the state level (Virginia) has been a “dead-end,” and with no support — indeed Republican blockage — there will be NO progress on educating anyone, whether it be the disadvantaged who need special help or the willfully ignorant who need a “booster-shot” of basic education/information on a host of subjects, from history to religion to philosophy to sociology to true science and on and on.
With respect to that happening, I greatly despair! But keep the faith, Wally.
Bill, being cynical does not preclude keeping up the fight against ignorance, willful or unwitting. But you know that already and I know I can count on you never to give up.