Looking Beyond The Horizon

Sometimes it feels like 2020 has become a compressed version of the entire 1960's. The details and circumstances are quite different, of course. But there is a similarly intense amount of societal pressure churning and building within the nation's Body Politic. The danger signs have been escalating in an alarmingly rampant manner over the last four years. And now we appear to be close to having a national stroke or heart attack, a complete breakdown.

We are experiencing a mammoth triple whammy: the COVID-19 health-socio-economic disaster, the Black Lives Matter/Racial Injustices Great Awakening, and a persistent form of Psychotic Disorder that is shared by 38% of this country.

And though it might be fun to get into the weeds and analyze each of these profound subject matters, let's do something different. Imagine, if you will, a time in the not too distant future where these issues are being resolved... what would such a timeline be like? Hmmm... I can see it now through my mystical eye:

After multiple unsuccessful attempts, a cheap, reliable and accessible COVID-19 vaccine is available. The recently restructured Obamacare with Public Option, and expanded Medicare/Medicaid programs helped deliver this game-changer to all corners of society. Legislation passed for new mandatory health standards in nursing homes, meat-packing facilities and prisons, among other person-intensive institutions. Home and community-based care has become more effective and prevalent, especially through new technologies. In general, preventative care and much-reduced insurance costs are now the norm.

The collective trauma of the virus lingers, with the knowledge that new ones may emerge anytime. The nation suffered from a series of rolling lockdowns, brought on by flares and outbreaks of the virus wherever guidelines were not enforced.

In fact, the after-effects of COVID have proven to be transformative across most sectors of the country. People continue to not trust other people in physical interactions. The bricks-and-mortar retail world is barely existent. Work-at-home created a sea change for commuters and their employers. As more people continued working from home, public transportation languished, but did not disappear.

Commercial real estate values plummeted. Home ownership in suburbs held fast, though sale prices diminished because of area foreclosures. Those who could afford to move away from urban centers did so, getting away from upclose density and interactions. Public schools have become a hybrid of online/home-schooling and traditional on-site experience. Infrastructure projects are scaled back because tax-revenue has been starved in a shrinking economy.

In fact, here in the U.S. and around the world, Life has become much slower than it had been just a few years before. There's a greater reliance on the "local" and not the "national." For example, the travel industry never really recovered, although modest local and regional vacations are still a thing. Airlines are used more for freight than people.

And while Cable and Streaming services have greatly benefited from stay-at-home guidelines, movie theaters stayed dark even after the virus could be treated. So did many other people-oriented Pop Culture and Fine Arts events. College and professional sports that survived underwent a radical change in presentation, leaving former fans supremely unsatisfied. The restaurant industry went cold, while home gardening warmed up.

Trust in the federal government has not yet been restored. So much damage was done by the Trump Administration and the Republican Party that it will take several more years of extensive, comprehensive reforms and electoral clean-up to clear the pervasive stink. However, elections since 2020 have featured success by Progressives and Left-of-Center Democrats. There has been a strong renewal in such values as Accountability, Expertise and Human Decency.

Supporters of The Orange One are still around, but their numbers, voices and influence are much diminished. Convictions of Trump officials continue to climb while remnants of the Trump Organization crash into bankruptcy. Following the disasters of 2020, the Trumpian tenets of the Republican Party are held in popular contempt. Fox News became a common target of lawsuits. Former sycophants were exposed as grifters. As a result, the GOP has attempted a series of political transformations, seeking to find a way back from the wilderness. But its core values were exposed as transparently corrupt and nihilistic; it exists as a permanent minority party.

Long-overdue action towards reforming the Judicial System, Police and Prisons has begun. Consumer protection against financial service providers and other predatory vendors has returned and been improved. And as the engines of Capitalism have slowed, the well-being of "essential workers" has accelerated. We've entered a time of reforming Capitalism, mitigating its ruthless tendencies and short-sighted bottom lines. Call it Human Capitalism, where the "invisible hand" is assisted by the informed hand of government policy intervention.

Movements like Black Lives Matter continue to shine a crucial spotlight on society's stubborn inequities. Smartphones remain as the most effective weapon against racism, bigotry and willful ignorance. Police and Fire Departments began hiring from within the communities they serve. And as the pie slice of White People becomes smaller in our American Pie, more minorities (and immigrants) see advancement in their socio-economic share and status. A stronger sense of respect and understanding towards all Americans has spread across the country, as progressive political victories mount.

OK, OK!! I better stop the visioning here before I get completely unglued and gooey. But there's more that needs to be said:

Overall, these "future years" show that though we become a slower, smaller world, we will become a better world. Our COVID experience has demonstrated that our previous way of life is not sustainable. And though we may continue to distance ourselves, as a people we arrive at a greater appreciation and need for each other.

The extreme fissures in our society won't be mended soon. But in the meantime there will be enough bridges built to patch together our fractured nation while a deeper healing takes hold.

Our country is rarely ever wholly united. It will be exceedingly difficult to succeed in uniting, without having a common enemy to rally against. But a common enemy exists and grows more powerful every day. It's an enemy that will challenge every person in our nation, and the world, much more so than our current set of crises. It will be the great conflict of our age, one that will fundamentally determine our way of life, our species and all future life on this planet.

Climate Change is the big one, the End Game, and our response to COVID is just a necessary practice run to get us ready. We fumble about in coordinating our sloppy state, national and international responses to the pandemic, to disappointing effect. As a nation and as a world community, we will need to tighten up our coordinations radically to face this relentless, borderless, civilization-crushing foe of our own making.

Such unparalleled world unity is required because Climate Change will be much more life-threatening to humans than COVID, and far longer lasting. Like the virus, it's a gathering phenomenon that threatens every one of us.

But we won't be able to wear masks and socially distance ourselves from drought, monsoons or early and late freezes. We can't develop a medical treatment for prolonged and withering triple digit heat, ruined crops and dwindling livestock. We won't have a vaccine for depleted water supplies, rising sea levels, massive human refugee movements and subsequent natural resource-driven warfare.

The lessons we learn from our struggles with COVID will determine if we will face the future successfully. And once we rid ourselves of our current White House and Senate "leadership" we can begin in earnest. It is not too late, but it will be if they succeed.

What I Learned At Last Week's BLM Marches

It happened last Monday. It seems to me that a distinct and remarkable change in the zeitgeist took place, a positive pulse issuing forth from The Force. Like we were bathed in a sudden blast of socially-aware solar wind particles from the sun. As if a mammoth bubble of cognition finally eased up from the Collective Unconscious into our shared waking perception of reality. It felt really powerful. Maybe you felt it, too.

The touchstone event, of course, took place in Lafayette Park, Washington, DC. The catalyst occurred the week before in Minneapolis. But the fuse has been burning for a very, very long time. I'm reminded of President Obama's commencement speech at Howard University in 2016. In it (and in similar statements) he spoke about the "fierce urgency of incremental change" and how it leads to sudden and overwhelming change.

We are experiencing that earthquake of sudden, significant change. The mainstreaming of Black Lives Matter is no overnight sensation. BLM has been slogging onwards since Trayvon Martin was murdered by George Zimmerman in 2013. Movements similar and sympathetic to BLM have toiled for decades. It's work and work and drudge and drudge and drip and drip and then something big happens. The indestructible dam bursts from a fatal series of cracks and fissures, unseen from the surface.

It happened this way when the Gay Marriage Legalization moment finally clicked with straight people. After years of dehumanizing intimidation, suffering, protests, and court actions, proponents of Gay Marriage cleared the breach. And when it did, most Americans said "Good." Oh sure, there are still bigoted knuckle-draggers and bible-thumpers who can't stand it. But they are in the distinct minority.

From that 2015 Supreme Court moment onwards, same-sex marriage suddenly achieved a normalcy in American society that belies the enormous and prolonged opposition leading up to it.

And now, thanks in large part to the ubiquity of Smartphones, a critical mass has been achieved for mainstream America to support the tenets of BLM. Horrible and plentiful instances of police brutality and police murders are flowing through society's lifestream. These videos and pictures are now a part of our accepted Collective Consciousness. They are driving this moment in our history.

Speaking of pictures and videos, I'm pleased to present my take on participating in three BLM marches last week!

Mrs. Daily Kibitz and I live in a small-ish town in the exurbs of Washington, DC.  It is a prosperous place and notable for its demographic diversity. Like most, we've been "staying at home" during the pandemic whenever possible. But as you may know, we have a history of political activism. Watching the events leading up to last Monday's Banana Republic horror-show has been frustrating. In healthier times, we'd have been at Lafayette Park. Getting gassed and being assaulted.

So it was a great relief to be able to participate in a mid-week local demonstration supporting Black Lives Matter. Folks were gathering at the local grocery store parking lot. And so off we went (it's a ten minute walk from the house).

When we arrived, there were about 20 people there, which is about 15 more than I expected. But more and more people walked up. Within minutes, there were a few hundred!! And then off we went on a march through some neighborhoods! Nearly everyone was wearing a mask. (Mrs. Daily Kibitz and I kept to the periphery in accordance with Social Distancing.) And all were highly spirited. "Say his name! George Floyd! Say her name! Breonna Taylor!" These and other chants echoed off of comfortable suburban homes along the way.

We paused at a local clearing to take a knee for 8 minutes and 47 seconds. So very quiet and so conscious of each second.

It was agonizing. Then, we stood and continued our procession (watch this brief fun video clip):

And then we all marched down the hill and up the street

We are so proud of our town.

By then, of course, the national protests had grown and were almost entirely peaceful. There was talk of a large protest in DC on Saturday, so Mrs. DK and I grabbed our face masks and headed out! We joined one of the several marches that were happening that day. We socially distanced ourselves into the line near the Vietnam Memorial. The march went past the State Department into George Washington University, and then along H street all the way over to "Black Lives Matter Plaza," the newly anointed street leading up to Lafayette Park.

Along the way, we paused a couple of times to quietly reflect:

And like the Small Town march, this one (though crowded) was "family-friendly." This fantastic photo by Mrs. DK captured a little girl providing her generation's support to the marching columns:

"By the time we got to Woodstock, we were half a million strong." Well, tens of thousands were already in Black Lives Matter Plaza when we arrived there. (Note the church where President Supreme Ruler hoisted his bible prop.) It was sweltering. And far too many people for us to feel safe, health-wise, so we split.

But as we walked back to our car, we encountered other marches, with thousands more, all heading towards Black Lives Matter Plaza. Even though the White House, Lafayette Park, the Ellipse and surrounding government buildings had been fenced off, the entire White House district was surrounded with peaceful protestors. Where were the looters? Where was the violence? Where was the dreaded Antifa? In a bunker somewhere? And I must say, the police presence was minimal. Could that be a reason why things were so relaxed and tranquil?

getty images

The next day, Sunday, we participated in another local march. It began at our high school and wound up at a major intersection, which we "liberated."

Please click below for a fun and very brief street-side view of our march. Keep an eye out for Mrs. DK and me!!

High Speed March Down Frederick Road

After a long march, we arrived at our destination: the intersection of 355 and 27, the crossroads for this area. The police had done a good job of clearing traffic along the way, and controlled the vehicle flow here in a safe and measured manner. It was wild to sit on the pavement in the middle of this highly-traveled spot. 8 minutes and 47 seconds.

Conspicuous in their absence at all these events were any MAGA heads. There were no counter-protesters. None. Perhaps they had been fearful of being attacked by the vicious Antifa that composes the vast majority of these crowds. Honestly, it's such a farce...

But in places like Whitefish, Montana there are plenty of MAGA supporters. Here is one of the greatest photos of the age. We have a hulking opponent to BLM, towering over a protester. He has been verbally abusive to this group, knocking their signs from their hands, bullying his way into their faces, yelling "F*** You!! F*** You!!" over and over. I'd show the video, but it's kinda nauseating.

But it's this photo here that gets it. He is abusing Samantha Francine. He has his fists balled up like he's ready to pound on her. She had been wearing sunglasses, but when he got up in her grill, she took them off. She recalled her late father's advice for such situations: "No matter what the threat, always look them in the eye so they have to acknowledge that you're human..."

photo by Grace Jensen

That's the bravery of a common hero. (Also, he was arrested for Disorderly Conduct minutes later. Yay!) It's moments like that, and this image below, that have turned the country's thinking around:

Meanwhile, where are our leaders? Our real leaders are on the street. Well, here is one hilarious take on what was happening this last weekend to one "leader" down in the Trumperbunker:

White House Bunker video

Finally, we have the great David Byrne performing Janelle Monae's powerful call to action, "Hell You Talmbout." Say Their Names! I'll never forget seeing her perform this at the first/best Women's March in DC, 2017. Absolutely riveting as she cooly gazed out over the crowd of over half-million, saying "... Hello, Future."