Mario Savio, he wouldn't have give up, even now
Time for another birthday. They come every year at the same. Clockwork. I’ve always liked my birthday. It’s a different day. A break from the ordinary. I get a lot of well wishes. Texts, emails, cards, phone calls. Gifts are given. Don’t mind that at all. There’s a nice dinner, this year at a restaurant that I really like. Desert is served and I get a song. What’s not to like?
It’s also a day for reflection. What has happened the last year? Was it a good year? Great year? Best ever? All years have ups and downs. The question is what was there more of and how high were the highs and how low the lows?
The day after the birthday it’s all over and you move on. March 1 (or in leap years, February 29) is always so damn ordinary. The birthday is put up in the cupboard for another year, it was just one day of 365. You might get belated birthday wishes from someone but that always has a hollow ring to it. Day late, dollar short.
For this birthday I’d like to get philosophical. I have some thoughts (no, really) and they come out in the form of advice. Here goes.
Given the state of the country this would be a natural time for people to throw in the towel, say “screw it” and become total hedonists. The U.S. is being dragged backwards. The current president is a mental incompetent who cares infinitely more for himself than the constitution, the welfare of the citizenry or political norms.
I taught at an urban public middle school for two decades. We never admitted it to each other but by the first week of the school year — in some cases the first day — teachers recognized those students who we were very unlikely to reach over the course of ten months. Long before they reached us the future of these young people — certainly as students — was clear. They were not going to succeed in the classroom and in many cases were going to be disruptive forces making our jobs more difficult and negatively impacting the education of classmates.
What did we do? We tried. Middle school teachers in particular and public school teachers in general do not give up on students. It’s the job. You do what you can. Cajole, innovate, prod, push, plead, persist. You feel good for doing it because it’s what's right. And here’s the thing: sometimes you get through. Sometimes you nudge that F student into a D student who begins to understand and starts to see the value of making an effort. Success stories among the lost causes are rare but by god are they satisfying.
So this is what we have to do as a society. We have to keep pushing. Giving up is not an option. There are important battles to be fought on multiple fronts.
Stop ICE. Protect voting rights. Fight global warming. Defend LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, racial justice and DEI. Advocate for the poor. Oppose Trump on any and all abuses he tries to inflict on the people. Get the unexpurgated Epstein Files out. Work to elect progressive Democrats in this year’s elections. March, protest, take to the streets. Yell. Don’t let the bastards win. Here’s an important thing to remember: they are not the majority. WE ARE. Trumpy is deeply unpopular.
We’re in dire straights but the situation isn’t hopeless. I close with this great line from the Sidney Lumet film The Verdict (1982).
“You know, so much of the time we're just lost. We say, "Please, God, tell us what is right; tell us what is true." And there is no justice: the rich win, the poor are powerless. We become tired of hearing people lie. And after a time, we become dead... a little dead. We think of ourselves as victims... and we become victims. We become... we become weak. We doubt ourselves, we doubt our beliefs. We doubt our institutions. And we doubt the law. But today you are the law. You ARE the law. Not some book... not the lawyers... not the, a marble statue... or the trappings of the court. See those are just symbols of our desire to be just. They are... they are, in fact, a prayer: a fervent and a frightened prayer. In my religion, they say, "Act as if ye had faith... and faith will be given to you." IF... if we are to have faith in justice, we need only to believe in ourselves. And ACT with justice. See, I believe there is justice in our hearts.”
No comments:
Post a Comment