Time for a Reality Check

Plato warned that an unhealthy democracy can easily fall prey to a tyrant …

And Thom Hartmann (from whom I borrowed this image titled “American Caesar”) began his Hartmann Report of January 16th 2025 (yes, 21 months ago) with these words: The end of the democratic phase of the Roman republic was brought about by wealthy, elite Romans like Marcus Licinius Crassus (115–53 BCE) — the richest man in the nation at the time — who frankly hated the Roman “free bread for all” welfare system … He and others like Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great, 106–48 BCE) wanted to end the voice of the public in political decisions (because they were demanding free bread, paid for with rich peoples’ taxes), so they used their massive wealth to promote rightwing authoritarian populism and buy off legislators who’d then be loyal to them … Three primary elements were used by the morbidly rich of that era to erode the power of Rome and replace it with sycophants loyal to them: polarization and elite gridlock, the erosion of democratic norms, and the concentration of power in the hands of a small elite who funded and thus controlled Rome’s senators. Hmmnnn … sound familiar?

According to Google’s AI Summary, Plato made his famous argument about democracy falling prey in Book VIII and Book IX of The Republic, which he wrote around 380 BC. In this seminal work of political philosophy, Plato describes how political regimes naturally decay over time. He argues that an unhealthy democracy’s insatiable desire for total freedom eventually dissolves order, creating deep partisan chaos and a resentful populace. This unstable environment allows a demagogue to step forward as a popular “protector” or champion of the mob. Once this leader consolidates influence by exploiting the public’s fears and desires, they inevitably seize absolute power and transition into a tyrant. Hmmnn again …

So does this mean that given the events of the past decade, we should just sigh, nod, roll over, and cheerfully sing along with Doris Day’s very dated version of “Que Sera Sera” (2 minutes)

OR HOW ABOUT … let’s just put on our Big Kid underpants, lace up our Old Grandma boots, and get out there in the streets like this: (3 minutes+)

AND sing our hearts out with Willie Nelson instead? (2 minutes)

What’ll it Be? Hmmnnn???

Prompted by this poem, my July 10th post of 2025 was titled “Gotta Keep Singing ‘til It’s True”. 15 months later, I think it can’t hurt to share it again.

Sing ’Til It’s True
By Gavin Van Horn

I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.
–African American spiritual, arr. by William J. Reynolds

“The thing about singing,” said grandpa,
“is you have to keep singing for it to come true.”
So a small group gathers
beating steady rhythm
calls the salmon home.
And a mother, through tears,
rocks her baby, letting her know,
she’ll buy her a diamond ring.
And the ghost of Woody Guthrie,
a sharp twang that bounces
down the canyon, keeps repeating:
“This land is your land.
This land is my land.”
We wake, turn on the smokebox,
wires to our ears like thin tapeworms.
Keep singing
At the coffin, at the pine-grove,
in the still small silences of night.
Keep singing
To remind yourself:
there didn’t have to be music in the world.
There coulda been blood and bruises
With no tourniquet, no balm.
There coulda been a pit
with no ladder
An ocean without dry land,
a storm without shelter.
There coulda been.
There’s no certainty
of benevolence. But
there’s music.
And you can sing
alone, in pairs,
or with the storm itself.
“The thing about singing,” said grandpa,
“is you have to keep singing for it to come true.”

I don’t mean to be a downer (or whatever it’s called these days) but let’s be real. If you helped get him and his henchmen elected, once or even twice, it’s okay to regret it, to admit you feel cheated, lied to, hoodwinked, betrayed. I mean, seriously, public executions as entertainment? How Handmaid’s Tale is that? Nobody’s going to ridicule or poke fun at you if you change your mind. Well, maybe some will, but never mind them. While denial has its place and sometimes (for awhile) it can get us through a rough patch, most everybody knows the weary joke about it being just a river in Egypt. But … as Parker Palmer said on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, hurling accusations at those who use denial to rationalize their political choices does not change hearts or minds … The way beyond the denialism that is bringing us down is the kind of open, honest, yet generous public conversation on which democracy has always depended, and it’s up to us who are not in denial to start the conversation. Someone has to wage peace …. “Democracy cannot thrive”, Parker goes on to tell us, in a culture of denial. If we can’t free ourselves from the lies that allow MAGA to continue to bring democracy down, it’s no stretch to say that Osama Bin Laden has won the victory he sought on 9/11. That story is still being written, and its next chapter is in our hands. May I take the liberty of suggesting again that you look for Robert Reich’s new documentary titled “The Work in Progress”?

Also, if you have an hour to spare and are interested in a conversation between Timothy Snyder and FOX’s Jessica Tarlov about Disagreement & Persuasion, and the idea that real change requires more than dialogue, you can watch or read the full exchange via the Kettering Foundation on Bluesky or Timothy Snyder’s Substack.

It feels like we’ve covered a lot of ground and maybe this would be a good place to stop. But, having started with Plato “about 380 years BeforeChrist”, I can’t help wanting to bring just a bit of Jesus into today’s offering. I know, I know … that’s considered unusual for a Unitarian, but therein lies our beauty … teachings from Humanism and Christianity; wisdom from Buddha, Moses, and Mohammed, along with the Great Spirit, and there we are … learning to live the values we’ve gleaned from a myriad of sources.

So here are two of the guys that I think have a real understanding of that gentle young man who is reported to have been born in a manger and put to death on a cross, and who said I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me … Truly, I say to you, as you did it (or not) to one of the least of my brethren you did it to me. Here’s a clip of one of my favorite U.S. Senate candidates, James Talarico, former Texas school teacher, currently a Texas State Representative and Christian seminary student, speaking openly about his faith and how his progressive values and his votes are guided by “biblical grounds”.

Then there’s John Pavlovitz, a former Methodist minister who takes a different approach and has a lot to say in his Substack column, The Beautiful Mess, about the role of Christians in American politics. For instance: With their votes, White Christians could reject the nonsensical conspiracies, the immigrant dehumanization, the masked thug armies, the capricious wars of choice, the tax-funded genocides, the wall-building taunts, and the abject lies. They could condemn the persecution of the poor, the pillaging of the planet, the mockery of the suffering, the protecting of the predators. With their collective voices, they could stop the bleeding of a nation besieged by leaders who show complete loathing for the very people they are entrusted with protecting. In a single day, people of the Christian faith could step into the polls throughout this nation and end the reign of the most cancerous, heartless, hate-addled regime in our nation’s history—and all they’d need is Jesus.

Oh my goodness. I like to think I can go on and on and on, but the reality is, I’m tired. With just three weeks left to decide who we will be as Americans, and where we will go from here, I’ll bet you are tired too. Let’s be tired together, but not exhausted. Let’s keep doing what we can and keep singing ‘til it’s true. Let’s take a long s l o w breath, call it a grateful day and, if you will, allow me to close with a poem I wrote about these very days … the time between.

And Now the Time Between

So it has arrived at last.
You knew it would.
Summer can’t last forever.
Nothing does.

Some lessons we have to learn
the hard way …. some of us.
Things happen. We close
our eyes for a minute
and something that was there
is gone.

Not everything planted gets to bloom.
Sometimes we blame the soil,
sometimes the circumstances …
not enough light, too much rain. But
the light and the weather change and
the season of harvest knocks gently
at the screened door.

Until next time, try to sing and dance a little every day. Make sure you’re registered to vote. PLEASE VOTE EARLY if you can, and remember …

Love,
Sulima

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