Think outside the democracy

March 8, 2025

Photo by David Kovalenko on Unsplash

I believe wholeheartedly that the only way out of domination is love.
—bell hooks (1952­‑2021)

I’ve been having a theological tug-of-war with myself of late. What good is a belief that there is something life-affirming in a universe that keeps on creating if cruelty continues to run roughshod in our little corner of one little galaxy?

The weakest public figure on the planet has been handed the reins to the most powerful military on earth, and with its implied threat fooling him into thinking he himself is tough, he is working through all his insecurities as he rounds the corner to his final years. Hitler at 50 thought his end was near because both his parents died young; his blitzkrieg pace at unleashing horror was more desperation than strategy.

It seems foolish to say that love will prevail when an entire government filled with similarly weak and insecure people is acting desperately, which in this case means recklessly and dangerously. But that is exactly it: Without love on their side, look at the lengths to which they must go. It is nothing to take away—to destroy carefully nurtured alliances, to shatter trust, to fire the powerless, to vilify and attempt to erase the marginalized—to shut things down and claim accomplishment, fooling no one. These are desperate acts of people who know, deep in their hearts, that they are weak.

They are also afraid. What are they afraid of? Us. Why? We own the larger territory, the territory of the heart, the country of self-esteem, the armory of righteousness. But we are not acting that way. We keep using the genteel tools of democracy even though we are no longer a democracy. Protesting and raising our voices in other ways is good, but representation is not on the table right now. And we know that at some point the right of free assembly will be curtailed. Our First Amendment is the first casualty.

To arms, then. The mightiest sword we can swing right now is that of a universal love — to refuse to let go of the belief that we are here to take care of each other. That belief will lead to right action (to quote the Buddha), and do take heart: Those actions can be pretty aggressive. Not all love-action is passive or pacifist. Not all stubbornness is a vice. Defiance in the face of tyranny is love made impenetrable.

The thing is, we have no idea what we are truly capable of until we act as if the entire life-creating universe is our Department of Defense. Then we can see that our oppressors are in fact small. Then we can dare to do things that would have shocked us a year ago. Call it faith. Feel its power. Fire when ready.