Diana was watching the Divergent movies series, followed by The Hunger Games, which should tell you all kinds of things about the mood on this rained-out weekend. Nothing like a little dystopian future to lift the spirits! The latter though is interesting in part because there's a war of propaganda, not just one with weapons. It's about shaping the sentiment about who and what to fear.
That got me to thinking about the current state of our divisive politics. It occurs to me that a portion of our society now fears not the people with the power, but the people with the least power... immigrants, minorities, women and such. They won't say that it's fear, and instead wrap it in some seriously epic grievance politics about how unfair things can or will be. They accept a reality where despite already having the advantages, they are willing to marginalize the powerless to keep it that way. Maybe this isn't the intent, but it certainly is the product.
To be clear, I don't think that you necessarily should fear those with power, especially in a democratic form of government, but at the very least, you should always be skeptical about what they do with the power that they wield. I'm astounded at the number of people who are not skeptical of the president at all, but they fear the people he marginalizes.
Look, if you want to align yourself with a political party, cool, you do you, but the election of officials begins with a contract of trust that they will not abuse the position. If "your" person wins, the next step is to hold them deeply accountable, and not reward their failure, let alone any abuse of the power they've been entrusted with.
Definitely don't fear the powerless though. I can assure you that they do not seek your destruction.
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