Calling for submissions
for a higher art
for a wider vision
for an art that holds us all together here in this moment
to see things as they really are
that we might be wise alone and together
wise enough to see
that Donald Trump is lying and stealing
and that that is not okay
and it is not normal
and that
it is not how it has to be,
that
we can choose a better way here and now

Calling for submissions
for a deeper art
for a kinder vision
it’s not all six of one half dozen of another
who were those young men face down dead in bloody mud for democracy and freedom?
who are we who’re called upon to pay a little attention think a little clearly act with a little gentle aware resolve
to save the land
from
might makes right, money talks louder than competency and good intentions, “true and false” as meaningless weapons — heavy blunt instruments with no value beyond fooling people into submission –;
from what is obviously both foolish and mean

Calling for submissions
for an art that loves sharing more than winning
for an art that remembers we are all in this together
for an art that chooses fun and joy and creation all of us together here and now
for an art that says No to rage and certainty,
an art that says No to everything
that contradicts
gentle aware clear accurate competent loving-kind joyfully-sharing gentle

Calling for an art gentle enough to save us from ourselves
to weave us back into each other and the heart of things
to sing us back into enough shared clarity to gently but firmly say,
No, Donald Trump,
No, we won’t hand a charlatan, liar, cheater, oath-breaker, mean-spirited bully the keys to the kingdom.
No, Trump 2.0,
No, we won’t hand collaborators in the lie, excusers of idiocy and meanness, we won’t hand fools who would put our democratic republic at risk for a moment of power and glory the keys to the kingdom.
No,
we’re not mad,
we’re just saying gently No to your foolish impulses — such impulses do not deserve power or prestige.

Corruption is when bad impulses are encouraged and selected for and good impulses are suppressed and shut down.
Corruption is a thing of degrees, but
A Republican Party that lies along with Trump and whose wonks figure out how Trump can further consolidate his power and have the tools needed to make good on his promises to weaponize the DOJ — such a party has become corrupted to a democracy-threatening degree.
The nation now has a choice:
Do we say, No, we’re not going to let that corruption infect the wider body? Do we tell this group of eager fools to please go sit on the sidelines until they can admit that the 2020 election was lost fair and square and that Trump should not have tried to manipulated his own DOJ to stay in power.
Or do we say,
Okay, sure guys, whatever, let’s just see what happens when we let you help Donald Trump replace 50,000 career bureaucrats with political appointees (read: people who think their job is first and foremost to satisfy Donald Trump) and otherwise consolidate power. Maybe that’ll work out great!
Okay, maybe, one never knows; but we the citizens of a democratic republic are not called upon to play Russian roulette with their nation, but to pay attention and make educated and thoughtful guesses as to which direction the nation should move.

When the Republican Party acts like Biden is the liar and the threat to democracy, and that Trump is the victim of a weaponized DOJ; then the Republican Party is agreeing with The Donald that “truth” is just whatever you say to help you win whatever you’re trying to win on a given day. That Republican Party has decided become part of the lie machine. Why would we give them more power? Why would we give them the power to institutionalize the lie machine? Don’t we know that the lie machine is a foundational and key element of repressive regimes? How is this happening, America? What is the art that will pull you out of your collective sleep?

Yes, a nation at sleep: for even those who see the danger do not see how it clear and true enough to mirror it fully to themselves and their neighbors. We don’t like to see it, to feel it in our gut. We scream at “them”; but what is needed is to perceive the way Reality mingles with this particular political reality well enough to reflect this moment so clear and true and bright that we find the voice that helps.

Calling for an art wise enough
to mirror this moment
to enough people
well enough
that we
en masse
gently sidestep
Trump and his would-be collaborators,
and gently together
reassert the primacy of democratic values

Why is democracy a spiritual good?

Because democratic values are the values without which none of our worldviews are meaningful to any of us:
aware, clear, honest, accurate, competent, loving-king, joyfully-together, creatively discovering win-wins

Because anti-democratic values are the values that make meaningless empty mush of all human thought and action:
lying, stealing, cheating, anything to maintain power, might makes right, “truth” is not “true” but just another weapon, zero sum us-versus-them with an ever-shrinking pot because we the rulers aren’t worried about competent stewardship of the whole so much as we are interested in holding power

Because in a democratic republic the citizens serve as a final check on madness/corruption/tyranny in government while together gently evolving/nudging their shared conversation and government towards the better and away from the worse.

Because sharing rights involves sharing responsibility and sharing responsibility involves sharing rights.

Because in a liberal democratic nation, both the people and the government are encouraged to seek win-wins rather than fight to the death over shrinking rights and privileges — in a liberal democratic nation the citizens are not forced to choose between doing the right thing and protecting themselves and their loved ones from the ruling corruption, don’t have to choose between doing what’s best for everyone and getting clean water and safe food and freedom from political prisons for them and their family.

So many for so long have dreamed of a stable, peaceful government where you don’t get bombed and where you can speak your mind without fear of reprisal. People sacrifice for the dream. They even sacrifice their lives. We are called upon to pay attention, think clearly, and move honestly. That’s it. But how to do that together? How to do that together in time to prevent a great folly? In time to together choose an imperfect but workable path over an error that will almost certainly harm our nation and its citizens, and that has a nontrivial chance of harming democracy enough to make that harm either impossible or at least extremely difficult to reverse. Why? Why side with that when we really don’t have to?

How about we stop asking our politicians what they can do for us
and start asking ourselves what we can do to help our politicians help everyone?

How about it, USA?

How about not failing this gut check?

Where are you
spiritual art
art that is fearless
that is not afraid to love everyone?

Where are you art
strong enough to save art
from those who love power more than Beauty = Truth = Goodness = Just-Order?

Where aer you art
strong enough to save art
from those who love winning more than Love?

Author: Bartleby Willard
Editor: Amble Whistletown
Copyright: Andy Watson