At Odds

In a past life, I worked in an office with an admin whose desired government was open theocracy. Not because stepping on other's freedom of religion was a priority for her, but because her faith led her to believe in a deity who had a hair-trigger wrath, questionable aim and a blatant disregard for collateral damage. Her priority, therefore, was avoiding being in the blast radius of a smiting. And, like most believers, she honestly felt that her religion, even if imposed, was better for people than whatever ungodliness they would get up to when left to their own devices. A tolerant, pluralistic society felt like an active threat to her mortal well-being. An undemocratic society with less sin, however, would have been a dream for her.

I recall her when I'm talking politics with people because I remember the fear and stress that were her constant companions. If something as basic as foul language could prompt an area-of-effect bolt from the blue, many people's everyday behavior was a cause for concern. She was too tactful to ever accuse people of deliberate wrongdoing, but there were times when she didn't need to.

Because she felt that everyone around her would be better served by her understanding of the world, as opposed to their own, she was able to cast something that would directly benefit her as being for the world at large. I suspect that this is a basic tenet of many people's political faith, and this is part of what drives the mutual hostility that partisans have for one another.

I have a conservative acquaintance whom I've known since we were children, and his response to last week's No Kings protests was one of unbridled anger. He too sees politics mainly through the lens of problems that it will fix for him. He tries to make the case for a broader benefit to the nation at large, although his "if you're not with us, you're against us" outlook tends to get in the way of that. Like our old admin, I understand the fear and stress that other people's politics hold for him, even if he's worn away my sympathies with his active bitterness. Still, I see how the politics of years past has failed him, and how a liberal democratic order feels like an active threat to his well-being.

Their situations are not the same, but are similar enough that I can see the parallels. But seeing them has always been the easy part. It's changing the world enough that it works for them without breaking it for everyone else that's the difficult part.