The vicious attack on the U.S. Capitol this past Wednesday creates lots of opportunities for reflection.
First, the fact that so many of these people in the attack came prepared to engage in violence while some carried the United States flag is amazing. These are competing symbols when attacking the seat of democracy. Who would harm someone just because they disagreed with you? I thought the highlight of our country was the ability to discuss our differences and come to some form of compromise. In recent years, “compromise” seems to be totally objectional to some populations. It often seems characteristic of people who seem unable to deal with facts, with science, with any form of truth. They claim to be patriots, yet they seem to be ignorant of laws and history. They are willing to listen to lies and act accordingly. They are too lazy to do research and seek the truth. What I find hard to understand is that we spend lots of money in this country to educate our population and yet too many of our citizens seem to ignore processes for reasonable decision-making.
Secondly, the fact that people are being elected who have little knowledge or respect for our laws and public institutions is hard to understand. Certainly the actions of some of these misguided or incompetent individuals was evident this past Wednesday and even before. The priorities of elected officials should be public safety! Over these past months, the number of public officials who have ignored reasonable procedures to deal with COVID is more than evident. How many people have to die and suffer before these officials start taking their responsibilities seriously? There is nothing patriotic or reasonable in the actions of the people who deliberately cause harm or allow harm to happen on their watch.
The list goes on and on. This is an issue that everyone needs to be thinking about and helping to find the solutions. As the saying goes ” If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”