Susan Senator

–Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia

These are the times that try men’s souls. Every reasonable person’s soul, too. My own soul is in turmoil because I see trouble ahead for my oldest son Nat. Nat has profound autism, which means that he has deep communication challenges, he becomes destabilized easily from confusion about how the world and people work, and he needs to be under supervision 24/7. Aside from that he’s a wonderful guy, with a full life that includes sports, friends, music (he is in an all-autistic rock band), continuing education, and volunteer work.

Nat has a full life because for nearly 100 years this country has valued the pursuit of happiness and believed in social programs to help those who need support to make their lives worthwhile. We have programs for the unhoused, we have rehabilitation facilities, we have food assistance and public education for every student, no matter what challenges they face, and supervised day programs and supportive housing for people like Nat.

Where I come from, the ethos has been all about fostering inclusion, no matter what your challenge is, and to promote health for the body, mind, and soul—and with dignity. Prior to the Roosevelt era—the Great Depression and the succeeding National Recovery Act—there was very little of this kind of tolerance, of valuing the individual. At the turn of the 19^th century, for example, people like Nat were herded into institutions where indifference and cruelty were the norm. The medical profession experimented on these unfortunate individuals because they believed they could and should, in the name of eugenics. The intellectually and developmentally disabled were thought to be subhuman and so such treatment was rationalized as being good for overall society.

The Nazis learned about this approach and adopted it for whole populations—including the disabled—and the country belatedly joined a war to basically stop this (also under Franklin Roosevelt’s aegis). That bears repeating: the Nazis learned it from Americans.

Things improved again when the Kennedys rose to prominence, adding to the social programs introduced by Roosevelt. They were instrumental in forming the Peace Corps, Special Olympics, Save the Children, and on and on. They—and a majority of Americans who elected JFK twice—agreed with this, they felt that this is what you do in a modern leading society. You set the example for others. You helped and sacrificed for others, as much as you could.

The United States is in danger of losing all of that beautiful progress. Under Donald Trump we are losing so much. We’re losing our health because he has cut programs that oversee safe and clean food, air, land, and life in general. He has decimated special education and turned back the clock on proven science and medicine. He profits openly from bribes like the Qatar plane, gold coins, and countless other endeavors.

Not only that. Trump has normalized cruelty and indifference. He is all about payback. Anyone who wronged him—or whom he perceives as an enemy—must be punished. He supports countries that think like him, countries that reward the rich and harm the poor, or the perceived undesirables.  He rewards the wealthiest in this country by cutting billions in taxes and then says we have no money for social programs. He strengthens this approach by belittling social programs and spreading the word that such help is for the weak, the lazy, the undesirable. These are the real reasons he has cut programs that help people: for money, and for his own personal depraved satisfaction.

When will come the day when he ships these people out to God knows where, to deplorable camps, places where people die of neglect and cruelty? Oh wait. It has already happened, with our shameful treatment of immigrants. He has tapped into the basest feelings or instincts people have and told them that yes, this is the truth. Fox television echoes it. And people who have felt like have-nots, uneducated people, but also selfish wealthy people, now feel like their “feelings” are fact, and that is that.

Sometimes I want to give up. Other times my anger is so great, trolling the Internet for MAGA is the only thing that will slake that. But even that is shortlived because that is not who I am. I feel like that is not who many of us are and we must fight that violent despair while still fighting for the Good, the America was meant to be. Where the tired and poor are not despised but helped to rest safe and yearn free. The way we fight is to vote, to present arguments calmly and factually. We support the free and unbiased press, and continue to write letters to our legislators, to the editors, to our neighbors, exhorting them to hold fast to our country’s best side. And by continuing to vote, and to vote against laws that limit others’ rights to vote. We all have the right to be heard. MAGA has the right to be heard, but only if they play fair and listen, and engage in debate. If they are in the minority, they lose the election and they accept the results.

I believe they are in the minority. The popular vote has proven this. We must continue to prove this, that people are at heart, good but they can be misled by charismatic tyrants if they are unhappy. You can believe what you believe, but not if it hurts others. Simple as that. You have your God, I’ll have mine, or no God at all.

At the heart of it, we are our God. We know what’s right. And we have to restore it before it is too late.