If the eyes are the window to the soul, then it might be said that the campaign for the presidency is a window to the soul of America. Troubles abound in the lives of citizens in America and in Maine.
There is not enough time, energy and money to meet our needs. Escaping in a pursuit of our momentary desires to cope has become the norm and an art form. Government is not the answer. It is as helpless as us, only on a grander scale. Charged with preserving freedom, it oversees the slow erosion of freedom. It is bankrupt, only able to buy time, until a miracle might save us. Corruption is everywhere we look.
Between the haves and have-nots, the entitled and the rejected, there is a great divide, with more and more haves falling into the black hole of have-nots with each passing day, while the haves that remain grow wealthier and more certain they have the solution for the have-nots.
The have-nots feel no one knows them, listens or cares. They have become invisible. They have lost a sense of their own importance. They feel powerless and controlled by the forces beyond them. It has become impossible to find the truth, with no shortage of people willing to make it up. Justice is a cynical joke. Too many are living in fear of how to get through the day. The only recourse for most is to care only about “myself.” Surviving replaces living. Many are very angry.
To get our votes, the presidential candidates send the message: “I hear you. I see you. I know what you are feeling, what you are going through and (most importantly) what you want.” They say, “I will fight for you.” The rejected are angry because they feel betrayed, sold an American Dream that is unattainable for them, with a government that is more part of the problem than solution. The rejected see a ray of hope in the outsider candidates, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, who couldn’t be more different in how they fight.
Trump is a master in the art form of rejection. He has become the voice of the angry rejected. He is a god who knows all, the only one in a position to judge who is good or bad, smart or stupid, beautiful or ugly, right or wrong, winner or loser. Of course, anyone who agrees with him is a beautiful-good-smart-right winner, and everyone else is a piece of crap. His voters agree, and he has a duty to get the crap out of the way to “Make America Great Again.” He has no need of facts, policies, platforms or positions. He keeps it simple. He is the most transparent candidate ever. He has captured the heart of the angry rejected perfectly.
Sanders speaks for the have-nots who have lost all hope in the government of this age. They are looking for something outside the box to save them, and the country they want to love again. They have been the suffering kind who have gotten used to injustice and the young who want no part of it. They want rejection to stop. They want the forces beyond their control to care.
Hillary Clinton is the lone traditional candidate, which for her may be both a blessing and a curse. The rejected have-nots suspect she will only bring more of the same; make broken promises and push a liberal social agenda that has always left them out. Some will vote for her because she seems less risky. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Better the devil you know, than the one you don’t.
We are all weary of people who want something from us, care little about us or our desires and will judge us as pleasing or crap, depending upon our willingness to give them what they want and set aside what we want. It is a global to local dynamic in all realms of life now. We all do it, too. It seems there is no other way to defend ourselves than hunkering down and caring only about ourselves, ready to reject any interference. We are all Trump, Sanders and Clinton.
Outside the box, candles burn in the darkness with a light from the beginning of time. People, one moment at a time, treat themselves the way they would like others to treat them (safe from rejection); treat others the way they would like to be treated (leading by example); and respectfully ask others to do the same for their own good (offering choice). It is a grand comfort to know each of us has the freedom and power to make America great again.
Thomas J. Gaffney of Stockton Springs is a psychologist and organic blueberry farmer.