Rural Routes/Margot Ford McMillen

Keep the Peace and Get Things Done

The reactions to my last few columns, especially “Cool Your Jets,” have left me perplexed. Some readers have said, “thank you,” but others have sent me poems and postcards, with suggestions that I need to get more contrary. As I sit here looking at the frozen wasteland of my backyard, I’m wondering what has happened to the gentle readers who once kept their friends close and their enemies closer. Have we no memory of the many, many peaceful actions that end up accomplishing more than war has ever?

I’m pretty sure that my columns didn’t advocate giving up our moral compasses or declining to speak out. I hope that we all are still making our opinions known, writing lawmakers and zooming into meetings. I hope we’re not bolting gun turrets to the back of our pickups or even hanging up nasty banners. As always, I believe that the most effective opposition is the day-in-day-out lifestyle choices that we all make. Stuff like spending our money where our hearts are, and helping the causes we care about. For me, that means buying what I can from neighbors and refusing to patronize organizations that gouge folks. For you, it might mean joining a church or investing in a political party. As long as we’re living our consciences, that’s the best we can do. IMHO, as they say, In My Humble Opinion.

I am lucky that I can sit inside and watch the snow accumulate. This morning, I was able to thumb through the incendiary postings of my right-wing Facebook friends and check out the dwindling numbers of “likes” they get for memes like crowds saying “You Can’t Impeach a Movement” and Trump saying “Now it’s my turn.” Those memes used to get 20 or 30 thumbs-ups, but now it’s down to five or six. But, still, I recognize the names. They’re my neighbors. They gave money to Trump. They hung up his flags, now in tatters.

And they, in numbers greater than numbers of my friends I keep close, refused to wear masks and have gotten, entire families, sick from COVID-19. But no sicker than ordinary flu, they’ll remind me. As the rest of us get vaccines, we’ll all be safer, and they’ll use declines in disease to show that it will just fade away.

So, what’s this movement of theirs about? It’s about pride, folks. It’s about them not backing down and not accepting defeat. It’s that “we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall ...” that we all grew up with. It’s pretty common in the school books, the movies, the TV shows. Made us believe in fighting.

The stormer stubbornness, as short-sighted as it seems, is what settled America. And that’s part of the problem. Part of what makes them blind about how the game is played by manipulators like the former POTUS. Resuming his fundraising for his 74th birthday, the numbers are beating the hundreds of millions he took in to prove election fraud. It takes a lot of mental gymnastics to figure out how donating to him today will help Americans tomorrow.

Will it help us re-gain our center if a few facts are trotted out? In an analysis of who stormed the capital, the Washington Post found that 60% had suffered or were suffering from financial stress. Twice as many had gone through bankruptcy as those of us in the non-stormer population. While most of us would never think that killing a senator would help us face the humiliation and real danger of losing a home, when that pride thing kicks in, a lot of folks go haywire.

In that case, especially if we’ve made a mistake that we can see, foundering and flailing, we’re pretty susceptible to listening to a strong leader. It’s not the smart choice, but at that point we’re a little bit stupid.

Ah! There’s a red-tail hawk in a branch in the woods just past the yard. Magnificent bird. Yesterday it swooped down to catch something and collided with the house. Not the window, but the siding. I’m glad to see it’s OK. But after I mentioned the collision on a phone call with a bird specialist, I learned that red-tailed hawks are being found dead all over the state. Their food—snakes and mice and bugs and other birds—are all staying low in the bad weather. The hawks don’t eat bird food, can’t digest it, and it’s too late to fly south. If the hawk can hang on for another week, it’s supposed to warm up, and some critters will re-emerge. Maybe it’ll be OK. The thing is, birds can’t imagine spring when it’s so deadly cold outside, just as they can’t imagine winter when it’s time to go.

Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. She also is a co-founder of CAFOZone.com, a website for people who are affected by concentrated animal feeding operations. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History”. Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, March 15, 2021

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