We are the leaders now
Be real, be honest, take the risk
In 1960, during the presidential race between Kennedy and Nixon, both candidates were flying around the country doing live debates broadcast on both radio and television. These were the first debates that people were able to watch while not being there in person. On one stop, both men arrived exhausted and rumpled from the endless travel of the campaign trail. As both sat waiting to be called onto the set for the debate, a TV exec summoned Mr. Kennedy. When both stepped up to the podiums, Kennedy was groomed and had on a clean shirt, while Nixon was still unshaven and sweaty. The people watching that debate on TV said that Kennedy won. The people listening on the radio said that Nixon won.
Setting aside the question of the quality of either of their presidencies, from that debate onward, politicians have been presenting short talking points and making themselves look shiny. They make promises they not only have no intention of keeping, but that would be impossible to fulfill. They rely on us to get distracted. They figure out how to slow the process if that would keep them in power and money. They shout people down and use the vulnerable aspects of the human mind to turn citizens into tools. Other regimes have done this. They can’t do it much longer. A large portion of the America is now wise to their concerted attempts at control.
However, it is still true that CT officials from either side of the aisle need only shout ‘Trump!’, engage in some handwavium in the direction of DC, and many of the citizens of CT will look at the hand while piles of legislation charges through the super majority. I’m not writing for anyone who still believes that what comes out of the mouths of our ‘elected’ officials in CT is the truth. At some point, the curtain will be drawn aside, and the wizard revealed. Our state is a mire of control and only when masses of people show up in Hartford - such as the recent homeschool rebellion - do legislators back off for the moment.
And make no mistake, it was for the moment.
Our representatives to DC are loud and vigorous liars. CM, who posts nearly every day on social media, screams about how the Trump administration is going to steal medicare and medicaid, so they can ‘hand it over to their cronies.’ RB has kept up the fight against people being able to protect themselves with fabrications about firearm function. RD can’t lie about the effectiveness of her tenure on the Committee for Health and Human Services because the numbers around obesity, autism, and drug use don’t lie. But she can do her best to shout down RFK Jr when he testifies before congress.
Why don’t we expect more?
The truth is that we do. This is why the current administration was voted in to DC. They aren’t Republicans in the sense that we’ve understood, even if they ran under the umbrella of the Republican party. For those who think they only need to sweat out another four years before going back to business as it has been, they are wrong.
However much technology has hurt us - and there is a long list of things about which we should be wary - technology has also democratized information. The continual shortening of soundbytes, driven by information overload has rebounded. Humans need other humans and attempts to silo us to feed the machine like pod in the Matrix will only go so far. DT won because he speaks off the cuff. He won because he’s willing to sit down with someone for an hour or three and just talk and let the rest of us watch. He can make a joke. He can laugh and get others to laugh with him. He listens and doesn’t shout people down.
This is the new standard.
It’s a risk for people in polyticks. A risk because they might make a mistake, or look awkward. They might have a hair out of place or post something on social media that gets them lambasted. The only answer to that is to be an honest human and not ignore facts. There is a portion of the electorate - especially in blue states like CT - that has been consumed by feelings. Feelings that have been whipped up by the media and by our politicians. Once people are consumed by feelings, they don’t care about facts.
Feelings are good. They direct us toward what we value. For example, caring for others matters. However, we need much more than the standard of care/harm to run a society, let alone a government. For that, we need both facts - the reality of our limitations - and feelings - so that we know what to aim for. One without the other spins us out of control and leaves chinks in our cultural armor though which parasites creep, drinking our blood and leaving behind poisons.
For too long, the media has been telling us that people who look good and read off a teleprompter are - by definition - legitimate authorities.
They are not.
Legitimate authorities are people who aren’t afraid to sit down and talk for hours. They are people who can speak to their expertise without notes. They are people who should know their subject well enough to have predictive power. That requires both skill [for example, in negotiation] and extensive knowledge. Good leaders are able to admit they’re wrong from time to time, although they shouldn’t be wrong very often. Good leaders should lead from the front, and be willing to engage in personal risk in order to get the job done. Leaders have a vision of what they want to build and can enroll others in that vision.
Our current politicians in CT don’t do that.
The ones who can see how much it matters to speak directly with the electorate can do that, and they are. This is an opportunity. Not just for deep blue states [which may not be as blue as we’ve been told] but for all Americans in both major parties and all the minor ones, to change how we see our leaders. To change what we expect.
Go see your representatives in person. Watch or listen to long-form podcasts. Ask them questions. Engage. For too long, we have allowed leadership to be someone else’s business. It’s time for it to be ours.
Got a story to tell? A reason you love CT? Want to help make CT healthy again, or are you looking for something you can do to help? Talk to us!