Some things are difficult to watch unfold, particularly with the sense of how history will judge the acts of a nation and its people. The image is familiar – impeccably dressed men attending another at a desk surrounded by binders of cruelty and ignorance. With a flourish, pen strokes summon the whirlwind and cruelty takes flight. People will suffer. At times like this, I need to ground myself, seek clarity, and reach for understanding of the acts just witnessed. Common definitions help:
Cruelty (from cruel) – willfully causing or enjoying the pain or distress of others.
Once the backslapping and chest thumping has abated, it is only abject cruelty that remains as a stain that spreads and destroys a fabric. For a land that once cherished the beacon of welcome as the “… lamp beside the golden door,” recent events confirm that the lamp is unlit, and the golden door is tarnished by ill will. The shining city on a hill has passed into memory.
*****
Kevin Deeny
January 23, 2025 at 9:44 am
Well, said Kevin, I couldn’t agree more. I am so ashamed of the US right now. I can do a show kindness to everyone and hope that it spreads.
January 23, 2025 at 5:19 pm
Kevin always says everything perfectly. The sadness for our country , our futures, our childen spreads like a stain. Lifetimes have been spent building relationhips while momemts of selfish ill will can destroy it all in seconds. Let’s try to keep the kindness alive while we remember how.
January 24, 2025 at 7:50 am
Cruelty indeed. You write well, Kevin, and while the content is often difficult to take in, it is a pleasure to read anything you write.
Trump himself is a malignant narcissist, and I’m not sure that he’s capable of feeling. He knows what he wants and he does whatever he needs to get it. The men and some women surrounding him, however, they don’t have that excuse. They know full well what they are doing and the impact it will have others. The cruelty word definitely applies to them. The way they protect themselves, aside from compartmentalizing, is to think at a theoretical level and not make it personal. There are many wonderful ideas that work at a theoretical level, but they fall apart when you actually think of how they will affect actual people.