Scott C. Miller's Blog

Is it true that things get worse before they get better? If so, are we experiencing the worst of politics just before we shift to the best of politics? Maybe.

We in Albuquerque just witnessed the violence that can accompany a Trump event. Crowds gather and taunt one another with racial slurs. It took 600 police to facilitate the “festivities.”

Putting someone like Trump into the White House will lead us into a temporary dark age on most of the social agendas I care about, including: appreciation of diversity, civility, democracy, economic opportunity for all, foreign relations, the environment, and education. If he is to be elected, one can only hope that it finally motivates the apathetic, comfortable and “conscious” crowd to mobilize and become change makers in the next cycle.

This, more than any other election I have lived through, will be an election of compromise. Both Republicans and Democrats are going to be stuck with their “is –this- the- best- we- can- do?” candidates. Currently, both candidates have record unfavorable ratings.

We need urgent, visionary and sophisticated leadership to address global warming, tectonic shifts in the economy, poverty, and radicalized fringe groups that profit from the abject poverty and despair in their countries. The public’s attention is being distracted and wasted on an indulgent binge of obnoxious and offensive name-calling that inspires crowds to behave in the way they just did here in Albuquerque.

Whatever happens, there is an opportunity for all of us to create a more productive dialogue in our communities to approach our real concerns and dreams. When it comes to solving issues like poverty, we can create town hall dialogues that allow the best of our perspectives to come forward. Rather than exercising the lazy option of joining camps of pre-packaged opinions, we can move into the exciting future of real solutions to real problems and commit to working with people who may have differing opinions but a willingness to come to the table with open minds to find solutions that serve the good of all.

Maybe the truth is that until a critical mass of us become more skilled and disciplined in how we talk about politics in our everyday lives, we won’t get a highly qualified leader in the White House who has the ability to lead us through the urgent changes of our time. Maybe each time we choose to cast dispersions based on little-to-no-real information against one another, we are voting for another Trump-like candidate to emerge on the national platform and distract us from creating the kind of nation we aspire to be. If we want the United States to be great, we must each express that greatness in our everyday lives. Civility, appreciating our differences, chasing after our biggest dreams, and loving others in small and large ways is a contagious antidote to what we saw unfold here in Albuquerque.