Joe Biden has become the President Elect of the United States. A sigh of relief, and yet, not so much. While I do enjoy rooting for the political left like I would the 49ers because that’s just what we do; in times of reflection, times when my heart is right there on my sleeve, I do feel warmth and care for every single living being, regardless of political affiliation. It would take some Orwellian conditioning to convince me otherwise. And it's simple how I see it: I’m not someone who has to get up at 3 in the morning to milk the cows and tend the sheep and pray for a good crop year. So to say that my values would work best for someone with a completely different lifestyle would be like me convincing all Americans that Chinese food is better.
If the last four years have taught us anything, it is that we are to bring political conceptualization back to the human scale. It doesn’t mean we abandon ideology and debate, but without a fundamental respect for the opponent and a real desire for understanding, no exchange would be meaningful. It would just be winning for winning’s sake, as we’ve seen too often modeled by the current administration. And of course, it would also be just letting networks and web platforms exploit the polarization to sell ads. At this point, they count on us not loving our neighbors, and worse, they count on our fear of the other.
I’m also not saying we need to appease one another and compromise our values. I still stand firm in what I believe, but I am learning to listen, and I'm learning to empathize without getting personal. We may all be equal, but none of us are born the same. It’s going to be a hell of a road to reach that new frontier of mutual respect and cooperation, but we are in the Aquarian age, and the time has come. We are already on that road, either we like it or not.
True, I will probably never convert to conservative values, but I don’t have to agree with those values to love the spirit of the person behind it. I probably wouldn't choose to live with that person - as boundaries are wise in the world of form. But my basic respect and hope for a happy life for all of us is there, and I really believe it'd do us some good to remember our commonality in humanity. May that be the step towards unity, and may it be just so.
My Moon/Saturn/Pluto in Libra have spoken. Thanks for listening. Namaste.