Dear Shannon:
Don't forget: "We're No. 1!"
Someone once said, in reference to the experience of the German people in the 1930s through 1945: "There are monsters out there, but not that many. It's 'ordinary' people who are the greatest source of fear."
I think there are a few things that can be done to start the healing process.
1. Teach kindness, starting in the home, and continuing in the schools and in the other social institutions.
2. Teach respect for different ideas and values.
3. Teach the value of LISTENING instead of engaging in dominating-über-alles TALKING. (Among other things, NO INTERRUPTING is allowed.)
4. Teach that it's okay to disagree with ideas, but not excusable to put people down. Conversation should be an element of producing understanding, not "winning or losing."
And, yes, there are some with certifiable mental illnesses out there: narcissism, schizophrenia, manic-depression/bi-polar disorder, psychopathy, etc., and many of the problems with have with the QAnon and other conspiracists stem from mental disorders, but most people are simply weak-minded and don't have a set of deeply-embedded values to which they can turn in times of uncertainty.
The racist, misogynistic, homophobic, xenophobic, and religiously-bigoted mentality in this country stems from the excessive use of the basal ganglia (the so-called "reptilian brain," which divides the world into "US vs. THEM" and stimulates the kind of degenerate behavior we've seen around the country).
The "reptilian brain" gave rise to the importation of slaves, the genocide of Native Americans, treating women as second-class (or worse) citizens, virulent anti-homosexual attacks, violence towards immigrants, and religious bigotry.
Additional solutions are:
1. We have a Republican Ministry of Propaganda (the Faux News Network, which is neither fair, nor balanced). Too many people listen to it and believe the baloney they dispense every day. BAN IT.
2. We need massive public funding for fair and neutral news outlets.
3. We need to stop our obsession with social media.
4. We need to stop our obsession with "influencers," i.e., "media whores" such as Kylie Jenner, the Kardashians, Kanye West, Brittany Spears, Justin Bieber, and all the other members of the so-called "celebrity class," who take up valuable media space and distract us from dealing with what's truly important.
5. We need local, community-based courses in dealing with common problems: empathy, good communication, relationships, personal responsibility, civility/courtesy, etc. It seems to me that those character traits---which I learned in the home as a young child---haven't been taught at all.
6. We need to get away from the warlike fixation on sports, especially our obsession with football, NASCAR racing, and others that emphasize violence or its potential for violence.
And, finally, and most importantly: we need to have RESPECT for one another. If we can't have a society based on RESPECT, then heaven help us.
