We read the fable about Pandora’s Box when we were children, and it made an impression on me all those years ago that remains to this day. How could a woman who was entrusted with a box containing all the evils and illnesses in the world, open that very box and release them to the world? Was it curiosity that drove her, or was she tainted by evil herself? She only managed to close the box before Hope escaped, so that Hope remained in the box, presumably to ensure that mankind’s destruction was not sealed. Of course one could wonder why Hope was sealed into a box with all the world’s evils and illnesses, but that is not what this post is concerned with today.
I am reminded of this fable because of the current political situation in America. It seems to me that our current president has opened the same box containing all the evils and sicknesses in the world. They’ve all come rushing out—bigotry, hatred, anger, aggression, white supremacy, lack of empathy, hypocrisy, lying, cheating, disregard for the weak, among others. These evils dominate our media on a daily basis, and ultimately, dominate our daily lives. We wake up, live, breathe, eat, and go to sleep with them. They wear us down, erode our patience, destroy our internal peace, destroy relationships, and create chaos. If you don’t believe me, just take a look around you and peruse social media or your daily newspaper. Or talk to your friends and family members about what is going on. It is clear to me that the president is very good at creating chaos and then benefitting from it in one way or another. If we don’t wake up soon, we are headed for anarchy, and it will be primarily his fault, for opening a box that should have remained shut. I read a good article yesterday written by a journalist who longed for a 'boring' presidency; by that he meant that he longed for a president who doesn't dominate our daily lives the way the current one does. He longed for a president who doesn't foment hatred and chaos. He longed for a president who just governed quietly and calmly without all the hype, PR, tweeting, hypocrisy, and lying. I agree with him wholeheartedly.
The only thing I’m not quite sure of is whether Hope remains in the box that has been opened. Hope. What is it really? Is it blind optimism? Is it faith in something better for the future? Is it an ordinary human trait, innate in our personality? I’d like to think so. Is it unrealistic? At times, probably. But in dire situations, it’s all we have. We have to hope and trust that things will get better. But when you take a look at other countries in the world, bad situations don’t get better overnight. Sometimes it takes half a century or more for a country to get out from under a brutal dictator, or for a country to rise up from poverty and starvation. Many times they don’t get there without help from other countries. Those other countries have hope that things can be better, and they help because they know situations can change for the better.
Those of us who live in democracies know that things can get better. We have a say in how our countries should be run, and they should not be run by dictators. If we truly want change, we have to hope and plan for change. We have to trust that change is possible. We have to use our vote to ensure that change. A vote against the man who opened up the box of evils is a good start. We need to restore order where there is chaos, peace where there is discord, kindness where there is brutality, and civility where there is disrespect. If we don’t do this soon, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
