“I am coming to Boston, and I’m bringing Hell with Me”
President Donald Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan criticized Boston police for not fully cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). His words, quoted above, draw us in as they also make us very uneasy.
It sounds like a threat and the language of a bully not a public servant. Homan uttered the words on the lawn of the White House. Was he fired? Cautioned not to bully? Reminded that for 160 years, we have been the United States of America not the warring states? Nope, his boss echoed his sentiments.
At a meeting with governors, open to the press, presser, the president threatened the Governor of Maine. If she did not work with ICE, he would cut off all federal funding to her state. She countered that she would follow federal law. Trump replied, he was federal law. It was a moment reminiscent of the moment Louis IV uttered “L’État, c’est moi.” (I am the state.) It is hard for all of us to counter bullying. In the school yard or on the White House lawn, it doesn’t seem we were ever good at it.
If we are faced with a big kid who wants to take our lunch money or a president who wants to take our rights, our jobs, and our services, what do we do? Well, as suggested in the editorial, prepare to help those who will suffer from our most vulnerable individuals to our charitable organizations founded to help them.
Even if we do not all agree it is bullying, we can help the victims of whatever we want to call it. Also, we don’t wait and decide if its bullying or necessary cost cutting. Whatever we call it, we want to act to help our neighbors; act to determine the depth of the problems caused and the breadth of our response. Anything else we can do? Read on…
Those who Duck and Cover and Those who Stand Tall
The words of Michael Roth
Editor’s note: Thank you, Lionel Delevingne for suggesting SU spotlight his friend Michael S. Roth. He spoke at Stockbridge Library, July 27, 2024. Since the election he has spoken out frequently and here is a summary of his comments.
Michael S. Roth, Wesleyan University’s president, is advocating for articulated values in higher education. Other university heads, remain silent – cowering in the face of the Trump administration’s attacks on higher education.
Roth, however, described Trump as authoritarian. He speaks firmly in defense of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), transgender rights, and immigration. Roth is demonstrating resistance to the Trump onslaught on rule of law, civil society, and our institutions. Roth says, “Leaders in higher educational institutions should stand up for their values.” He stresses that he is not looking to pick a fight. He is determined to respectfully but unrelentingly defend a way of life.
He does not want to stand alone – he wants others, many others, to join him. Roth criticizes his counterparts who are equivocal in the face of an attack on the American way. There is no option for neutrality at this moment in history.
“Leaders in civil society shouldn’t be ‘demure’ in the face of authoritarian — Business and civic officials, religious authorities and college presidents should weigh in when they see the missions of their institutions — not to speak of the health of their country — compromised.”
He has been sharply criticizing Trump. Some have joined lawsuits against Trump’s executive orders. And Roth is president of a private school, in a Blue State, not reliant on government funds as public universities. Moreover, Roth is an intellectual historian who teaches classes where students read Aristotle and other long-dead White men — the kind of works many conservatives say don’t have a prominent enough role in modern curriculums.
Roth admitted, “I’m nervous. “
He stressed that hiding, remaining silent, is how tyranny gets instituted in a country. … I’m a professor, a teacher. I don’t look for trouble. But I would feel ashamed if I didn’t speak up for the values that have guided my institution and many others.”
“Leaders in civil society shouldn’t be ‘demure’ in the face of an authoritarian. Business and civic officials, religious leaders, and college presidents should weigh in when they see the missions of their institutions compromised – not to ention the health of their country.”
He has sharply criticized Trump where other of his colleagues have not. However, Roth is president of a private school, in a Blue State, not reliant on government funds; others are more reliant on funding and even public universities. Moreover, Roth is an intellectual historian who teaches classes where students read Aristotle and other long-dead White men — the kind of works many conservatives support.
Nonetheless, Roth admitted, “I’m nervous. “
He stressed, “Hiding, remaining silent, is how tyranny gets instituted in a country. I’m a professor, a teacher. I don’t look for trouble. But I would feel ashamed if I didn’t speak up for the values that have guided my institution and many others.”
What is Roth telling us to do?
Stand up, speak up, and trust that it matters to do so. It helps those It helps those on the frontline to feel someone has their backs. There is comfort in numbers. Articulate our values and follow them
The True Costs of Uncertainty: Psychologically and Economically
By Carole Owens
Psychological Costs
We prefer to have control over our lives. We anticipate outcomes, we calculate the odds, we choose wisely, cross our fingers, wait and see. But what if you can’t? What if there is no past performance, nothing on which to base an educated guess?
It can leave you feeling hopeless and depressed about the days ahead. It can exaggerate the scope of the problems you face. In the worst case scenario, it can paralyze you.
The awful thing about threats is it hardly matters if they are acted upon. The threat itself is dangerous.
Threats cut off rational discourse. They frighten and cause people to cower in place or withdraw. “Flood the zone,” “alternative facts,” and “retribution,” take away the ability to anticipate accurately. Such strategies deny us any sense of control. They create uncertainty; they wrest control from us.
Economic Costs
Let us take my favorite example, the one I have pointed to for the last five years, the United States Post Office. Benjamin Franklin served as the first Postmaster General (PG) from 1775 – 1776. The Post Office was critical to business, the war effort, and just plain folks. Its smooth running was an underpinning of progress and prosperity. That was true then, and it is now. Over the decades, the American postal service became the pride of this country delivering every piece of mail fast and unerringly. It was the model for the world. That is until the Trump administration. In no time, from the naming of Trump’s choice to be PG, it has faltered. Why? Trump appoints people who do not support the agency they will lead. You don’t solve problems by tearing it all down. Dismantling agencies causes purposeful and unnecessary unemployment. Unemployment causes a raft of attendant problems. There is a ripple effect and job loss occurs in the private sector. Think of the businesses that rely upon the postal service. Massive job loss shifts the balance of power from employee to employer.
Moreover, it causes uncertainty in the markets and from Wall Street to Main Street. Uncertainty destabilizes individuals and it destabilizes markets. The United States economy, up until now, has been one of the strongest in the world. We are about to see first-hand the true cost of uncertainty.
Bamboozled
We join together in an honest appraisal of our problems believing we are doing it in order to solve them. But what if our goodwill, like our best efforts, are being used and not for the purpose we imagine?
What if we don’t know why we are defining problems or exactly where we are going? Defining problems does not necessarily have anything to do with solving them. What if the problems are being used nationally to transition from a government of, by, and for the people to a government for the precious few? Internationally as an excuse to desert our friends? Not knowing creates a degree of uncertainty that can lead to destabilization and our own undoing.
What do we do?
Forget about deciding – be certain in what needs to be done. If there are hungry, feed them. If there are sick, treat them. If there are homeless, take them in. Do the job right in front of us with the Golden Rule to guide us. If in so doing there appears to be a government that would obstruct us, tell that government to behave differently.
Do what our forefathers did when faced with a greedy monarchy that would not listen. They trusted truth, science, decency and enlightenment. They decided that the government should be fair and share power and wealth. They decided to write it all down and make it the law. They then clung to the notion that the law was supreme, not powerful individuals.
We are facing challenges we never had to face before, but they did. Our founders carefully established what was ours – defend it. The powerful taking from the weak, whether it’s the big kid at school taking the weaker kid’s lunch money or the dictator taking rights, it’s wrong, hold the line.
Stand together, the more the merrier, act on what you agree upon and are certain of – the simple stuff you learned at your mother’s knee. – play nice, share your toys, don’t hit or threaten to hit.
Meet together and plan to help whoever turns out to be the victim of the upheaval in front of us. Whether it is necessary governance or unnecessary upheaval – a manmade tornado – this is a moment for communal response. Don’t waste time determining who is to blame – spend time fixing the problems. Whether the bully is a tinpot local or POTUS, you can spot him. Now move past and work the problem. Let the Golden Rule be your guide. Become certain. This is a moment for charity in all things material and spiritual, governing and socializing.
