What Will it Take?

In the late 1930's the direction of the government in Germany was becoming clear with certain groups in society persecuted more and more.  It was certainly support by some, but also distasteful to many. Yet few spoke up for fear of reprisals and retribution from those in power.  It doubtless haunted many otherwise fine people that they didn't say anything, defend their neighbour or do something of consequence against a growing sense of wrong that they saw in their society.  We know what happened next, and its too bad that the story of the war overshadows the history of how they got there too often.  We are not focussed as we should be on the important part  - where we don't want history to repeat itself.

These days we are faced with a small subset of those that claim to represent us all, and many in society disagree strongly with the statements, laws being enacted, and general stance on what is acceptable.  While we are seeing moves in society such as #Metoo that seem to address criminal, disgusting behaviours, it also seems to bounce off of those that need to be dealt with most.   This has become a situation where the normal rules of our culture don't seem to apply and despite the protestations of frustration, anger and denial appearing in social and popular media, nothing is really being done.

We're seeing the ugliest side of us all, claiming to be representative and that perhaps more than anything else, is the most trying aspect of what is going on in our world.  Maybe there is a grain of truth and maybe, just maybe we are all quietly a little racist, a little bigoted,  or selfish, and self-involved greedy bastards - to a very small degree. And having the qualities elected and on the main stage allows us the smugness and chance to disavow the person, but otherwise do nothing of consequence as a small part of us secretly shares those values. Otherwise really - what's the excuse for inaction from the other elected officials, and the pawns that are part of the governance in society (police, judges, local governments, bureaucrats) changing the rules how we look upon one another.  And the inaction from people who aren't marching, who aren't boycotting, and who benefit because 'well, the economy is doing rather nicely these days'.

The question that keep rolling in my mind as the situation keeps going is - what will it take for someone to act and create risk for themselves for the greater good.  Will we all just be 'good quiet Germans' as we're lead down this path? 

What will it take for you to act?  Because where we are today isn't an end state, it's transitionary to a revised culture where the values we see espoused by those in power, become the values of the country.