The End of 2020, the Start of "Things to Realize"

It's launch time!

Things can be too intense, can’t they? What a year 2020 has been. In July, I decided to re-focus my writing onto Substack in order to make it easier and more direct, and to encourage me to write more. At the same time, 2020 was hitting tragedy and craziness out of the park. You would think that in a year as crazy as this one is, I would be able to just toss a dart against the wall and find something to write about. Well, yes, there are lots of things to write about - and I wrote about many of them, on other media. But not here. Why? Because I didn’t want to taint my mission.

My mission is to write for my tribe. Not my friends, but my tribe. I consider anyone in my tribe to be my friend, but not all of my friends are in my tribe. I define my tribe as people who like what I write. Pretty basic, and true. But, I need to be clearer, because this year has drained all the water from the rocks and shoals, exposing all of us in stark relief. In the year 2020, we’ve dealt with the pandemic, the pandemic response, economic collapse, the Black Lives Matter protests and the response to the protests, the election, and the president’s post-election activities, and that is just a subset of 2020. People have reacted to these events in an alarmingly wide variety of ways, staking out firm and sometimes irrational positions across the political spectrum. The result of putting stakes in the ground is the slew of inevitable disagreements with others who put their stakes somewhere else. I think the majority of the tribe will be made up of people whose stakes are spiked roughly near mine. That, however, is not a requirement. My hope is that people find something valuable from this work, even if they disagree with some or even all of its positions.

My purpose for doing this project is not to write about politics, but to write about the human condition and how we deal with what comes our way. Yet politics has been front and center in our lives this year. I cannot touch politics at all without quickly declaring a position. Why? Because this year, the sides are so polarized that the disagreements are not only on opinion, but on facts. All I have to type is two words, “President-elect Biden,” and the arrows start flying.

I have opinions about politics. I have strained some of my friendships because of my opinions. I know we all have. And because this has been such a political year, and because even as I write this it’s not over, I did not want to launch this project and have it devolve into a political journal.

That has been the dilemma.

But, you know what? Screw that. Yes, there is a risk that the political and the current could overwhelm the mission if I let it, and there is a risk that I will alienate people by taking a definitive political stance, and there is the further risk that I will bore people with yet more politics. On the other hand, to not write about anything because it might alienate is the wrong way to go, and I am overdue to start.

There is a lot of good writing across the political spectrum about what is going on with the presidential election and the shenanigans that have been happening since. The writing on this has been so good that I hesitate to add to this, except that I have a unique perspective that I believe will help shed some light on why this is happening, and how to work with those you may disagree with.

It is my contention that Trumpism is a cult. Knowing that helps us understand it.

Let me come out of the closet now, and state that I am a former member of the Church of Scientology, which I am sure many of you have heard of. It is a cult, and I was a member starting from childhood until about ten years ago. When I was younger I was very heavily involved. I was on staff a couple of times, my entire social world was almost exclusively Scientologists, and my world view was certainly through the lens of Scientology. I will write about some of my experiences and lessons learned from my involvement, but right now, my experiences with the cult mentality can shed light on this cult of Trump.

Now, I am not saying that everyone who voted for Trump is a cultist. I am saying that the people who are entangled in the alternate reality that Trump is pushing - such as that the election was a “hoax,” that Russians were not involved in the 2016 election, and other fanciful claims - are acting like cult members. There are parallels between the Trumpist devotion to Trump and the Scientologists’ devotion to L. Ron Hubbard, and the creation of a persecution myth (“They are out to get us!), and the flat-out rejection of anything that counters what the dear leader says (or tweets, as it were).

I will expand on this soon. For now, I want to let you all know that I am picking up the gauntlet and starting this project, wherever it leads.

Therefore, today I officially launch “Things to Realize,” the journal that is not political but does touch the political third rail from time to time, but more importantly points out… things to realize.

This is in newsletter format. When you subscribe, each post will be sent to your inbox as a newsletter. I promise not to abuse the privilege, and I will endeavor to make each post worthy of your time and brain space. I am committing to a post at least every two weeks, ideally more often. I will send some of my earlier writings as well. I invite you to be a member of the tribe. You can always cancel, so what’s to lose?

And please let me know your thoughts and what you’d like to hear about!