On the Porch

Sitting with a few friends on the porch of the house where I’m spending the week at Chautauqua. The amphitheater where Morgan Freeman is performing tonight is about 100 yards away. He’s doing the narration for a combination blues/symphony concert that will be very interesting but very LOUD (I’ve turned into my parents), so I’m listening from here.

Over the last few days, I’ve experienced what it’s like not to have to mute my political opinions when I’m with a group of people. I stay at the United Church of Christ (UCC) house on the grounds of Chautauqua. In case you’re not familiar with it, the UCC is one of the most progressive (and open and affirming) denominations in the United States. The first two people I saw when I got here had “No Kings” buttons on their shirts, and the place is festooned with pride symbols and other indications of inclusiveness. In the communal kitchen where most of us eat most of our meals, the eight-person tables encourage conversation about matters serious and trivial. There’s a lot of laughter, and no topics are off-limits — because we are rational, serious, and informed people.

In Williamsburg, I am comfortable expressing liberal views among my closest friends, but I hardly ever bring up controversial topics among people I don’t know well. I mean, it is Virginia, and a lot of the people who retire to Williamsburg are wealthy mainstream Republicans who still support the current Republican president (for reasons I cannot understand, because they seem to be otherwise reasonable people). I see them in Osher classes, and they often sign up to take the courses I teach. Because I don’t want to piss off people who just want to take a class or two, I generally avoid making overtly snide remarks about the current political situation – although sometimes you have to acknowledge that facts are facts.

I thought about this earlier today, when I was waiting for the doors to open for a lecture (also presented by Morgan Freeman). I was standing in line, making casual conversation with the people around me, and someone made a off-hand comment about “the stuff going on in the country.” The following comments reflected a general, rational, fact-based awareness that the current Republican president is a complete disaster, and that we were all very worried about how this will resolve itself.

We didn’t talk about our varying policy positions on health care for all, or mail-in voting, or social security programs, or cutting arts programs. We probably had some differing opinions about these issues. But we were not uncomfortable with agreeing, on a visceral level, that things are very wrong, and that the current Republican president and his toadies at the federal and state levels are responsible for the dysfunction.

That doesn’t seem like a big deal. But it is.

Conservatives and Republicans of all stripes should be able to acknowledge the deep trouble we are in. The fact that they can’t – or won’t – is their problem, not mine. I’m just enjoying spending some time among people who are not willing to pretend that everything’s just fine.