October 1, 2011 - At an airport, waiting on another plane. Last week I played in Salt Lake City at Ken Sanders Rare Books. Quite an evening. The show was opened by Duncan Phillips, Utah's son. He was followed by singer/songwriter Shane Jackman and then Tim Mason and I performed as the Bone Collectors - our combination of original music and spoken word. Good evening had by all. I note though that for the first time my I Phone heated up to such a degree (pun intended) that a note saying "temperature" came up and i had to actually put it in the refrigerator to get it to work again! Ah the mysteries of technology..
The Fall tour is coming together well. Many thanks to those who have offered to do House Concerts! Dates confirmed for Anchorage (2), Dallas, Oklahoma City, Knoxville, State College PA, Philadelphia, Rhinebeck NY, and Reno NV. Dates nearly locked for Boston, Washington DC, Port Townsend, Helena MT and Kalispell MT. Still trying to see if something in the old Northwest can work out (Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin?) and Carson City NV. Also looked at California, but not hearing a whole lot from there... Still we'll see. Its a full Fall nonetheless!
This trip is different though - harkening back to my old life and new sensibilities. I'm heading to Cairo, Egypt to assist with helping develop enthusiasm for the coming elections there. I am helping with the next phase of the Arab Spring.... It means something to me. I grew up in a family steeped in politics. While some may scoff at it, I know that myself, my Parents and my Brothers and Sisters all believed that it was a part of our obligation as humans to provide for others and to spend some time in the service of the public good. But increasingly people have lost faith in that public good, as have I. I am unsure of what politics means in America anymore. Behind the consistent spewing of hate and the words of battle lines drawn, I have lost sight of the good that either side is intent on - if they even see it. There are fundamentals, as I have written of before, that ought to mean something - like caring for the sick and infirm, not begrudging that wealth obligates you to serve those who helped get you there, that education matters. But we do the opposite. We slash our obligations, make the returning something to our society and evil and we do so with little or no debate - those still believing meekly cowing down to the bullies that shout at them, push them, pepper spray them... Meanwhile, a world away, democracy begins to bloom, but at what cost and in what form?
We have the tools to engage people in a new birth of democracy, but will they be turned into tools that manipulate a promise to serve a theft of resources? A new elite? Will they fulfil aspiration or crash upon the shores of the haves at the expense of the have-nots? A many with a computer degree is selling food in a stall and, harassed by the police one too many times, sets himself on fire. And the match sets a flame to Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen and others... A single match, but will it set a world on fire, or light a lamp? It is these moments that matter, and so I go to Egypt.
There are odd parallels worth considering. When Jimmy Carter tied Human Rights to arms sales, and refused to sell to South American dictators that were throwing their youth from planes above the Atlantic, Mothers were emboldened, people rose up and the military was shamed. Regimes toppled and democracy today is the norm in most of South America... Economies weathered the crisis, and democracy took root. It has not always been an easy path, and we have not always agreed with those who have come to power, but the systems are intact and, even in Venezuela there is credible opposition to the leadership. In Eastern Europe, when Gorbachev withheld the Soviet fist, democracy bloomed too. I remember reading the essays of Valclav Havel in those heady days, and I remember the fear I felt when I heard opportunists talk about the money that could be made... Democracy, which had been the light that kept dissidents alive there was side-stepped for economic policy. We cast it as the triumph of capitalism instead, and planted seeds of greed that tear those nations apart to this day. It was never capitalism that kept those believers hoping and willing to risk their lives, it was the concept of freedom - that people have a right to self-determination.
But we used that belief to cut those nations and bleed them dry - paid lip-service to democracy, when our goal was to extract wealth. We disillusioned millions, who have given up on this form of government now seemingly inexorably linked to capital. And now in the nascent Arab rebirths what will we do? How will we act? Will we support democracies that choose not to follow our desires? What is our commitment to the right of self-determination?
It matters what we do. It matters who we choose to be and how we choose to act out our unique humanity. Democracy must be real. Must lead to change. Must right wrong. But it has become a tool that is used against the disenfranchised - denies them education, manipulates their fears and, consequently, weakens its very core. We must take democracy back and show that it can lead to a voice for those who have no power amidst those who ceaselessly jockey to manipulate and hold power. It must seek an unswerving redress of grievance, and balance of moral good. That is why I'm going to Egypt.
