A Liberal Dose, Nov. 28, 2024 "We Have Many Reasons to Be Thankful"

 

A Liberal Dose

November 28, 2024

Troy D. Smith

“We have many reasons to be thankful”

 

For many of my indigenous friends around the country, the whole month of November -and especially Thanksgiving -is considered a month of mourning. Mourning for things lost, people lost, opportunities lost, land lost. I know that for many of my progressive friends, devastated by the recent election, there is also a sense of mourning, and of casting about for things to feel thankful for. Many of my conservative friends are rejoicing, some claiming we are about to enter a new golden age, and they are no doubt feeling very thankful… but a few weeks ago they, too, were worried about the future and discontent about the present, especially about the high cost of living. I fear that inflation is not going to magically go away with a change in the White House, and if Trump follows through on his tariff promises things will probably get a lot worse. The momentary joy of being on the winning side will pass, and golden dreams will feel hollow and tin-plated.

But we all do have a lot to be thankful for, right here, right now. I am thankful for the life I am privileged to lead, the breath I am privileged to draw. I am thankful for family, and friends, and faith. I am thankful for hope, which always manages to shine through even if only in slivers, like sunlight through the cracks in a prison wall, offering the smell of life and freedom, even in the now. I am thankful to still live in a land based on principles and ideals, though imperfectly formed and sometimes fraught with hardship and danger. I am thankful to be part of an ongoing process of striving to form a more perfect union, to be one set of hands in the myriad seeking to mold this country into what the vision of it promises to be, rather than be content with what it is today or what it was yesterday. I do not seek to make America great again, I seek again to make America great. I do not seek to divide and conquer, I seek to conquer the divide. We do not seek to tear down the government, we seek to govern the torn down.

So, for today, let’s take a deep breath and be thankful for what we have.

Tomorrow we will start thinking about how to hold on to it.

 

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

   

 Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE

You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE

A Liberal Dose, November 21, 2024 "What Democrats Need to Learn How to Do"

A Liberal Dose

November 21, 2024

Troy D. Smith

“What Democrats Need to Learn How to Do”

 

Last week I said I would talk about what the Democrats could have done differently, and why things may have turned out the way they did. The short answer, of course, is that a majority of voters preferred Trump and the vision of the future that he offered. How can we reach those voters next time?

 

A lot of pundits and talking heads are asking this question. I will tell you a couple of things that I believe were factors, and one thing a lot of pundits and Democratic leaders are saying which I think is wrong- and, at the end, what I think is the biggest change Democrats must make.

 

First, the biggest thing. Inflation. Yes, numbers show our economy is booming, but working class people are not feeling it- because, during Covid, prices skyrocketed and never came back down. Yes, they did stop going UP as fast, which is good, but they did not come DOWN. And working people feel that, hard. Fact is, whoever was in power was going to take the blame for that, deserved or not, and was probably not going to win the election because of it. It could have been addressed, better, though, and that will come into my final part in a few paragraphs.

 

Second, the White House support -physical, financial, logistical support -for Netanyahu’s actions in Palestine, which have become genocidal, lost Biden and Harris a lot of support on the left. It may not have been enough to have decided the election, but it was significant. Harris should have separated herself from Biden’s policy on the matter. They lost a lot of votes in swing states over that.

 

Now for the part pundits are saying that I don’t agree with. I’ve seen a lot of progressive-leaning commentators and even Democratic politicians saying “woke is broke.” That liberals have spent too much time preaching about things the average American doesn’t care about, or is opposed to, like trans rights and Black Lives Matter, and drove swing voters away. Well, I’ll agree that drove some people away -but I do not agree it was wrong to do, nor that it was the real problem. Our movement must never become one that is willing to throw the civil rights and safety of vulnerable or minority groups under the bus. Or to throw basic decency under the bus.

 

I am going to take a moment to say that Trump was very effective in using these issues. He was able to be openly racist against people of colors and still get the votes of many of them, by appealing to their prejudices against other groups. This was especially effective in getting the support of young men of color by taking advantage of the misogyny some of them had. He was able to get the support of women by appealing to their fears and prejudices against various groups. He and his followers have done all of that, and anyone who points it out is labeled by them as the divisive one. It is by no means a new tactic, it is centuries old in this country.

 

But here is what I think Democrats are bad at, and need to get better at. Dealing with working class and working poor Americans. And, in fact, rural America and the South in general. Liberals need to stop being condescending to such folks, and painting them all with the same broad brush, and insulting them en masse. This is not something new from me -if you’ve followed this column, or followed me on social media, you’ll know I’ve been saying it for years. Some of you may have witnessed the fury that pours from me when liberal people who agree with what I’m saying talk about stupid, uneducated hillbillies. And many of those who are not outright insulting just don’t know how to talk to regular people. That needs to change, and change fast.

 

What we really need is an economic populist from the left to pull working class people together across racial and regional divides -someone disruptive like Bernie Sanders, but younger. Someone not afraid to offend the one-percenters who are benefiting from all of this chaos. Which brings me back to inflation -all those prices didn’t HAVE to go up and stay up. Whole industries took advantage of the opportunity to stick it to the working man and woman and line their own pockets even more. They need to be taxed to pay their fair share, and regulated to prevent their price-gouging. Working class people need someone to step up, to join in with unions, who will inspire them to stand up for their own rights and not be controlled by fat cats on golden (bathroom) thrones who are making a fortune off their sweat, and dividing us all to keep us compliant.

 

There needs to be Power to the People. And to get that, you have to actually engage the People, and speak to them in a language they understand, without being high-and-mighty.

 

Folks, when we get that figured out -and we will -there is going to be a real wave of change in this country.

 

Courage.

 

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

 Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE

You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE

A Liberal Dose, November 14, 2024 “When in doubt, tell the truth”

 

 A Liberal Dose

November 14, 2024

Troy D. Smith

“When in Doubt, Tell the Truth”

I want to start off by thanking everyone who helped make our second trip to the Cherokee food pantry a success. I believe there are several churches that will be taking over from here. Just a word about the Living Waters Lutheran Church and food pantry -it is not the official tribal food pantry. Official tribal resources only go to enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians -but there are many non-EBCI Natives there, including quite a few Oklahoma Cherokees and members of a lot of tribes who have moved there to work. The church pantry is open for the needs of everyone living in the Quallah Boundary (or reservation).  A lot of people in need have been helped by your generous donations, and they asked me to convey their thanks. 

That said, let’s jump in- to my first column written after the election. 

A lot of my fellow liberals have been pretty disheartened, even despondent, this past week. Others are angry. I have stepped up on social media to emphasize to people that this is not the time to lie down and give up on our ideals, and give in to defeat. It is time to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start getting ready for the next election -which also means time to organize, to strategize, and to analyze what we can do differently. I’ve had some conservative friends criticize me for this, saying that instead I should be calling for people to unite together and all get along -to which I reply, I love getting along, but if by getting along you mean keep quiet and stop fighting for what we believe in, the correct word there is “submit.” And that seems very Orwellian, when you consider what would have happened -and what DID happen, last time -if the election had gone the other way. You will see no insurrections from us, or efforts to illegally overturn the results of the election… because our primary loyalty is to principle, and the Constitution, not to making sure our person wins no matter what.  

But be that as it may. There are some facts that cannot be denied. This time around, the vote was not super-close. This time around, Trump won not only the electoral college   -handily -but the popular vote (which a Republican presidential candidate hasn’t managed to do in 20 years). While there were some hijinks, the Russians did not tip the election, or even come close. The fact is, the majority of American voters chose Donald Trump (and, in so doing, the vision of America he offers). I might not like that, but it happened, and -like the Democratic Party in general -I acknowledge it and have no intention of doing anything other than acquiesce to the peaceful, orderly, transfer of power, as sincere Americans have done for almost 250 years (with one notable exception). 

But, while that might be the truth, there are other truths -on which I rest my own principles -and I will not stop speaking those truths (hence the Mark Twain quote I used as the title of this column). By the way, as I predicted in my last column, in the past week I have seen various incarnations of the liberal-leaning media (on screens and in print) scrambling madly to the right, no doubt in fear of consequences that may arise from the new administration. You won’t see me doing that. 

But I will be talking, probably in my next column, about what I perceive to be the weaknesses of the left and changes I think need to be made in order to succeed. That is, or should be, the normal response of someone whose party and movement fell short in an election.  

There are still people in this county and this state who feel like I do -we may be a minority, but we remain a sizeable one. To those people I say: don’t despair. The game is not lost. The other side just scored, and they are on the sidelines celebrating (boy are they), but all this means is that the ball is back in our hands and now they are on defense, and we are on offense. It’s time to huddle up, then start marching that ball up the field a few yards at a time.  

Stiyu- have courage. 

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU. 

A Liberal Dose, November 7, 2024 "Now Is the Time for Courage"

 A Liberal Dose

November 7, 2024

Troy D. Smith

“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly”

 

I am writing this column more than two days before the election, yet you will be reading it two days after. I don’t know what will happen -at this point it looks like it could go either way -whereas you know what has happened already, assuming it is decided within two days (and who knows if it will be). All of which leaves me in a strange place to be writing.

So I am going to spend this time talking about things that are true no matter who wins (or won), and that will sadly remain relevant no matter the election’s outcome.

First, I love movies. When I try to narrow it down to my favorite, I always come up with a three-way tie (High Noon, Casablanca, and It’s a Wonderful Life)… closely followed by the Godfather saga.

Those top three picks had a huge influence on me as a kid, as I was trying to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be. They all featured good, positive, masculine role models (as portrayed by Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, and Jimmy Stewart), and -though very different genres -they had something else in common. They each featured a hero who stood up for what he knew was right, against overwhelming odds, despite great risk and even great personal cost to himself. Marshal Will Kane in High Noon did this despite no one he trusted believing in him. Michael Corleone in the Godfather movies, of course, is NOT a good role model. But there is still a similar lesson to be learned: he tried to protect his family by giving in and controlling the family business (which, we learn early on, he believes is wrong), doing absolutely terrible things in the process… and wound up destroying his family, instead of protecting them. It’s a roundabout way of saying the same thing. Do what you know is right, because it is worth the cost, whereas doing the wrong thing is NOT worth the cost.

Last week I talked about the incivility and even violence that has become the norm in the Trump era, and gave examples of many people who -out of fear -have knuckled under. A recent opinion piece about the Washington Post scrapping its planned endorsement of Harris out of Jeff Bezos's fear that Trump might win and exact economic revenge on him carried this subtitle:

"The collapse of civil courage in the Trump era is a historical parallel to Nazi Germany"

I see this collapse of civil courage increasingly, not just in politics and public life, but in academia... which is increasingly inextricably linked to politics. In the current bullying atmosphere, some teachers are afraid to teach; some reporters are afraid to report; some librarians are afraid to encourage reading; some doctors are afraid to save lives. And some go much further, joining in on the chorus against the “other” to avoid being lumped in with them.

I am reminded of people during the Hollywood blacklist era who protected themselves and their own careers by naming names and throwing others to the wolves... and when the tide of public opinion turned, it was they themselves who were cast out as traitors and cowards, and shunned by their industry. High Noon, by the way (in case you didn’t know), was written as an allegory of that very blacklisting process, using several blacklisted actors and crew.

I am also reminded of people in occupied countries like France and the Netherlands who, to protect themselves, collaborated with the Nazis rather than struggle against them. When the Nazis were defeated, such people were left to face the fury of those whom they had left to suffer while gaining safety for themselves, as well as their own consciences… many of them contorting themselves like pretzels in an effort to avoid the judgment of their grandchildren. The same holds true for the many who, though they did not actively collaborate, stood by and did nothing and pretended not to know what was really going on.

Well, no one ever has to wonder where I stand or what I think, and they never will. I take to heart the motto of Davy Crockett (who sacrificed his political career to oppose Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal plan): "Be sure you're right, then go ahead." When reminded he would have to face his voters, he remarked that he had to face himself in the mirror and one day he would have to face God. He was the sort of politician we don’t see often, and need to see more of, at least in that regard.

It is a sad statement about our times that I often have sincere friends, on the left and the right, express concern for my safety because of the things I say on here. Since I was a teenager I have identified with Jeremiah, who -when he tried to stop speaking the truth because it kept bringing him violent reprisals -said that it burned in his bones like fire until he had to let it out. I would be miserable if I did not speak out what I see to be truth.

To quote the great historian and general Thucydides: “The secret to happiness is freedom, and the secret to freedom is courage.”

To quote Paul in his letter to Timothy: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

And, finally, to quote Thomas Paine in 1776: “These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.”

A couple of weeks ago I told you what Cherokees say instead of goodbye (“we will see each other again”). Here is another expression sometimes used in place of farewells:

Stiyu. Have courage.

 

 --Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party and the board of the Tennessee chapter of American Indian Movement (AIM) -Indian Territory. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE

You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE

 

A Liberal Dose, Nov. 7, 2024 "What We Obtain Too Cheap, We Esteem Too Lightly"

 

A Liberal Dose

November 7, 2024

Troy D. Smith

“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly”

 

I am writing this column more than two days before the election, yet you will be reading it two days after. I don’t know what will happen -at this point it looks like it could go either way -whereas you know what has happened already, assuming it is decided within two days (and who knows if it will be). All of which leaves me in a strange place to be writing.

So I am going to spend this time talking about things that are true no matter who wins (or won), and that will sadly remain relevant no matter the election’s outcome.

First, I love movies. When I try to narrow it down to my favorite, I always come up with a three-way tie (High Noon, Casablanca, and It’s a Wonderful Life)… closely followed by the Godfather saga.

Those top three picks had a huge influence on me as a kid, as I was trying to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be. They all featured good, positive, masculine role models (as portrayed by Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, and Jimmy Stewart), and -though very different genres -they had something else in common. They each featured a hero who stood up for what he knew was right, against overwhelming odds, despite great risk and even great personal cost to himself. Marshal Will Kane in High Noon did this despite no one he trusted believing in him. Michael Corleone in the Godfather movies, of course, is NOT a good role model. But there is still a similar lesson to be learned: he tried to protect his family by giving in and controlling the family business (which, we learn early on, he believes is wrong), doing absolutely terrible things in the process… and wound up destroying his family, instead of protecting them. It’s a roundabout way of saying the same thing. Do what you know is right, because it is worth the cost, whereas doing the wrong thing is NOT worth the cost.

Last week I talked about the incivility and even violence that has become the norm in the Trump era, and gave examples of many people who -out of fear -have knuckled under. A recent opinion piece about the Washington Post scrapping its planned endorsement of Harris out of Jeff Bezos's fear that Trump might win and exact economic revenge on him carried this subtitle:

"The collapse of civil courage in the Trump era is a historical parallel to Nazi Germany"

I see this collapse of civil courage increasingly, not just in politics and public life, but in academia... which is increasingly inextricably linked to politics. In the current bullying atmosphere, some teachers are afraid to teach; some reporters are afraid to report; some librarians are afraid to encourage reading; some doctors are afraid to save lives. And some go much further, joining in on the chorus against the “other” to avoid being lumped in with them.

I am reminded of people during the Hollywood blacklist era who protected themselves and their own careers by naming names and throwing others to the wolves... and when the tide of public opinion turned, it was they themselves who were cast out as traitors and cowards, and shunned by their industry. High Noon, by the way (in case you didn’t know), was written as an allegory of that very blacklisting process, using several blacklisted actors and crew.

I am also reminded of people in occupied countries like France and the Netherlands who, to protect themselves, collaborated with the Nazis rather than struggle against them. When the Nazis were defeated, such people were left to face the fury of those whom they had left to suffer while gaining safety for themselves, as well as their own consciences… many of them contorting themselves like pretzels in an effort to avoid the judgment of their grandchildren. The same holds true for the many who, though they did not actively collaborate, stood by and did nothing and pretended not to know what was really going on.

Well, no one ever has to wonder where I stand or what I think, and they never will. I take to heart the motto of Davy Crockett (who sacrificed his political career to oppose Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal plan): "Be sure you're right, then go ahead." When reminded he would have to face his voters, he remarked that he had to face himself in the mirror and one day he would have to face God. He was the sort of politician we don’t see often, and need to see more of, at least in that regard.

It is a sad statement about our times that I often have sincere friends, on the left and the right, express concern for my safety because of the things I say on here. Since I was a teenager I have identified with Jeremiah, who -when he tried to stop speaking the truth because it kept bringing him violent reprisals -said that it burned in his bones like fire until he had to let it out. I would be miserable if I did not speak out what I see to be truth.

To quote the great historian and general Thucydides: “The secret to happiness is freedom, and the secret to freedom is courage.”

To quote Paul in his letter to Timothy: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

And, finally, to quote Thomas Paine in 1776: “These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.”

A couple of weeks ago I told you what Cherokees say instead of goodbye (“we will see each other again”). Here is another expression sometimes used in place of farewells:

Stiyu. Have courage.

 

 --Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party and the board of the Tennessee chapter of American Indian Movement (AIM) -Indian Territory. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE

You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE

 

A Liberal Dose, Oct. 31, 2024 "This Is Not Normal, and It Has to Stop"

 

A Liberal Dose

October 31, 2024

Troy D. Smith

“This is not normal and it has to stop”

 

As you read this column, it is Halloween… and five days before the election. Both of those things are spooky. By the time you read the next column one week from today, the election (hopefully) will be over. Half the country will be furious, half will be deliriously happy and relieved. No matter who wins, about half the country will believe that the future of the country and of democracy are in doubt. It should come as no surprise to you when I say that only one side would actually be right to think that way if they lost.

Four years ago, when Trump lost, I heaved a big sigh of relief because I thought, to quote Gerald Ford at his inauguration, “At last our long national nightmare is over.” But, as it turned out, it was not. I don’t think any of us who had voted for Joe Biden could have believed that the defeated sitting president would actually instigate a violent insurrection to prevent the certification of the vote, while simultaneously putting in place various illegal schemes to do the same thing in the courts. Or that four years later he would once again be the Republican nominee… and that the race would be a virtual tie this close to the election. Even with him being exposed for openly wishing he could have had generals like Hitler’s generals. With all his fascistic rhetoric, and total disregard for the Constitution (or even understanding of what it is), I am terrified of what will happen if he wins. Unfortunately, after what we saw last time, I’m also pretty darn scared of what will happen if he loses.

Trump has eroded all semblance of civility or decency in American public life. He has normalized violent speech, violent actions, and even calls for revenge and threats of using the military against his political opponents (which, we now know, he actually tried to do while in office but he was surrounded by people sensible and principled enough to prevent it, which will not be the case if he gets back in). Before you chime in that liberal rhetoric has led to two attempts on Trump’s life, let me remind you that BOTH those would-be assassins were, not liberal Democrats, but former Trump supporters… take a moment to think about what that means about who has created the atmosphere of violence.

I know many, many people in this and surrounding counties who are terrified to put out a Harris/Walz yard sign. Not because they’re afraid it will be stolen, but because they are afraid, almost all of them, that it would lead to Trump supporters vandalizing or even burning down their houses. And they are not overreacting. Many people who have prominently opposed Trump the past few years are laying plans to flee the country if he wins, for their own safety. Media outlets are refraining from criticizing Trump as much as they used to, or from supporting Harris, out of fear of reprisals against them if he wins. We know that Republican senators who thought Trump should have been convicted in his last impeachment refrained from voting to convict because they feared for their families’ safety, and even their lives, if they did so. Judges in Trump’s MANY court cases have been inundated with death threats. Volunteer poll workers around the country are scared for their safety, and we’ve already seen violence against them.

THIS IS NOT NORMAL.

At least, it didn’t used to be. At least, it SHOULDN’T be. But so many of us don’t even question it anymore, because it has come to FEEL normal just because it has been constant for nine years. Many of us are frogs in boiling water, with the temperature slowly rising.

I have a lot of conservative friends who say they support Trump only reluctantly, that they are disgusted by him on a personal level, but they just can’t support a liberal Democrat. If this describes you… you know that everything I have said about him is true. And we don’t have to let our country keep devolving this way. Once you are in that voting booth, it is you and your conscience. None of your friends, family, or neighbors will know how you vote unless you tell them. If you can’t vote for Harris, write in someone else or go on to the next line.

If you support Harris, and feel like your vote doesn’t count, go in to vote for Gloria Johnson for U.S. Senate. Because if Trump DOES win, we sure don’t need Marsha Blackburn in there helping enable him.

Here we go…

 

 --Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

 

 Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE

You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE