This song, written by Chet Powers in 1963 and popularized as heard here by the Youngbloods in 1967 came to mind when I received, in contrast to the many very kind and upbeat emails that I receive each week, an email from a former turkey customer — in response to a generic marketing email I sent — that really knocked me down emotionally for almost an entire day.
She started the correspondence with a question. “Do you still support Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.?” I responded that I do, which unleashed a long response. “Because when I picked up my turkey a couple of years ago, you had an RFK sign posted. He is against all science, obviously a supporter of the orange pediphile (sic) and above all, dangerous. If you support him, no way can I support you. I will be happy to pass along who you support to any of the other sane people I know who might be interested in your products. And BTW, your turkey, although very expensive, was not any tastier than other turkeys I’ve purchased for much less. And that has nothing to do with your politics. Good luck to you. You’ll need it.”
This email spoke to me about the incredible divide that is out there in our world. We have been a fractured society at least since Covid times, and the election of 2024 seemed to open up the rift that might have been healing a bit after Covid died down. The above song was written in another fractured time when the Civil Rights movement, free love, the burgeoning women’s movement and the Viet Nam war — to name a few hot topics — were tearing us apart as a country. I am glad that I was alive and impressionable at that time, and that the influencers that I was learning from stressed the tactics of Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Pete Seeger, and others who, though activists, were practicing peaceful behavior with an awareness and understanding of the other person.
I have always been one to speak my mind and not be fearful of disagreeing with the status quo. But I have tried to do so in a manner that honors the point of view of the other and, most importantly, their humanity. I am sure I have fallen short.
I could go on for a bit about the things that I feel RFK Jr. has done to raise our consciousness as a country around real health. And I will always appreciate that he was one of the first lawyers to win lawsuits against Monsanto over the use of Roundup. So we still have our ‘RFK in 2024’ bumper stickers on our old vehicles from his short-lived candidacy, in large part because he is addressing issues of human health that we have been active about for many decades.
But that isn’t the point here. The point, as I see it, is that people have wonderfully different points of view on what is right, what is wrong, what is fair, what is patriotic — and which turkey tastes the best, for that matter. I feel that the crisis that we are experiencing in our country has to do with a loss of respect for one another. It includes joining a “camp” and fighting another “camp.” It has to do with shaming those who, we assume, don’t have the same set of principles that we hold, and often being “holier than thou.” I really like the Jesus line: “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” And I try to live by it. But I am sure I have fallen short here, too.
I think the most important thing that we need to hold onto in our country is our sense of decency as we exercise our democratic rights. I have done years of activism, in the streets, in the press, in my community, and cheer anyone who uses his or her voice to express what is true to their heart. But I feel we will never get out of this terrible mess unless we can agree to disagree while still honoring the other’s integrity as a human being.
Perhaps if those of us little people who just live our days — in our communities, with our families, in our places of work, at our places of activism, “smiling on our brothers” — we could show something by example about what it means to be an inspired human being.
