Letter From Our Chair: Overcoming the Chaos

“Chaos breeds cynicism and despair . It pushes us toward withdrawal, inaction. For this reason, those who perpetrate injustice often choose chaos as their weapon … They conjure the demon chaos, trying to use its power to provoke the other side to despair and give up the struggle.” — Otis Moss, III in Dancing In the Darkness, Simon & Schuster, NY, 2023

We face this kind of chaos today. Trump and his Republican minions have created the feeling of “chaos.”

  •  ICE Agents killing people and sending people to detention camps.

  •  Ignoring all constitutional protections of individuals and groups.

  •  False claims of stolen elections.

  •  Falsely claiming that immigrants are responsible for crime and violence.

  •  Saying over and over that our cities are unsafe.

  •  Falsely accusing our allies and NATO partners of cheating us.

  •  Falsely stating that Democrats are communists and will enable unchecked chaos.

  •  Removing capable leaders in government and the military, especially women and minorities.

  •  Lying and falsely accusing people who exposed the lies as unpatriotic.

  •  Disobeying or ignoring laws and court rulings.

There is more than I can list in one short article. The result of all this chaos has created a feeling of hopelessness. This is not indifference. It is a combination of fear and mistrust of our government and leaders.

How do we overcome this intentional chaos? First, we maintain and foster a sense of community. Small groups, committees, neighbors, faith-based organizations, intentional relationships that see through the lies and false chaos being used to create mistrust and doubt.

This also means looking out for each other, even those who may disagree with us. It becomes very hard to throw rocks at presumed “traitors” after said “traitor” has provided emergency aid or timely assistance. We need to continue our protests, our card writing, canvassing, sign planting, and maintain our own relationships within the Nelson County Democratic Committee.

With confidence we must trust in the future triumph of justice, by first electing a Democratic majority in Congress. Then we can reshape and reform our 250-year experiment in a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Let’s pursue justice even in the face of injustice that claims it is “just.” Keep on keeping on …

— Roy White
Chair, NCDC