What do you think of the top of the bottom panel?
Most Thursdays I attend a recurring protest in a neighboring town. Most weeks people who drive by are fairly positive. I usually wave a giant trans flag. Sometimes I bring a Palestinian flag instead. Many of the protesters have signs specifically against Trump, some have signs about Palestine, and some have signs about fascism. Most of the protesters are older than me. At least two of them served in Vietnam. One of the protestors is a little younger than me and brings his pre-tween children who sometimes participate.
This Thursday though, the amount of negative attention was much higher than normal. Of the people passing who acknowledged us I’d say at least 75% were positive beeping, waving, and giving us a thumbs up. I initially suspected this was because Charlie Kirk was shot the day before. We got people who flipped us off, people who gave us the thumbs down, people who said, “go Trump”, and people who said, “get a job.”
Then a tall bald man walked up to us and said we were freaks. He said we shouldn’t be there after what happened to Charlie Kirk the day before. He said that Kirk was just a kid. Prior to yesterday I had no idea who Charlie Kirk was. I’ve now come to know he was a 31yo father of two. While it seems like he and I have very different political opinions, apparently we both believe in free speech, which is exactly what we were doing at the protest. It’s tragic that he was murdered. I believe in the inherent worth and dignity of all people. Violence just begets violence.
My biggest fear of these times is that we will fall into a civil war. The rich are getting richer and the middle class is shrinking. Costs are continuing to rise and my kids don’t think they’ll be able to buy houses. This reminds me of historic (and even recent) times that have led to civil wars and revolutions. The multiple civil wars that France had featured guillotines to kill the rich but also to kill commoners. Our two party system is unsustainable. Having billionaires is unsustainable. Giving the rich tax breaks and taking away healthcare is unsustainable.
Peace is hard, but it’s worth working towards. We need to find ways to build bridges instead of burning them. I wish I had invited the man who yelled at us to ice cream so we could chat about the issues we see facing this country.