It's abundantly clear that many readers have been following with more than a passing interest the reports of how the recent and ongoing "Town Hall" meetings have been loudly attended, and in many cases as much as hijacked by outwardly aberrant groups of seemingly alien, yet weirdly uniform individuals. I am too. The activists in question have carefully and circumspectly presented themselves as earnest in their mission even as they are adamant in their arguments. The interesting, colorful (though mostly white), often skillful and undeniably creative participants have been demonstrating, to the seeming limit of their abilities and strategies (name calling being among the most common), for a rather wide ranging platform of concerns and issues which, before their very efforts, have apparently and largely been overlooked and ignored, for yet indeterminate reasons, by large segments of the nation.
We should certainly thank them for bringing the fullness of their platform to our attention.
While this sort of public activity may be described as a kind of Democracy in Action (and in fact it has been), it's typically been very challenging for the most ordinary of the rest of us who remain uninitiated in these new concepts to comprehend the true intentions and the original, and ultimate sources of them.
So what's really going on here? It’s been common and astute for many commentators to discern an undercurrent of "anger" in these displays. But is that the totality of this story? So I was wondering.
And after some thought, I now submit we may astoundingly deduce from the aforementioned remarkable displays of public dissent the existence of a critical and hitherto undiscovered meta-message, as: We Need Help Too!
The protesters in effect have been struggling to the best of their abilities to get the message out that they too need help: with their communication skills, with their reasoning abilities, with their capacity to deal with, and adapt to the changing political and economic priorities of the nation and its federal representatives. This effort may perhaps extend in some cases to a request for help in the form of mental health services, or to fashion or social consultancies for the most proper and civil behavior while participating in these sorts of public events, in which they may not be terribly familiar.
Well, in any case, and regardless, it appears to be to be help, of some nature, which is being requested.
Now I suspect I may be starting to get into trouble at this point. But I think we'll get through this curious episode without any major hitches. And if we can manage, this will have been a rightful display of Democracy in Action, making the effort all, in the end, purposeful, worthwhile, and hopefully something we may even be able to take some pride in.