18 August

Put A Woman In Charge. Something Profound Is About To Happen.

by Jon Katz

 

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams.

A friend sent me this video this morning; I hope you get a chance to see it.

Like many of you, I share a deep frustration with the media’s persistent focus on trivial matters. Whether it’s rehashing a statement made  15 years ago or indulging in name-calling and shallow policy arguments, these distractions are preventing us from addressing what truly matters in our lives.

They have turned our political system into a horse race.

The people rushing to dance and cheer at Kamala Harris’s rallies are not there to applaud her latest interview or policy plan. They sense something very different is happening: a significant and unprecedented shift in leadership – a woman leader.

This is a great big deal, one of the biggest in my life regarding politics.

The video I’m talking about argues that it’s time to Put A Woman In Charge, and this change is of immense significance.

The media views the world as a football game or wrestling match and can’t do much more than pass along arguments and insults or try to predict a winner like a soccer match —always keeping score.

We need to find the meaning and significance of what is happening.  It’s not what we are told but what we feel. That’s the danger of labels. We stop thinking.

But I can feel it. This is a cosmic change.  It has little to do with Donald Trump and his ranting or Kamala Harris’s uptight and cautiously worded plan for making the middle class wealthy again.

Many of us have long awaited the imminent rise of a woman to a position of power. The men have screwed it up and horribly.

Those who understand the political climate can sense it without waiting for a pundit with a laptop to confirm it.

I’m fascinated by the positive change that Kamala Harris already represents, and she’s just getting started. How great to see young people paying attention to politics again for the first time in years.

Her presence has injected joy and a renewed sense of hope into our political system, which has felt stagnant and disheartening for too long. Many of us have given up.

There was no hope. The issue for me is not red versus blue; they are not that different, after all.

The difference is men and women.

This excitement is not about policy positions or name-calling but the potential for a brighter, more inclusive future, a kindler, gentler, more compassionate country.

I don’t judge people by left and right. I look for heart.

We’re all so weary of the same old political circus. We are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Women are very different from men.  I’m not suggesting they are all perfect. I am stating that the world desperately needs them to be in charge. Harris and her rallies are different.

Women think very differently than men. They don’t seem as willing as men to hurt people; the ones I know care significantly about the needy and people experiencing poverty. They are proving that nurture doesn’t reduce or remove power.

It’s dangerous to generalize; there are many nasty and combative females.

Yet the differences are fundamental, and they do matter. Men are doing what men always do—fighting, dominating, conquering, and hating. We need to try something different, and it is about to happen. It seems that men are just as violent in their politics as they are in their lives.

Mr. Trump and his allies are on the wrong side history. As terrified as they are, they cannot stop it.

The women I have known are more in touch with their hearts than me or most of the men I know, more empathetic than men, and willing to listen and compromise. They care about other people.

I’m so sick of men that I switched every one of my doctors to female physicians, and I have never regretted it for a second.

They want to know me, talk with me, and listen to me. That, for me, is the more considerable promise of a woman in charge.

America desperately needs a leader who understands passion, community, listening, and caring. The world is on fire; I never understand that our leaders feel what they mean. Donald Trump pretends he thinks this is a hoax, but Karmala Harris doesn’t mention it much.

Harris strikes me as someone who has these qualities of empathy; they are much more critical than her promises to appease the media and their demands and the male critics lining up to stop her and call her stupid, a bitch, lazy,  dishonest, and dangerous.

Men have always called these women evil and dumb; they have always persecuted them, demeaned them, dictated to them, and even burned them alive.

My mother, first wife, daughter, and Maria were strong women. I respect and love these people for their warmth and strength, and I rarely get to say that about a man.

I love the idea of not going back.

Women know what going back means to them. It isn’t going to happen. They will speak loudly in November: we aren’t going back, the words many male white politicians most dread to hear.

This morning, a friend sent me the video composed by Keb Mo and Roseanne Cash. I almost cried. I do hope you get a chance to look at it.

It speaks to my heart and my feelings. The country is about to give a woman a chance to be in charge. This alone will transform our country and perhaps much of the world.

Being a politician in America these days means lying to people about what you can accomplish. When failure becomes evident, there is no trust in leaders. Harris has a chance to change that; I hope she does.

As our planet and humankind are on the edge of destruction, it’s time to try something different. Women can change the world, or at least try harder.

I don’t know much about Harris; I pay much more attention to the people cheering for her.

I am drawn to her warmth, smile, and love for other people and their love for her. That means a lot more than any poll.

That means more to me than any speech. That is what a natural leader is – someone who can care for the people they lead. I can see that people like JD Vance are smart. I can’t see warmth or caring;  I only see cruelty and anger.

Warmth is one thing he couldn’t seem to learn. Sadly, he is not weird to me, just very male.

Men like that have failed to lead us to a better or more necessary place.

They seem too often stuck in the male disease—domination, power,  anger, and greed. The world is praying for something different.  Our survival depends on it.

That is what the feminine divine is. That is what I am seeing and feeling in Harris. She isn’t afraid to laugh or smile.

We ache for a leader with a heart, not a gun, a threat, or a nasty name. I’m hopeful and excited. Something profound has begun to happen. I’m grateful to have lived to see it.

Women have never been stronger, more powerful, or more determined. I see it in the faces of the people coming in miles to cheer Kamala Harris on, and I can’t help but contrast them with the faces of the old, sour, and threatened people gathering in those ugly and bleak rallies.

I’m excited. The story of Kamala Harris is just beginning, and she knows it. Making history is different from arguing about taxes. When it reaches the heart, you know something big is happening. The nation is sensing that perhaps even our media will get it one day.

The man in the red cap will never get it. But because of him, in no small way, we may be on the verge of being great again.

 

11 Comments

  1. A most excellent song! We all need more kindness, empathy, joy and love and I believe women are more in touch with that part of their being. It’s what makes us strong not weak!

  2. I’ve often wondered what the world would be like if every country and culture had a female leader. Like you said, women have a different way of thinking and feeling. Strength without dominance? I love the idea of a black woman leading what is arguably the greatest country on earth – what a wonderful example for young girls.

  3. Wow what a post. Thank you. Thank you for this! There is hope in the air.

    I don’t believe all men are toxic or that there are no Lady Macbeths around, but the tendency of many, most men to think in abstractions frequently causes blunders in their behavior and those around them. (I was in the biz world 35 years and also taught in college where i developed some exercises for students to show how most men do this.)
    (There is growing, interesting scientific research on males who have “precarious virility” due to the increasing extreme rightwing politics I suspect )
    ,
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    But my disgust mirrors yours with the petty, corny trash, vulgar, clichés, Philistinism not just in politics, but all over, esp. media, sports, marketing, news, “reality” nonfiction fiction,… . I agree with the Russians who have a great word English doesn’t for such maudlin phony language and thought: “poshlost”; here’s one of my favorite writers’, Nabokov’s, explanation of the word:
    https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/5149631-poshlust-or-in-a-better-transliteration-poshlost-has-many-nuances
    ___
    ,
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    I watched Kamala closely in San Francisco. She is or was actually more conservative than most, has no “agenda,” doesnt feel “entitled and superior,” and is very interested in helping the entire community do better. I trust her. I look forward to her helping us make a better world.

    Thank you

  4. This is one of the most exciting journal entries ever, Jon! I have watched the video four times already, and have shared it with my husband as well. The song, and the positive message it conveys, brings joy and hope when, a short time ago, there was almost despair. Thank you so much!

  5. Nice entry. I feel hope for the first time in months. I’m rereading J.D. Vance’s book, “Hillbilly Elegy”. But now I don’t know if I believe half of what I’m reading. My mother was right . . . people judge you by the people you associate with. And Vance “now” supports Trump. So I take it that he has nothing against liars. Once again, an exceptional piece of writing Jon.

  6. I imagine Kamala walking on to any stage with this song as her anthem; it suits her well. I am relieved to have an excellent choice come November. I like to remind my few orange oaf supporter friends that they might want to pick up a history book, and read about the pain and suffering inflicted upon legions of others by the openly psychotic male leaders “who improved their country’s economic status.” The similarities are too glaring not to notice, at least for me. Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.

  7. I did cry watching this video. It reminded me of how I felt the day Biden withdrew. And all the joy I feel every day about a woman running for president.

  8. Yes! Excellent writting and post. The more folks who read this article and its positive thoughts the better. Thank you!

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