Coast Chronicles: Thoughts on tulips and tyranny

Published 10:03 am Monday, April 11, 2022

Tulips in the garden

Tulips in the park

Nothing could be better

than two lips in the dark

—Old yearbook saying

Tulip towns

OK, I’m not exactly talking about those kinds of two lips, but I hope I got your attention!

This weekend I drove north into tulip towns — Anacortes and Mount Vernon — where fields of blooms are blazing in bands of nearly unearthly colors: yellows, oranges, purples, magentas, two-tone pinks and whites. I hadn’t been back to Skagit County since my friend, the brilliant and dedicated poet, editor, book designer, translator and founder of Copper Canyon Press, Sam Hamill died (1943-2018). I always associate Sam with bald eagles because at the moment I got news of his death, an enormous eagle flew so low over my Nahcotta home that I felt he looked me right in the eye. “That’s gotta be Sam,” I thought.

And on this visit, just turning onto Best Road, an enormous bald eagle sailing high on the drafts swung down over my car. “Hi, Sam!” I called out the window. “How’s it going?” Oh my, how we’ve missed him. I wish he were here to share his wisdom on the country’s current insanity. We thought things couldn’t get any worse after Trump, QAnon, an election insurrection, a pandemic, abortion bans, “Don’t say gay,” and the newest “OK, Groomer.” Though now we know we’re wrong again — there’s a new world war (or maybe the last world war never really ended).

Sam, a Marine and true patriot, understood both America’s strengths and potentialities, its ugly sides and weaknesses; though he was always trying to tip the balance toward justice, beauty, and pleasure — whether it was ordering sushi to accompany a “Demon slayer” sake, sharing a fine Malbec and an argument about politics, or placing orchids on his southeast-facing windowsill. Yet Sam was also a truth-teller — he didn’t duck a fight if his values were endangered.

Remembering Sam and seeing those fields of tulips temporarily lifted my spirits and diverted by attention from the war in Ukraine. But all we need to do is click on the news — photos of ordinary citizens shot down in the streets of Bucha — or stop at any local gas pump to see that our world has changed. We’re all involved; we’re all implicated.

And next will be a wave of food shortages in countries that normally count on Ukraine’s exports. Ukraine is a Bread Basket: its fertile soil provides grain for Egypt, Turkey, Bangladesh, Iran, Lebanon, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, Pakistan, and many Asian countries. Even if Ukrainians were tilling and planting now — which they’re not, they’ve got guns not plows in their hands; and even if the wheat did manage to grow in those fields — and it’s not, since the fields have been land-mined, destroyed by mortars, or littered with war machines; how would that grain be shipped anywhere when Russia has bombed and cut-off the Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea?

The tulips I saw this weekend were beautiful, a welcomed solace. But maybe these tulip growers should be planting wheat instead.

On tyranny

Which brings us squarely to tyranny. We may think America is protected from the most damaging vicissitudes of that distant war; many still believe in American exceptionalism: that our democracy is special, solid, that our rule of law and our institutions will keep our democracy intact. We fail to understand that just like tulips or wheat fields, democracy needs nurturing, tending. We must care for it properly in order to harvest its riches.

Pull Quote

‘Life is political, not because the world cares about how you feel, but because the world reacts to what you do.’

Timothy Snyder, from ‘On Tyranny’

I fear our republic is in danger. I felt it tip when Trump was elected, felt we’d crossed some rubicon. Someone who agrees with me is Timothy David Snyder (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_D._Snyder). Snyder is a Yale history professor and political analyst specializing in Central and Eastern European politics. He speaks five European languages, reads ten, and has studied 20th Century revolution: the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917; the rise of Nazism, the rule of Hitler, and the Holocaust in Germany; the dissolution of the Soviet Union, its tentative turn toward democracy under Gorbachev and Yeltsin; then the total reversal, the crushing of human rights and freedoms under Putin.

He’s worried about “American’s turn toward authoritarianism,” a step on the way to tyranny. He says, “It can happen here, and it can happen fast.” He knows what he’s talking about; in fact, he wrote the book. “On Tyranny” is unassuming but powerful, a sort of bible for democracy. He captures in its slim pages 20 precepts ordinary citizens can use to recognize and fight against authoritarian power. I’ve selected six to highlight.

Things to do now

“Be a patriot:” A patriot does not congratulate murderous dictators on their savviness, or make broad and false generalizations about groups of people (“Mexicans are rapists,” or “Muslims are terrorists”), or label the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other world-class, editorially excellent newspapers “fake news.” A patriot supports the rule of law, our democratic values and institutions.

“Contribute to good causes:” Florida’s “Don’t say gay” campaign against trans and gay individuals presses them and their families down. (A dozen other states are following suit: tinyurl.com/jwpwen6p.) Find as many ways as you can to raise people up, to support vulnerable people and champion positive action.

“Be kind to our languages:” I believe language is humanity’s greatest tool, our most important achievement and invention. Use it well. Use it to good purpose.

And (related) “Listen for dangerous words:” Be alert for double-speak: McConnell has said both that “Trump is morally responsible for the attack on the Capital” and that he would still vote for him if he runs in 2024.” What?

“Investigate:” Find reputable sources and read broadly. Financially support as much independent media as you can. Independent journalism is the backbone of a democracy; authoritarian’s fear it, as evidenced by Putin’s total shut-down of all but state-sponsored propaganda.

“Be as courageous as you can:” Do you have a forum; are you in a position to speak out or act up? If so, do so. Your bold move might be talking to your family or your next door neighbor; or it might be taking to the streets. Every act counts.

“Make eye contact and small talk:” We small-towners are experts at this. Chats in the grocery store and the post office, words exchanged with folks across from us at the gas station — all this creates the fabric of our beachy culture. We don’t need to agree on everything, we just need to stay in contact with each other.

This all seems like common sense, I know, but somehow we’ve forgotten it. We need to “re-member” (that is to bring into our minds again) and reinforce basic principles of respect, good behavior, and kindness; and to understand that these sustain democracy.

I love my country. We’re so blessed to live where we are (more-or-less — keep an eye on this!) free to make our own decisions about who we want to be in the world, who we want to love, where we want to live, what we want to do with our bodies, and how we want to work — as long as we are not harming or impinging on these same freedoms of others.

Let’s not take any of this for granted. In front of our eyes right now, the horrors in Ukraine are illustrating how these can all be lost in an instant.