There is…
a counterforce which continually reminds us
that there is no exclusively moral-making morality,
and that a morality
which asserts itself
to the exclusion of all other morality
destroys too much
sound strength
and is too dearly bought by mankind.

The non-conventional
and deviating people,
who are so often productive and inventive,
must no longer be sacrificed:

it must never again
be considered as a disgrace
to depart from morality either in actions or thought;

many new experiments must be made upon life and society,
and the world must be relieved
from a huge weight of bad conscience.

These general aims
must be recognized and encouraged
by all those upright people who are seeking truth.

The Dawn Of Day by Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. by J. M. Kennedy, aphorism 164

The election is behind us. Donald J. Trump, reality show entertainer, born-to-wealth developer and golf club proprietor stands to be sworn in for the 2nd time as President. Passing days allow the result of November 5th to sink in. A majority of Americans so intent on upending the status quo affirmed the bloviating, serial rapist…

The passage of time affords improved focus, and it is clear that American base values are of force. Force is the application of sufficient weight of money, of political clout, of legal muscle (lawyers), of media, etc., etc., to obtain what one desires. That’s us, the bedrock, plain and simple, – if you remove the colorful wrapping of representative democracy.

We celebrate raw force at every turn. A current example, Netflix’s livestreamed heavyweight boxing match between Youtuber Jake Paul, and Mike Tyson — watched by 60 million households. Tyson is 58 and Paul is 27. This brutality is a crime outside of the ring. Inside the ring, its cash-cow entertainment.

Nietzsche was right to observe, that the might-makes-right morality aspires to domination, to exclusivity.  Causa sui morality is ultimately destructive, such values cost a society dearly. Those of us who are liberal- minded serve as a counterforce to this meathead Trumpian ethos.

We too are dissatisfied with the status quo. But we seek change by offering an alternative, another style of affirmative force to effect change. We liberal-minded, affirm our gay neighbors who desire marriage. We applaud transgender individuals who exercise the right to the same full range of medical care as every other citizen. We recognize the equal right of every female citizen who seeks any form of medical care she deems necessary in the course of a pregnancy. No American ought to feel a sharp pang of conscience on account of a desire for those types of assistance.

A world and life mean change. We liberal-minded prefer to discover moral alignments-that-work within the folds of change that occur far and wide around all of us.

There is a difference, no doubt about it. The majority would like to freeze-frame the world according to some imaginary stasis of greatness. Thus the slogan, Make America Great Again. We outliers, always the fringe minority, place our wager upon frank experimentation, that an improved humane world is in the process of creation, and that it is strictly up to us. I will say it again.

The future is up to us.