July 12: Midsummer notes and reflections
In which, I quickly recap the big pieces of the last couple of weeks, and offer some initial thoughts on community.
This is a late, somewhat shorter, somewhat different newsletter for two reasons:
It’s now midsummer and it's worth slowing down a bit and
(and more applicable to my context) moving takes a lot out of one as schedules get upended along with empty boxes.
That being said, I wanted to hit a few of the highlights of that last couple of weeks, and, with my recent move as background, offer some reflective thoughts on what stabilizes and calms us in the midst of upheaval.
Called it! The Democrats implode
The last two presidential election cycles, I’ve tracked and commented on the developing cracks within the Democratic coalition, and the last two weeks have really brought those fissures to the foreground. President Biden’s disastrous debate performance in June that’s been followed by one, two, then three attempts at damage control that have only increased the hysterics of Democrats, celebrities/donors, and the progressive media demanding Biden step aside.
For much of the last two years, it was the Republicans who looked like a disorganized, disunited mess, so there’s not a little ironic schadenfreude going on here as the very party and media outlets that gloried in the GOP’s misfortune’s now find themselves in far worse predicament of seeing Biden’s chances at reelection seemingly evaporate.
Deep breath, people. Elections are still four months away and the release of the GOP’s 2024 platform did not necessarily create a united front.
One thing we can safely say, though, is that the party conventions are likely to be quite interesting.
Elections in Europe
Two weeks ago, the big story was the rightward shift of the European Parliament and the rotating EU Presidency (now being held by Hungary’s Viktor Orban).
However, the Left got their licks in as well in critical elections in France and Britain.
The British election was the most predictable with Labour absolutely crushing the Tories to retake control of government. However Left leaning Labour is, though, don’t expect a wild ideological swing in British policy. This Labour government appears to be setting its sights on a degree of stability in the British economy and policy.
France is more the wild card and has broader repercussions for the EU. President Macron’s snap elections led to a strong first round finish by conservative parties that galvanized center and left-leaning parties into coalitions that stopped a conservative majority in the second round, but ensured a pretty divided government. The divided French government combined with the rightward shift in the EU parliament may very well hamstring large policy projects in Europe, and has many Ukraine watchers, and Ukraine itself, understandably nervous as to future directions for the war there.
In other wars… I mean, news…
The war in Gaza is at another ceasefire impasse (with the usual presidential optimism)amidst ongoing operations.
Switzerland, recently the site of a rather one-sided peace conference on Ukraine, is now hosting talks between the warring sides in Sudan’s brutal civil war. At least they got both sides to come to this one.
And remember when I talked about the security vacuum in resource rich central Africa that’s practically inviting Russian and Chinese interests to jump in there to get a chunk of the rare earth minerals? Well,
Called it!
A new report estimates Africa is ready to become a critical new source of rare earth mineral supplies, and it appears that standing conflicts are getting supercharged in the region.
Circle backs
The ballyhooed Gaza aid pier is ending its ignominiously short, ineffectual existence.
Ongoing political instability in Kenya has led to a major reshuffle in the President’s cabinet.
Inflation cooled, once again raising hopes of interest rate cuts… but people and businesses alike are still feeling the economic pinch in the so-called “Goldilocks economy.”
The horrible, terrible, no good year continues for Boeing as it takes a plea deal related to deadly crashes of its 737 Max aircraft.
But, pause…
The last two weeks have felt like a hamster wheel of election turmoil and brutal violence on the world’s battlefields. There’s something of a looping effect that seems to have settled over the news cycle where, if you set aside speculation on President Biden’s future, there seems to be very little being discussed and debate that’s already been covered ad nauseam.
In the midst of all this, we celebrated the Fourth of July and I moved my family to a new home. We’re still in the midst of unpacking and getting used to the new place, but something that has really struck me over the last couple of weeks is how critical community is to navigating upheavals near and far. I don’t just mean friends and family community, but community: the multiplicity of thick and thin connections and relationships that run through our lives. Our move was made possible by professional relationships, friendships, family, and our church community all playing different roles to get one family into a new home. Some of those connections were purely transactional (escrow), some were entirely personal (mother in law flying into town for a week just to help), but a lot were somewhere in between. Whether it was new neighbors going out of their way to introduce themselves and offer helpful information, or friends giving up a whole day to help load and unload a moving truck in the summer heat, while others provided food and childcare, establishing my family in our new home was a communal effort.
That’s as it should be.
Our communities shape, support, and nurture us in a myriad of ways, and the more varied and expansive our communal networks, the more rooted and grounded we are, the safer and more supported we feel.
Ahead of what will surely be a wild election season post conventions, you’re going to see a lot of ink spilled on being a well informed citizen, recognizing deepfakes and misinformation, and managing difficult discussions about politics. All good things to consider, but I think the best antidote to the sense of upheaval and instability in the political world is to be aware of your community and take active steps to nurture and be nurtured by it.