Image: Some Airport Sunrise, Matt Schell 2018
Waking up in Copenhagen to the American election results, I feel very mixed feelings. I wanted to see a crushing, decisive repudiation of Trump and his racist, fascist policies. Instead we saw a valuable victory for the left in taking the US house of representatives, but not a decisive one. Certain candidates I had high hopes for did not win, candidates who embraced a bolder progressive platform like Andrew Gillum and Beto O’Rourke. Stacy Abrams seems destined for a runoff or recount so fingers still crossed there. So I’m hopeful, but also disappointed.
Hope and disappointment are inextricably intertwined. To dare to hope is to risk disappointment, and so we need to welcome it when it comes, knowing we took a risk to hope, as we should have. There’s a quote that comes to mind from Gandhi, which I’ll quote at length here because the context is interesting. In “For Pacifists” he’s writing about a riot in Bombay:
“My reply is that a satyagrahi may never run away from danger, irrespective of whether he is alone or in the company of many. He will have fully performed his duty if he dies fighting. The same holds good in armed warfare. It applies with greater force in Satyagraha. Moreover, the sacrifice of one will evoke the sacrifice of many and may possibly produce big results. There is always this possibility. But one must scrupulously avoid the temptation of a desire for results.”
I believe that I first read this quote in a piece by Arundhati Roy but I couldn’t place it and only found the source via Google books (read here) This concept of avoiding the tempation of a desire for results is a powerful one. As I interpret it, and as Gandhi has been quoted elsewhere “The path is the goal.” Action is the goal, struggle is the goal, continuing is the goal. Placing the focus on continuing on the path instead of achieving an end point or result means that while we may experience set back, disappointment and friction, we have an achievable goal, to continue on the path.
I think this path orientation or process orientation is valuable in virtually all contexts. It’s valuable for the struggle to create and to be an artist and also for the struggle to resist the rising tide of global fascism. All we need to do is to push forward, slowly, gently and inexorably, forever. Results will be achieved along the way.
