How do good, decent people survive in a time like this? When greed and avarice and a complete lack

[leftyladyfrommo]

of ethics takes over?

I have been thinking about this. I am a Buddhist and I can only think that sticking with the precepts of good honorable living, compassion, empathy, are what keeps me going, what gives me hope in these perilous times.

It just seems that the cards are so stacked against us right now. We have been through tougher times economically but I can't remember a time when people morals and ethics had sunk so low.

Keep the Faith.

[beachbum bob]

1. How do we survive, we volunteer at soup kitchens, homeless centers and local democratic field

offices where we share our values with others. Nothing more rewarding than helping those truly in need with more than just money

[Ninga]

2. Faith in what? That there are really and truely good people hiding in the wings

to save democracy?

[MineralMan]

3. They simply continue to be good and decent people.

That is the only survival strategy that makes sense.

[mythology]

4. First thing is to think bigger picture.

200 years ago, we still had slavery, women couldn't vote and were more or less property of their husband, gay rights weren't a thing, we had zero safety net, people were dying of diseases we have cured.

We have objectively become more moral as a species.

The second is as you stated to continue to be good decent people even in the face of what is morally wrong.

[Maraya1969]

5. I am Buddhist also and my church has been talking about this.

In the Lotus Sutra the Buddha speaks about using, "skillful means" and
transcendent powers" to bring people into enlightenment. IOW all things can be used to benefit us if we use them properly.

What I see besides a large group of very unenlightened people at the top is a much greater number of people who are waking up to their schemes and doing something about it. Just look at the Pennsylvania election. Democrats are gaining seats because of the extreme greed and avarice that runs through the Republican party. Much of it has always been there but now that it is so pronounced and in the open that people who would not necessarily pay much attention are now wide eyed and listening.

When China took over Tibet in 1950 it was a horrible thing. It also spread Buddhism across the globe. And the world is much better for it. Some things that seem so bad end up bringing good. I hope that this is true for the US, that we are going through a painful rebirth of sorts and that things will end up being better than they were before all this Trump stuff happened.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. Starve the beast

Practice frugality and simplicity. Cut every corner you can with monthly bills, insurance, processed foods. Learn a new side skill to help yourself, if it's mechanical, cooking, carpentry, crafts. When you give fat profits to value-added goods, those profits wind up with the rich and powerful. If you live a simple life to serve your own financial interests, you will see how your perceptions change and your bottom line grows. I am working on eliminating packaging from my food chain. Plastic, canned goods, foam, all of these are made in a factory. Owners make money from them. Industry groups promote their use. Lobbyists seeks tax credits for them. Grow your own beans and tomatoes, and they don't get a dime. Starve the beast.

[Still In Wisconsin]

7. I am a Jew, and I see it exactly as you do.

Good and decent people must continue to be good and decent.

[ChazInAz]

9. Indeed

We are all of us Bodhisattvas and Lamed Wafniks!

[Bettie]

8. I'd like to think that

the people who have sunk so low are fewer than it seems and we just hear them more because they are loud, in charge, and on TV all the time.

Also, the simple fact that so many recognize this means that overall, there are more decent people than not.

This is how I manage to sleep at night.

[safeinOhio]

10. My hope is that next November

we can slow or stop the madness by flipping the house. The house controls the purse strings and greed needs it's cash.

[Mountain Mule]

11. I too am a Buddhist practitioner and I share your same sense of discouragement

There are days when I feel like I'm the only compassionate person left and become completely exhausted - both physically and spirituality. These are dark days indeed for both our country and the planet. It's as if Twitler has literally opened a Pandora's Box filled with hatred, racism, and callous indifference to name but a few. However, if we allow ourselves to be overcome by despair, then all indeed will be lost. Above all else, don't let 45 and his cult followers take away your spirituality from you. I've been doubling down on my own meditation of compassion and tonglen.

Hang in there, friend!

[leftyladyfrommo]

16. Me too. I meditate long into the night.

And I practice Tonglen. It really does help, I think.

I just bought a healing Buddha to remind me to be compassionate and to remember that at the center if every sentient being is Buddha nature.

My crocus are blooming. So beautuful. The harbinger of spring .

.If I stay in the moment there are still miracles everywhere.

[Mountain Mule]

18. Exactly!

If I remain in the moment, I am surrounded by beauty. My "monkey" mind wants to jump around and envision all sorts of unpleasant things. Silly Monkey Mountain Mule!

[dlk]

12. To Counter this Evil, Do Something Positive -- Volunteer -- Get Involved

A successful democracy doesn't exist in a vacuum. We each need to do our part to ensure it's continued success (or as is the case with Trump & co., it's continued survival). Every generation needs to be taught to vote and become involved in the political process. It belongs to all of us and we all have a responsibility to participate. When we sit back and let others take charge, bad things can happen. The bad guys never take a day off so we shouldn't either.

[PatrickforO]

13. Your post makes me think of one of my all-time favorite movies,

Schindler's List.

Do you remember what was said about Schindler?

If you save one life, you save the world.

We all must do what we can to allay this madness - be active in our local Democratic party and so on, but I think to continue living with personal integrity, honesty, kindness and tolerance - I think that, too, contributes in a big way to making things better.

We may not see it, Lefty Lady, but the universe does and one righteous person has great influence on the entire world.

[bronxiteforever]

14. good honorable living, compassion, empathy

You are a light in the darkness.
Without your ethics we are lost to the darkness. “Don’t let the light go out, it has lasted for so many years”.

[byronius]

15. I would argue that it's better than it's ever been.

Consciousness and kindness are everywhere blossoming. Veganism grows by 5% a year, every year. Awareness of appropriate and philosophically valid ways to treat other humans and animals and Gaia itself has heightened to the point that the purveyors of the Old-Timey Idiocies have had to betray their nation to orcs to stay relevant in any way.

The perception is bad, possibly because we all know more instantly than we ever have before. The news used to be a little local, a little national, a little international, but now it's a 24 hour a day stream of information and sharp video from every square inch of earth.

However, the numbers are good on the long graph. There's less death. Less torture. Less slavery. Less violence. We just see more of it.

Draw a line from the Assyrians to now and it goes up, always up. We're better, smarter, kinder, more well-educated, more kind, more moral. The remaining conservative primitivism is more visible only because it is desperately struggling not to be extinguished. It's like a wounded, braying animal at the end of its species.

Perception darker. Numbers better.

[leftyladyfrommo]

17. Thank you

Now if we could just save our Earth. That worries me the most.

[TCJ70]

19. In the face of this type of environment, a certain amount of courtesy gets thrown out the window...

...I've stopped cushioning much of my political discourse lately to just call things out for what they are.

[panader0]

20. Honest activity and the audacity of hops.