Are we Independents among the Last of the Mohicans?

Are we Independents among the Last of the Mohicans? It would seem so when one considers the media reports of increased divisiveness in the wake of yet another political campaign in which all sides promised to impose (their idea of) “unity”. In fact, while conventional wisdom during the Covid-19 pandemic has hoped for “herd immunity”, the various maddening crowds seem to be uncompromisingly growing their own exclusive brands of “herd mentality”. Antifa, BLM & Proud Boys included.

Yet, fake news can be deceiving. According to the Pew Research Center’s analysis of registered voters in the 2020 election, 34% identified themselves as INDEPENDENT, 33% said Dem & 29 said GOP. True, many more Independents “leaned” Dem than GOP. But, the point is, there are still a ton of Uncas’ & Chingachgooks among us.

Hear this Soulful blog’s manifesto: To my dying day (ala Sen. Joe Manchin) & like most Independents, I will refuse to kiss any one’s ring let alone agenda. Born in the Land of Lincoln rather than Missouri, I still insist upon being persuaded on public policies not only by one’s view of universal values, but by real world logic & common sense. In 1941’s Escape From Freedom, psychoanalyst Erich Fromm had suggested, as did the Pew research, that us humans are roughly divided by the “need for freedom” (one third) and the “need for belonging” (two thirds). Fromm went on to posit that, IF humanity can’t learn to live with the dangers & responsibilities inherent in freedom, i.e., to think for one-self, it will “probably turn to authoritarianism”, which it almost did after the revolutions in Russia and Germany.

Davd Soul