By Wade Lee Hudson

When I recently added “spread joy” to the CHC mission statement, I worried the phrase would be too “New Age.” I had studied The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and have often used the phrase “contagious happiness” that I picked up from the Buddhist monk Ajahn Amaro. I didn’t know the Harris campaign would unleash a tsunami of joy. 

Since Lucinda Williams’ concert Sunday at the Stern Grove Festival, her song, ”Joy,” has haunted me. She sings

You got no right to take my joy, I want it back
I’m gonna go to West Memphis and look for my joy

This song inspires me and reinforces my commitment to enjoying my work, which is inherently rewarding and rooted in compassion. When I’m not enjoying what I’m doing, I do something else.

Humans are torn between love and hate. Resolving this fundamental contradiction is ongoing and never final.

Because the “reptilian brain” is the oldest part of the brain, some people believe hate is stronger than love. This part of the brain regulates breathing, the heart rate, and the “fight or flight response” at super-fast speeds and is often unconscious. Bad actors and difficult conditions can quickly trigger fear, which can lead to anger and hate. 

Humans, however, are also instinctively compassionate and cooperative. If early humans had not learned to cooperate, they would never have survived. These instincts are now deeply embedded. Compassion is also deeply rooted in the brain.

One National Library of Medicine study, “Compassion protects against vital exhaustion and negative emotionality,” found that compassion is stronger than negativity. 

The predictive paths from compassion to vital exhaustion and negative emotionality were stronger than vice versa…  Overall, high compassion appears to protect against dimensions of stress from early adulthood to middle age, whereas this study found no evidence that dimensions of stress could reduce disposition to feel compassion for others’ distress over a long-term follow-up.

Humans learn to love in the tactile warmth of the womb and while being cared for as infants. 

However, whether love or hate is a deeper and stronger instinct is ultimately an irrelevant academic debate. As individuals and as a society, we can tap into love and control hate. The Kamala Harris campaign against Donald Trump will test this belief.

Have no doubt about it, however. As Thomas B. Edsall wrote on August 21, “Trump Isn’t Finished.” This essay is so good and so important that I pasted it into a Google Doc so anyone can read it without a New York Times subscription.

Edsall reports: 

The corporate qualms that surfaced in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection have been subordinated to the prospect of billions in tax breaks for business and the rich if Trump returns to office.

According to OpenSecrets, of the $472.8 million Trump and allied PACs have raised through the middle of this year, a quarter, $115.4 million, has come from the securities and investment industry, the financial core of the Republican establishment. In 2016, this industry effectively shunned Trump, giving him a paltry $20.8 million.

Moreover, several other factors also pose dangers. This time Trump will have a clear agenda, a carefully prepared list of prospective loyalists to appoint to key posts, and a better understanding of the workings of the federal government. Trump has driven Republican opponents out of elective office. And he has a friendly 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court. 

Sean Wilentz argues, “Many of even the most influential news sources hold to the fiction Trump and his party are waging a presidential campaign instead of a continuing coup, a staggering failure to recognize Trump’s stated agenda.”

And Timothy Snyder warns:

Trump is in the classic dictatorial position: He needs to die in bed holding all executive power to stay out of prison. This means that he will do whatever he can to gain power, and once in power will do all that he can to never let it go. This is a basic incentive structure, which underlies everything else. It is entirely inconsistent with democracy.

To counter this threat, America needs a powerful, unified grassroots movement, a movement of movements. Even if Harris wins, Trump will not go away unless Harris wins in a landside, MAGA candidates lose across the board, and the Republican Party excommunicates Trump and reconstitutes itself. 

Regardless, however, even if that scenario ensues, an effective, independent movement will still be needed to counter the opposition, pressure the Democrats, hold them accountable, and get them to do more than they would otherwise.

As I discussed yesterday, the standard Democratic starting-gate-equality stance emphasizes “opportuntiy” and neglects the needs of those who fall behind or never get out of the gate. The typical abstract commitment to “never leave anyone behind” is empty. “Building the middle class” ignores poor people.

Michele Obama, on the other hand, articulated a goal that could help unify a broader-based movement: “ensuring that everyone has enough.” This position has more substance.

So does Barack’s affirming “the freedom to provide for your family if you’re willing to work hard.” Moreover, these formulations avoid the negative implications of the “get ahead” rhetoric.

Moreover, a new, unified grassroots movement will need to provide mutual support for self-improvement to deal with divisive personal habits. Barack confronted this issue when he said, “We need to remember that we’ve all got our blind spots and contradictions and prejudices. And that if we want to win over those who aren’t yet ready to support our candidates, we need to listen to their concerns and maybe learn something in the process.”

Unfortunately, however, since their speeches, I’ve heard no one echo or amplify these positions.

Another major problem is the narrow emphasis on elections. Yes, elections are important. However, year-round precinct organizing could help transform the Democratic Party into a force that serves local needs, engages in ongoing political action to advance the Party’s platform, and wins elections.