Accentuating Bernie

Any ideas on how best to encourage more positive thinking on the
Bernie 2016 front? I've read so many pessimistic comments on the net lately, damning his efforts before he's had a chance to break into a run. "Oh", they say, "big money will choose the candidate and it won't be Bernie". Or they'll categorise him as "sheepdog" herding stray Democrats disenchanted by President Obama's two terms, back into the fold. Or they'll say that Sanders is just the token left-winger this time around - "there's always one", they'll add: "Kucinich for instance". In past election seasons all or any of those propositions could have been true.
That was then, this is now.

I seldom comment on any politically-slanted blog or website, but I'm thinking that a good thing to do, for anyone who seeks a way to support Bernie Sanders' campaign, would be be to respond to comments on blogs and websites where negativity about his chances are expressed. Some well-chosen lines will be essential. So far I've tried this once or twice, but haven't quite hit the notes I wanted to hit, in the best way. Comments need to be clear and concise, not liable to be misunderstood or open to criticism on something such as word-choice. Long, complex responses won't work. Someone whose mind is bent on damning Sanders' campaign will not take the time to read more than a short paragraph from anyone else. Their aim is either to herd votes to Clinton or the GOP, or for some nefarious reason to generally depress the atmosphere, make the masses feel powerless rather than motivated to change society. For me the latter is by far the worst motivation!

There's an opportunity arising now, if it slips away through spread of negativity and pessimism, I doubt there'll be another such clear starting point for change to happen in the lifetime of anyone currently alive. Frank Herbert in his novel Dune wrote that "fear is the mind killer" - negativity and pessimism are mind-killers also.

Any thoughts on this? Any ideas for inspiring come-backs to negative comments about Sanders' campaign and his chances? If so, do please add them in comments here. Then later, anyone similarly inclined could make use of the ideas for inspiration, in composing a prompt response to negative comments elsewhere.

Background music for thinking on these things...

The Chill Factor's High (not only via the weather)

Yesterday morning, with my first mug of coffee I read three articles at Common Dreams:

Tom Engelhardt:
Scared to Death in the USA

Chris Hedges:
Shielding a Flickering Flame

Paul Buchheit:
Unequal Beyond the Edge of Humanness

I then felt absolutely dispirited, generally depressed. There was nothing in the articles of which I was not already aware, but seeing it all put into words - again - by good and knowledgeable writers turns up the chill factor by many notches.

What's the best antidote to this kind of affliction? I took a quick look around the net for advice. There are such suggestions as replacing negative thoughts with positive ones; challenging the reasonableness of negative thoughts; escaping via listening to music, reading a novel, watching TV, taking a break from whatever work one does; sharing worries with a trusted companion.

Alright.

Replace negative with positive thoughts: "we're all going to Hell in a handbasket one way or another" / "No!. We can slow down the journey, there are ways".

Challenge reasonableness of negative thoughts: Messrs Engelhardt, Hedges and Buchheit write well, are well-meaning, but could tend to overstate problems in order to attract readers. There are problems, of course, serious ones, but spreading negativity will not solve them, it'll simply depress enthusiasm for doing so.

Escaping? Fine, for a time, for as long as it takes to achieve renewed enthusiasm to fight for better things - getting a "second wind".

Sharing worries - good idea, but trying not to also share negativity by doing so would be better. Sharing and seeking the positive from the negative - there always has to be a positive, to balance the negative - nature demands it!

I'm not sure whether that helped at all, so does anyone else have ideas on how to deal with what we have to deal with - apart from not reading articles at Common Dreams, sticking our heads in the sand and letting the rest of the world go by?

Sunday Supplement ~ Dark & Light

I particularly liked this week's Aquarius piece from astrologer Rob Brezsny at Free Will Astrology

"There is light enough for those who wish to see," wrote French philosopher Blaise Pascal, "and darkness enough for those of the opposite disposition." I'm hoping you will align yourself with the first group in the coming week, Aquarius. More than ever before, what you choose to focus on will come rushing in to meet you, touch you, teach you, and prompt you to respond. Even if all the smart people you know seem to be drunk on the darkness, I encourage you to be a brave rebel who insists on equal time for the light. "

I'll try, Mr. Brezsny, I'll try!

That advice could well be apt for Sun Aquarians this week, but it's equally useful for everybody.....everybody breathing.

Folks do seem to have a penchant for striding off into the darkness of negativity these days. It seems to be the "cool" thing to do.

There's a section of mankind who look for the end of the world to kick in sometime soon. There's another section, in the USA, who can see no good at all in anything the President of the USA is doing - you name it and choruses, from both sides of the political divide, will say he's doing it wrongly and we are heading for hell in a handcart. Similar things apply in the UK and to their leaders, and the same no doubt in other countries around the world.

People appear to have lost the will to trust.

Negativity begets negativity. It sometimes seems as though people are actually trying to will us on towards disaster!

I'm going to promise myself that henceforth I will try very hard not be negative. I will trust the judgment of people I voted into power, and make allowances for the actions of those I didn't vote for. But I will confront negativity wherever and in whatever form I find it.

Don't be a cynic and disconsolate preacher. Don't bewail and moan. Omit the negative propositions. Challenge us with incessant affirmatives. Don't waste yourself in rejection, or bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

.....And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

(from "Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann)