A Few Thoughts… On the power of consent

By Sandy Compton
Reader Columnist

I turned 74 last week, and I’m thinking of turning away from political commentary. I have tried for 25-plus years to get people to think for themselves about who will be the best leader for the future of their kids and grandkids, but the bottom line always seems to be the economy and who can throw the best insults and tell the most outrageous lies during campaign season. 

I’m not changing my mind about Trump, who I feel is acting despicably as president — but he’s acted despicably for decades. If you’re one of his supporters, it doesn’t seem like I will change your mind.

I can’t comprehend why anyone would consent to put Trump in power, and I am not being judgmental. I am stating a fact. Some of you have an opposing point of view. You love Trump and can’t understand why I don’t. We are both at a loss. We seem to be living in a 50/50 world. We are halved. 

Sandy Compton. Courtesy photo.

A way to pull the country back together — if the United States is to stay united — might be to look away from that big difference of opinion and see what we have in common on our respective sides of the political and rhetorical divide between us.  

We didn’t create this divide: power, wealth and organized religion did, with the intention of keeping us apart. These forces can be envisioned as an equilateral triangle, which, if brought into the physical world, would fall over if left to itself. The form needs a fourth leg in order to produce a stable, four-sided shape capable of standing on its own. That fourth leg is consent.

For the structure to remain upright, people have to agree on the role of the other legs. The more people who feel a certain way, the quicker changes happen or the longer things stay the way they are. 

Consent is an act of will. Giving someone permission to influence our lives is done of our own volition, though there are always extenuating circumstances. Over time, I have been about as extenuated as someone living in the U.S. can get. 

Every human faces extenuations, though some have fewer than others. We are blessed in this country. Imagine being a 12-year-old Palestinian or Ukrainian kid waiting for a rocket to drop through the roof. They have not given their consent to that.

Consider the following headlines:

• “Trump Calls Zelensky a Dictator in Post Rife with Falsehoods”;

• “These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration” (they all have to do with social equity);

• “Trump Issues Order to Expand His Power Over Agencies Congress Made Independent”;

• “Trump Promised Americans Booming Wealth. Now He’s Changing His Tune”;

• “Kennedy Links Measles Outbreak to Poor Diet and Health, Citing Fringe Theories”;

• “Trump Is Elected Chair of Kennedy Center as Its Longtime President Is Fired” (by Trump);

• “Trump Signs Order Aimed at Dismantling Education Department”;

• “Trump Administration Abruptly Cuts Billions from State Health Services”;

• “Mass Layoffs Announced at Health and Human Services Dept.” (10,000 jobs);

• “Trump is trying to gain more power over elections” (extra scary).

This, and considerable damage to the good that America has done over the past 100-plus years, is what the majority of U.S. voters consented to. Ironically, if statistics prove true, half of the citizens adversely affected by this dismantling voted for Trump. 

I didn’t consent to this. If you did, I hope you and Republicans in Congress change your minds before midterm elections. If not, we could all lose our right to express a lack of consent.