A Daily Reminder: If They Wanted to They Would

An imperfect reflection. Often when I write it never feels complete. This is especially true of this reflection. There is still so much to unpack, digest, undercover, and understand, but I’ve learned recently my writing doesn’t have to be about perfection, but an on going dialogue with myself and anyone else willing to reflect and be open to thinking new thoughts and having new dreams. I’d love to know your “If they wanted to they would” perspectives.

The Daily Reminder

The first time I came across the notion If they wanted to they would, was in college reading a dating advice book, He’s Just Not that Into You. At the time it seemed like a good idea to try to better understand men and dating culture, and while there are truths to what I read in that book, ultimately I don’t think it has stood the test of time, despite how it might be referenced in social media. The notion that if a guy likes a girl (man likes a woman), he’s going to put in the effort, in particular to the chase, to go to ends of the earth to win her over and keep doing so, is nuanced beyond belief, and doesn’t make a lot of room for compassion of the human condition.

Nearly 20 years later I think the truth is less about “liking” and “chasing,” and more about energy. Life requires we put our energy into to many different places, and depending on where we direct that energy might say something about what we value most. Sometimes we direct our energy towards practices, habits, people, and experiences that help us grow and cultivate a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world, allowing us to be authentic to who we are as beloved and made in the image of God (from my perspective). Other times we direct our energy to unhealthy or harmful practices, habits, people, and experiences, and doing so can tear us down, tear others down, and lead to moral injuries. Well resourced energy directed in a way that includes or keeps others in mind, that’s not selfish or self-serving often can result in further abundance of good, similarly, well resourced energy directed towards selfishness, power, wealth, and hate can result in severe injustices.

So this last week and a half as I’ve reflected on the daily reminder that Alligator Alcatraz/the Everglades Concentration Camp was built in 8 days, I’ve been including, If they wanted to they would, often along with other examples of where that energy could be directed if used for good, rather than trampling on human rights. I have no doubt some have gotten tired of these daily reminders, but we don’t know how a practice might influence us until we try it, and this for me has been an intentional reflection to think about the ways that leaders in government and other institutions, both currently and in the past, have failed us and our civil society, or in regards to the Church, how we have failed both followers of Jesus and our neighbors.

What broke me?

About 2 weeks  ago when I first heard about the high nutrient food from USAID that was going to expire and be incinerated instead of given to starving people, I held that in the same space with the knowledge of what’s been unfolding with the Everglades Concentration Camp (poorly named Alligator Alcatraz), and I thought, Good God, if they can put together a concentration camp in the Everglades in 8 days, the way our government and civil society operates is not one bound by will, desire, or resources, but where and how all of that is directed. If they wanted to feed starving people they could have easily figured out a way to make it happen, but they’d rather focus their energy on violating the Constitutional rights and human rights of immigrants. If they wanted to they would.

From that thought so much more has unfolded. While my most immediate criticism is directed at the way the current administration is enacting policy, I recognize that If they wanted to they would applies in a broader scope of government, institutions, and civil society. Our country’s history of colonialism, genocide, slavery, Manifest Destiny (white supremacy), Jim Crow, racism, misogyny, patriarchy, exploitation of land, unregulated capitalism, and more has meant that not only our government has used energy and resources to create a culture of violence and harm, but it has meant institutions like education, medicine, law, business, and even the Church have been complicit in this harm.

This criticism does not mean there has not also been remarkable energy and resources used for the good of cultivating meaningful community across ethnic and racial groups, across economic groups, helping those on the margins, discovering new learning and inventions that have made life better for all of us, or helped us as a society pursue deeper understanding, but too often I don’t think we celebrate those feats considering the obstacles progress has also had to overcome. And too often the new discoveries, new understandings, new creations are shared with our society by people of color or other minority groups, and their stories aren’t told in the same way as those lifted up by being born into white privilege.

So what does it matter?

First and foremost if we don’t talk about it, we can’t find ways to move forward. If we don’t talk about gross inequality between the 1% and the rest of us, we won’t ever see resources shared more fairly and directed towards programs, practices, and  improvements for all people. If we don’t talk about how resources directed at human rights violations like the Everglades Concentration Camp, the prison system, conflict and wars, and genocide take away from providing and meeting needs of average, every day people, especially those on the margins, then nothing will change. If we don’t talk about how intentional underfunding puts people at unfair disadvantages for social mobility, if we don’t talk about complicity in genocide or ethnic cleansing, if we don’t talk about our own history of violence and injustice, especially uplifted by a culture and system of white supremacy, if we don’t talk about how hate influences policy, if we don’t talk about how this administration (and others in the past) and other global leaders are actively trying to strip people of their humanity, then we will be challenged to see change, discover transformation, or experience true healing.

My list so far:

This is your daily reminder.

They built the Everglades Concentration Camp in 8 days.

If they wanted to they would.

But.

They would rather criminalize immigrants than fix an imperfect system.

They’d rather imprison those experiencing homelessness than house them.

They’d rather starve people than feed them.

They’d rather silence the stories of ethnic and racial minorities than deal with the harsh truth of our history.

They’d rather do anything else than listen to women on any subject, especially our health, bodies, and SA.

They’d rather persecute the vulnerable and marginalized than lift them up.

They’d rather strip the humanity and dignity of neighbors than build a community of diversity.

They’d rather occupy land than share land.

They’d rather exploit and desecrate the land for resources than preserve it for future generations.

They’d rather profit off people’s labor than raise the minimum wage.

They’d rather profit off illness and injury than provide healthcare for all people.

They’d rather hold on to old ways than discover new.

They’d rather listen to pseudoscience than actual science.

They’d rather listen to corporations than the people.

They’d rather let people die by genocide in Gaza than call out the Israeli government, and they rather masquerade as fighting antisemitism than actually support the Jewish people and Israelis speaking out against the genocide in Gaza.

They’d rather uplift unqualified “yes men” to leadership positions than have our diversity represented, and their positions challenged and checked.

They’d rather hold onto to their power, wealth, influence, and oppressive behaviors and policy rather than create and cultivate a society where they aren’t always the ones in control.

They’d rather silence their critics in media, education, arts, and politics than have a mirror held up to them where they can see daily the reprehensible practices and lies they manifest to manipulate and coerce the people they never intend to help.

They’d rather silence and complicity so they can do their bidding however they want in service to themselves.

There’s so much more. This is just a start. When people and leaders with power, wealth, and influence abandon responsibility to our civic society, the rest of us must turn to one another and choose a better way forward that upholds the dignity of every human being. We must be the change we hope to see, because as Fannie Lou Hammer would remind us, none of us are free until all of us are free.