Meanness Unchecked Leads to More Meanness

It is sad to watch our nation turn into a meaner and more isolated version of itself.  But this is clearly what is happening under the current administration.  Despite the provision in the U.S. Constitution for three co-equal branches of government (legislative, judicial and executive) it seems that two of the three (especially the legislative) have mostly chosen to look the other way while the executive who occupies the people’s house remakes things in his own selfish, mean-spirited likeness. This is contrary to the founders desire that these branches serve as a check to balance the weight of influence and power.

Politics has always been dirty business, and I am sure we could point to periods of history that were fraught with decisions, actions and words filled with vitriol and unproductive outcomes. But surely this time in history will prove to have rivaled them, if we survive it intact and are afforded the opportunity to look back on it one day.

One of the simple lessons that may be most prominent is something we all should have learned in our primary education: meanness unchecked just leads to more meanness.

Do you remember this lesson from the schoolyard? The class bully who was given a free pass on unsavory behavior always took that as permission to increase said behavior. Worse yet, was when the bully garnered a following of kids who praised and fed that behavior. They did this by pouring flattery on the misdeeds of one who showed no conscience or sense of fairness. There’s nothing a bully needs more than to be flattered and made the center of attention.

It seems to me that we are witnessing this today on a much grander scale as national and even world leaders acquiesce to the whims and whiplash actions of an executive who feels he has a blank slate from which to wreak havoc on others. In just a few short months, having doubled down on experience gained from occupying the seat of power once before, this executive has challenged, and somehow blown past, almost every check on his office. It’s as if he can’t quite believe the people gave him the keys to the office again. Neither can I. One thing is certain he isn’t going to give them back without a fight.

First, in the name of “efficiency” longstanding government agencies and programs were indiscriminately cut by DOGE, led by the executive’s former bromance partner Mr. E. Musk. No more U.S.AID, a Department of Education that is a shell of its former self, massive cuts and layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services (where an anti-health paranoid runs the ship), and grants shut off at the National Institutes of Health, meaning research suffers and the nation goes back in time. 

Sure, one could always argue that there is too much government spending, and a thorough review should commence with a new administration.  That, however, is not what happened. Instead, DOGE cuts resulted in about a 1% cut in federal spending, though even that number is disputed by independent analysts. This does not count the costs (financial, social and emotional) inflicted on the nation and federal workforce because of the bumbling, inefficient and haphazard way these cuts were enforced.

Meanwhile, just as Mr. Musk was exiting the stage after a public spat with the executive, said executive leaned on Congress to pass his so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill”. As a result, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 10 million Americans will be uninsured by 2034, with another 4.2 million priced out of the insurance marketplace due to the loss of ACA tax credits.  That’s 14 million citizens put in peril when a healthcare emergency or need presents. Thank you, Congress!

Among the government agencies finding their budgets significantly increasing are the Department of Defense (whom the executive says he’d like to rename “The War Department”), and the Department of Homeland Security, which holds jurisdiction over ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).  

With their inept mini-me leaders, these two governmental departments are making big waves today as National Guard troops have been deployed in our nation’s capital, and we have places like Alligator Alcatraz or the Speedway Slammer being celebrated as ICE detention and deportation sites  According to the Cato Institute approximately 65% of people taken into ICE custody have no criminal convictions, despite the campaign promise that such would be the targets. 

Immigrant communities across the nation now live in fear of raids, arrests and separations from family members as ICE shows up at workplaces, schools and shopping centers.  According to Newsweek ICE raids on farm operations have resulted in up to 70% of farm workers not reporting to work in some places, resulting in crops rotting in the fields and major disruption to agri-business, especially in California and Texas. 

One of the oldest tricks in the political book is to demean and blame the “other” for whatever perceived issues threaten the populace. Today the “other” includes immigrants, people of color, and people of differing ideologies (labeled as “woke” by this administration). If we can raise the alarm on crime in big cities (when statistics show the crime rate dropping in many, for example in D.C.), and label immigrants as criminal, rapists, and lowlifes; we can then convince those “like us” to be quiet while authoritarian steps are taken, and the nation grows meaner and darker.

Last week the executive even objected to the Smithsonian focusing on just how bad slavery was, as if there were an upside to slavery!  But this is from the same executive who ordered the reinstatement of military base names after Confederate War heroes and called for reinstalling Confederate statues in our nation’s capital.

If you are paying attention at all, the above summary of events and actions is not new information. You might even agree with it.  But the daily deluge of such news tends to make those of us who want to simply live a peaceful and quiet life (as Paul writes in I Timothy 2:2) turn off or ignore the news in frustration. One can only endure so much of a bombardment, which has been identified as the strategy behind this vast approach to change. Flood the system with accosting acts, and the people will be overwhelmed and quit paying attention. Unchecked meanness will then continue to beget more meanness.

America is a nation built from immigration. Many of us point with pride to our personal Judeo-Christian values that encourage kindness toward those who are “resident aliens” dwelling among you (see Ex 23:9, Dt. 10:19, Lev. 19:33-34).  We remember Jesus’ words to “love your neighbor as yourself”, to feed the hungry, visit those in prison, and welcome the stranger. Why? Because we have all been sojourners in this world dependent on the kindness and compassion of others, just as our Lord himself was.

So, when kindness and compassion are abandoned in the public sphere, and when behaviors of meanness and oppression are normalized, we are called to say “no”. We are called to protest, to voice another opinion, and to remember and live by a different way. We might choose to do this in any number of ways – attending one of the many protests, contacting our public officials to voice dissent, using our words to say we do not agree, making “good trouble” and especially using our vote. But remaining silent, sitting on the sideline and watching the crumbling of a democratic heritage, and elevation of meanness – this is inaction itself, lumping us in with those who refuse to be a check on the meanness.

The only King I am willing to serve is King Jesus. His is the only kingdom of which I aspire to be a citizen. Increasingly the words of the old gospel song invade my thoughts, “This world is not my home”. But for now, while I pass through this world, I will strive to help make it a kinder and more welcoming place, so that we can all live those peaceful and quiet lives.  

© 2025, Daniel M. Cash