How do you respond to an injustice you saw coming the whole time?
“Not surprised. Disappointed and upset. But not at all surprised.”
That’s a sentiment I’ve found myself echoing each time upsetting news happens. The verdict in Kenosha. The relative inaction from COP26 in Glasgow. The unraveling of Haiti, Ethiopia, or Afghanistan.
These are all heavy and troubling, but if you paid enough attention beforehand the signs were always there. To paraphrase a Trevor Noah quip, Rittenhouse’s judge might as well have adopted him midway through the trial.
But I’ve been curious about my response- to anticipate bitter news ahead of time in order to soften its blow. I don’t doubt that it’s a coping strategy, but it seems at odds with the fact that I’m generally a hopeful person and I’ve been wondering if this learned response is beneficial, detrimental, or if it just is what it is. Oddly, the biggest reason something like the IPCC report didn’t sting too badly is that it largely anthologized thousands of reports I’ve seen over the years.
On one hand, I don’t ever want to lose sight of the truth that a better world is possible and that things don’t need to remain as they are. On the other, I think there’s wisdom in not expecting that better world to be delivered by the same systems who brought it to this point. There’s a maturity in being deliberate with your trust.
I don’t want to be cynical, nor do I want to be naive. But the most cynical idea might be the one that says these are your only two options.
I’ve come to accept that my reactions aren’t at odds with hope, and they more accurately reflect where my hope sits. It certainly isn’t in courts and conferences, though I think justice eventually remakes those things too.
One side of me is a wholehearted idealist. The other side is a strategic pragmatist. And I think I can do my part the best when those two sides play together.