Satyagraha...

...is a Sanskrit word meaning insistence on, or holding firm to, the truth and was the term used by M K Gandhi (aka the Mahatma) to describe his strategy for ending British rule in India. The truth Gandhi was insisting on was that the British had no business being in India. He was also adamant that the struggle for independence be non-violent going so far as to call it off when his followers resorted to violence and even going on a hunger strike to make his point. Of course, there are those who say that this was a pragmatic acknowledgement of British military superiority. But Gandhi believed that British military might could not win the moral high ground if Indians adhered to non-violence. And so the world witnessed unarmed Indian freedom fighters refusing to respond in kind when British police or soldiers beat them with sticks. In the end, Gandhi succeeded in getting the British out of India. Martin Luther King Jr. recognized the parallels between the civil rights movement in the US and India's freedom struggle and adopted a non-violent stance. Like their Indian counterparts earlier in the 20th century, Americans marching for civil rights were subjected to beatings by the police. In the end though, they too succeeded. So, what relevance, you may ask does this have today? Ever since Kellyanne Conway floated the concept of "alternate facts", truth has been under assault in the US with consequences few foresaw. I don't just mean the Trump presidency. Introducing relativism to the concept of truth made skepticism about all things appear not just acceptable, but quite reasonable. This phenomenon appears to have taken root all along the spectrum of public opinion. As a related fact, consider this: according to the National Center for Education Statistics, 43 million American adults (approximately 1 in 5) cannot read, write or do basic math above third grade level. Hence "fake news", stolen elections and doubts about masks and vaccines. So now we have laws to correct election irregularities even though there is no proof of their existence and resistance to vaccines even though we have spent big bucks to ensure the development of the COVID vaccine at "warp speed". We have ballot recounts conducted by one party behind closed doors, an obvious conflict of interest which would have been unthinkable in normal times. While we wait for the outrage in reaction to all this, the outrageous behavior continues apace. The Georgia senate election result was a manifestation of outrage as was Joe Biden's win nationwide. But if we want to see change on the scale of the eviction of the British from India or the civil rights legislation of the '60s there will have to be widespread peaceful activism at the grass-roots level all across the US in the run-up to the '22 election. The election laws being enacted in some states cannot have their true intended effect if people are registered and are motivated to vote in large numbers. If people believe that their very freedom is at stake, they will show up to vote in large numbers, and if it takes all day - so be it. They will come prepared with food and water sufficient to see them through the day if need be. My point is, it is time to assert the truth which is that people of all socio-economic backgrounds and skin color have a right to vote in free and fair elections and to have their votes counted. I'm not suggesting it will be easy. But few thought Gandhi or MLK would succeed either.