Why am I here?

Dignity is the birthright of every human being.

During the Industrial Revolution, Charles Darwin’s discoveries were reduced to a single concept: “Survival of the Fittest.” The idea that nature and evolutionary progress consisted of a series of conflicts leading to power outcomes appealed. They gave scientific credibility to a capitalist society that was innovating its way into riches for some and subservience for others, with works of charity as a social lubricant for the tougher outcomes.

This reduction of Darwin’s Origin of the Species to a single phrase has helped in the building of power systems that supported the governance of nation-states.

I see a difference between a the use of power for governance and a power system of governance.

Please allow me a few examples:

Governments inevitably must have power in order to function as organizing principles for a people. In a democratic republic, power is delegated by the people of that republic, who have access to free debate and elections in order to adjust how that power is delegated. But power is only ONE of the elements of governance. Whenever power becomes an end to itself and builds a self-perpetuating power system, the republic is opposed, and ultimately, its existence is threatened.

I maintain that the system of governance we currently have in the US is, in effect, a self-perpetuating power system. This is true regardless of the party “in power.” As a matter of survival, power systems in the US have learned how to adjust themselves along the left-right spectrum.

The MAGA movement’s assertion that the Federal Government had become a “liberal swamp” that needed to be drained, that higher education had become biased and exclusionary in its “wokeness,” and its insistence that legal firms with federal business be required to provide pro-bono services for right-wing causes, are three examples of a conservative power system dominating a liberal power system.

These power systems run on internal exchanges of money and favors. It is notable that the government formed by MAGA has eviscerated governmental anti-corruption measures and traditions in favor of personal enrichment for its members and supporters, effectively expanding the “swamp” against which it campaigned.

In the US, power is seen as a legitimate and inevitable outcome of entrepreneurial and generational wealth. We have even encoded that into our legal system. After 2010, when the Supreme Court ruled that corporations were persons with free speech (Citizens United v. FEC) , more and more “wealthy individuals” have been able to buy their way into power via corporations and non-profit entities under their control.

While the founding fathers of the United States declared that the human right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” was “self-evident,” our government’s current practice openly says otherwise. When human rights are understood as specific rights conferred by government (as opposed to “self-evident”), the power system can revoke them.

We have ample evidence of that currently being the case, even with US citizens. Federal agents are given permission to shoot and even kill, United States Citizens on US soil. They do so without regard of-- or consequence under-- the rule of law in the United States.

When a government turns on its citizens and executes or imprisons them for ideological reasons, it can no longer claim to be a government “of the people, for the people, and by the people.” It’s not a government-- it’s a power system.

Sculpture in porcelain and glaze by Kondo Takahiro. From an exhibit at the Seattle Asian Art Museum.

Power systems attempt to rewrite history (by force) to bolster and justify their ideology. They will even rig a children’s contest in order to prove their point.

Power systems work best under “command and control” protocols. The current regime places so much emphasis on broadening the power of the Executive Branch and declaring emergencies because that branch of government is the easiest to command.

And power systems love to grow. The larger they become, the more accepted they are, and that makes them more durable.

That is why power systems are always extending their reach and expanding previously perceived limits. When power systems seek to dominate other power systems, the way is not always smooth. The Iran War is a case in point.

“We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,” he said. “These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”

-Stephen Miller, from a CNN broadcast interview by Jake Tapper, 5 Jan 2026

One of the corollaries of powers systems is that power itself is both the highest good and the ultimate reality of all relationships. (I can hear Stephen Miller dropping the needle onto “Eye of the Tiger” after the above quotation.)

But-- As an organizing principle, power does not work as the highest good of humanity. That’s reserved for Love. And those two gathering energies function in very different ways. Here are five examples of how differently they work with, for, and between human beings:

Power Systems organize; Love propagates.

Power accretes as it organizes, and becomes a system. Love does not organize: it propagates, through meaningful connection. Each connection made in love carries with it the potential to generate additional ones, often in what appears to be an “outward” direction. The “patterns” of love are usually perceived in retrospect.

Power Systems Increase; Love transforms.

Power systems thrive on more. Love thrives on better.

Power Systems are closed entities; Love is an open invitation.

In order to belong in a power system, one must bring something of value and pass the tests of loyalty and usefulness to the system. Love identifies each human as already valuable and belonging.

Power Systems ascend; Love descends

Power systems are hierarchical and confer prestige. Love is sacrificial and servant-minded. Alex Pretti had no prior connection with Winnie Savageford. He stepped in to protect her because he knew that protecting victims of violence is what human beings do, so that’s what he did. He was killed for that service.

Power Systems are impatient for winning; Love prevails over time.

Because human beings are time-bound, it is hard for us to see this one. This is why lamentation and hope are the path forward for those who would love through loss and grief. Both sit within our grasp as tools for love in times of trouble. Notice how this fits with the previously-explored descent of Love.

If we want to change the current power system in the US for good, we cannot replace it with a “better” power system, any more than we can go back to the one we had before.

We need to transform it with a higher principle: Love.

Don’t need no credit card to ride this train.

It’s both simple and complex. And that’s “why we’re here.”

More later, my friends.