WHEN TO BE A DOG AND WHEN TO BE A WOLF

I started this substack to write about philosophical topics that might be of interest to thinking people of all religious and political persuasions. Shortly after, we (Americans) somehow elected who we elected, and this morphed into a resistance channel, though I don’t want to dispense with the philosophical essays by any means.

(I do have another thing I need to talk more about in an upcoming post - for now I’m still trying to figure out how to get my mind around it. We lost my brother in law on March 31st. He took his own life in Portugal after years/decades of battling depression that was increasingly treatment resistant. Since then I have felt -- just not quite right. I will write something and I’m not entirely sure it makes sense. Perhaps it’s grief talking. And maybe that’s OK. But I thought I needed to say that. )

The work of resistance is important: my guiding light here is the Mark Twain quote, “Support your country at all times, and your government when they deserve it.” I am not free to abandon this work, nor, I would suggest, are you.

That being said, we don’t have to chase after every ball that Donald Trump throws. (I heard a Democratic senator say this on a podcast. I would credit them if I could recall who it is.)

This metaphor of fetch is simply the idea of an input and a response. When someone makes a decision or takes an action that affects your life, it’s natural to feel a response. If your boss implements mandatory overtime, you’ll respond of course. If your wife tells you you need to go to Costco, you may be tired and resentful or perhaps you’ll look forward to a piece of pizza, but you will have some sort of emotional response. If the starting pitcher on your favorite baseball team gives up a home run, you’ll respond. If your fiance proposes, you’ll respond. It’s a simple “A therefore B” that is part of being human.

THE ORIGINS OF FETCH

In the game of fetch, there is a human and a dog. The human is the one in control of the game. It doesn’t commence until the human throws the ball or stick. And then the dog, for reasons only dogs fully understand, is compelled to retrieve the thing. It’s an ancient command, coded into the symbiotic relationship that developed as wolves became less wolflike and more doglike as they worked together with humans to hunt and gather.

There once was a very valid reason and need for the wolf-turned-dog to “fetch” the item in question. Survival was at stake. Get that duck and we’ll both eat well. Now, like so many things, it’s an add-on that we do for exercise and/or mental health, and it’s an industry: big fetch. Rubber balls that are squishy for dogs but somehow hard to tear up. “Bones” made of silicone. Curved red plastic throwers that allow the human to throw a tennis ball farther and with less effort, so they can exercise their pooch with minimal effort.

(Interestingly, there’s an optimal ratio of human/dog exercise that depends largely on the fitness of the human and the dog respectively. Running with your dog is a 1/1 ratio. You each cover the same amount of ground. In fetch the exercise is asymmetric as the dog does most of the work.)

The act of fetching can become a pathology. Like anything, too much is too much. A dog may do this when it’s not good for them. They may simply have to. And, if the human was cruel, overextending the game may actually become a form of abuse.

FLOODING THE ZONE

I’m going to switch metaphors here for a moment. Bear with me. You may be familiar with the strategy of“flooding the zone with shit” that Trump employs. (If not, Google it.) It was developed by Steve Bannon and company. The idea is that the populace can be overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of action and news. While the first executive action was horrifying, the 35th EA was less so. We the people become uncomfortably numb. Horrified, yes, but powerless and disengaged.

It’s important to understand that this is a tactic. It is a developed strategy. It’s a means of pushing through something that a large segment of the population doesn’t want. Otherwise, why the need to flood the zone with shit? Just say what you’re doing.

Trump was the first to implement this. Obama didn’t, Clinton didn’t, and neither of the Bush administrations did. If you look back on the Biden presidency it was largely boring, coming on the heels of Trump V1.

FEATURE OR BUG?

To people who believed the country was headed on a more-or-less good path, they wanted smaller adjustments. If, on the other hand, you believed the country was going 180 degrees the wrong way, you need someone who can stomp on the brakes and turn the car around. That person (so the logic goes) is Trump.

So his arrogance and ironclad belief in his own judgment are a bug to those who believe in checks and balances, but they are a feature to those who believe a U turn is in order.

And this brings us back to our original query. To pull off a Project 2025-sized redirection - to make christian nationalism something of a state religion, deport 10 million people, wage a unilateral trade war with the entire world, cancel DEI, and all the various other things - you’re going to have to make some people upset.

And this brings us back to the first question. What do we do when people are deported without due process? What do we do when he tariffs an island of penguins? What do we do when he sides with Russia over Ukraine? What do we do when he talks of annexing Canada? What do we do when he cuts cancer funding? What do we do when DOGE cuts USAID, which will lead inexorably to a massive spike in HIV/AIDS and the resulting deaths, as well as very preventable famine? What do we do when he bans books on Jackie Robinson? What do we do about the disenfranchisement of female voters with the SAVE ACT? What do we do about the continued hate rhetoric about anyone who lives south of us in the Western Hemisphere? What do we do that all of this is being done (ostensibly) in Jesus’ name?

If you’re exhausted reading that …. That’s the point. That’s their point. That’s how you’re supposed to feel. You’re supposed to feel exhausted and passive. Disengaged. Then they can do whatever the hell it is that they wish to do.

Is there such a thing as death by fetch? I guess if the dog never stops the game and the ball keeps being thrown, yes.

Maybe that’s when it’s time to remember that you’re a wolf. Deep down, dogs are just wolves with manners. The wolf is deep down, but it’s there.

Then you can say, “Human, I see what you’re doing. You have broken the game. I’ll observe what you’re doing, but I’m not taking the bait, for that’s what this is. It’s bait.”

*****

I don’t know folks. I’m still figuring this out for myself. It’s a work in progress. What I do know is that I’ve bought too much into the game and I’m tired. I’m emotionally tired, I’m physically tired, and I’m not myself. And we’re in for another three years and nine months.

As a cancer survivor, I’m not letting anyone steal time from me. Part of resistance is living well, despite everything. Keep Fucking Going.

So I will continue to watch and see the patterns. I will continue to have conversations in person. I’ll continue to write and do podcasts. I will continue to resist.

But I won’t take the bait.