There are those of who know what is best for America and, to a large extent, for the rest of the world. We vote Democratic, we are uncomfortable with the positions of virtually all Republicans and the personas of most of them, we only cringe a little bit at the “far left” (in American terms) Democrats whose ideals we may share, but whom we view as politically impractical. We call ourselves liberal, but not too liberal. We certainly don’t agree with those progressives who divide the world into oppressors and oppressed, and find the totalitarian Moslem countries oppressed and liberal (if often misguided) Israel as oppressors.

We think we have common sense and don’t understand why some people don’t agree with us. Whether we live in Arizona or Maine, Florida or Idaho, our educations have been similar, so we think pretty much alike. We are aghast at Trump and his followers, we are aghast at Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his, and we are sad that the Democrats aren’t gaining more traction as the November election nears.

But there is something that it appears that we do not understand. We are in the minority. Most people in this country do not think like we think. They think differently. And, unfortunately, neither I nor you can explain how the majority of Americans are thinking this day, because we cannot understand how they think (yes, we can say it’s because of this or that, but we are only partially correct) because it seems so wrong.

We are used to the possibility of very close elections in this country. The Republicans have a candidate that is a disgrace to American politics, completely outside of the pale, as they say. But he may win, and he may win by a large margin.

I am a White male, and most of my friends are White. White males, they say, are favoring Republicans by 20 points. This is an extreme difference, but there has been a Republican-favoring difference for some time. The Democrats have been winning elections, for the most part, because of the vote of minorities – Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and yes, Jews. But those groups are beginning to change, and if members of these minority groups move only a bit towards the right, we will find Democrats losing all over.

We all recognize that much of the world is a mess. When the world is a mess, those in power suffer. It is so easy for the opposition to say: elect me, and I will get you out of this mess. It is much harder for the incumbents to say: elect me, I will govern as I have been governing, and this mess will disappear.

If the Republicans do well in November, as I suspect they will, the Americans who voted for them will see that the world is still a mess. Maybe they won’t see that immediately, but they will eventually see that. And things will turn back again. They always have. But now, we sort-of-liberals are in the minority.

Now, of course, being in the minority does not mean that you are wrong. To the contrary, people in the minority are often, perhaps usually, correct. And the worse thing is to give up your principles because they don’t capture the approval of the majority. It’s when the minority gives up, goes into hiding, allows themselves to be influenced by majority opinions they know to be wrong, that things really get into trouble. An active minority is necessary to get things turned around, and I am afraid that’s going to be our job for the next four years.

Now of course, I may be wrong. Maybe, the rabbit will be pulled out of the hat, and the Democrats might find themselves remaining in power. I can foresee all sorts of scenarios where this might happen. But at this point, that doesn’t seem what is most likely. So let’s be prepared.

Remember the old saying: I’d rather be right than be president? I am not saying that, either. We would rather be right and have a president who agrees with us, supported by the vast majority of voters. But sometimes that doesn’t happen. And we need to recognize that, and realize that.

The song “Turn, Turn, Turn” dates only from the late 1950s, but Pete Seeger, the composer, took the words from the biblical book of Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, the same book where it is declares that “there is nothing new under the sun”. Some find this book very pessimistic – but no need. The message is clear to me. People are people, the wind blows first one way, then another, you can work hard and find your work still undone, waiting for the next generations to finish it. The human condition.

Enough of “May you live in interesting times!”. How about “May you live long enough to see the world turn once again!”?