Arrowhead Indivisible

Border crossing tensions are rare in our Arrowhead region of Minnesota and Canada—or were. Some of the abuses law-abiding travelers have been subject to under the new administration include:

• Canadian visitors were given a 2-hour window to visit Grand Marais without documentation—those visiting longer were asked to produce time-stamped receipts justifying their activities, including motel receipts for overnight stays.

• Parents were loudly asked to prove the two young children they were traveling with were their own, despite all 4 showing valid passports documenting their kinship.

• For members of the sovereign nation of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa driving vehicles with tribal plates, border passage each way has been little changed. Just routine questions; no mandatory vehicle searches.

• Americans and Canadians who are not tribal members report increased vehicle searches.

I could talk about how the cuts to funding for scientific research make me worried about fulfilling my dream of doing research in graduate school

I could share my concern about the safety of my extended family in Ukraine as Trump’s support for Russia’s aggression becomes more and more apparent. I could also speak about my growing fears about the safety of the Boundary Waters. Since my first trip 19 years ago the Boundary Waters have been my solace, my home and my inspiration to dream of a brighter future. So yes, this impacts me.

But additionally, I feel compelled to remind us that this administration is not the only threat we face. As we are distracted by all the chaos, the climate crisis continues to grow exponentially. While the budgets of environmental departments are being slashed, and scientists being dismissed, we are rapidly approaching tipping points. At this moment when we should be addressing the climate crisis, we are moving away from all national efforts to protect our future. To me, this is deeply worrying

Here’s an attempt at some hope:

Amidst the terror around us, remember, we are all stewards of our future and the future of this planet and future generations to come. Our actions, our choices, our beliefs, our unique, individual contributions, can have an incredible effect on the world around us.

While chaos seems to reign, remember that chaos theory suggests a single flap of a butterfly wing can create a storm. This is an extraordinary power. This can be our power if we choose to use it, if we choose to act, just as we are choosing today.

My name is Kathy and these are my worries. I am 80 years old. I rely on income from a pension and Social Security. My fears are that something will happen to my pension as Trump tears up the stability of the stock market. Pensions depend on a stable market to keep their funds solvent. My fear is that for an unknown DOGE reason I may not get my Social Security check. I have it automatically deposited and so I go online the day the payment is due to check to see if it has come. Never in my 14 years of receiving Social Security have I felt the need to check. I have no confidence. I still have a mortgage to pay, a car loan, electricity, food, etc. I need those two incomes. I am feeling anxious and angry.

I am a physician here in town, I am also an Army Veteran, I am queer and I am a Jew...As a physician, I've always held space for people's hopes, dreams and fears. The fact is that people are afraid, and they are wary. My trans friends and patients in particular are afraid of having their care cut off and of forceably having to de-transition, which increases their risks for suicidal ideation, depression and anxiety...I have other patients who have already lost their jobs and as a result, their health insurance, because of DOGE...Proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid would have devastating effects on our county, on our state and on our country and our community as a whole.

Growing intolerance of gender fluid people dehumanizes both the judgers and the judged. I have lost friends and had family relationships deeply damaged by the judgment of conservative voices that claim to have some sort of divine knowledge that other people's decision about who they love is their business to know--and to "fix". It is not.

I hold a responsible job. I pay taxes. I provide all sorts of help to many community members and have never harmed another human being–or animal. This is much more goodness than many, many abusive men can claim. It is also more than the women they abuse can claim. Tragically, women's defense of abusive men, with their harsh, hurtful, injurious behavior (typically male partners or relatives who supposedly love them) accept the crazy belief that it is manly to slap people into submission, and in this way they enable and perpetuate dehumanizing, amoral behavior.

Yet they judge me for being a lesbian. Why? And why do we listen to them? And why, as a society, do we appear to be moving closer to normalizing and condoning white male supremacy over all creatures and the earth itself through environmentally destructive practices?

Welcoming diversity can change this. It can open minds to fairer and more productive ways of being with each other and the earth.