Since the beginning of thinking, the human experiment has elicited two sorts of response. Let’s call them Pro- and Anti-, though the contrast has gone by many names, of which Optimist/Pessimist, Idealist/Realist, Altruist/Materialist, Dreamer/Cynic are but a few. Thumbs up for humanity and our potential or thumbs down? Should a creator god be pleased or appalled by its handiwork?

Human Nature, given comparable data, gravitates into one of the two camps. The Pro- party cite Jesus, Shakespeare, Mozart, Lincoln, the heroic and sublime, while the Anti- party point to Caligula, Tamerlane, Hitler, “nature red in tooth and claw,” and America’s current candidate for eternal obloquy as evidence for their conclusions.

Political systems naturally evolve from an assessment about who’s being governed. If Man is promising, we should be given encouragement, license; if we are Evil, we should be controlled. Democracy is optimistic, Tyranny pessimistic: free the human spirit to soar or cage it to forestall carnage.

What nudges humans into either camp is a mystery. Common is the case of siblings of whom one’s a dreamer, the other a sourpuss. No less abundant are happy hearts with hard lives and grumpy harpies lavished with every luxury.

I locate myself squarely in the pro-Human camp. Yes, Man is abominable, vile, cruel, selfish, arrogant, ungrateful, but this is not our doom, we can do and be better. Decency, kindness, grace, truth, love are not fatuous fantasies but pulsing possibilities. Like most makers of art, I dream of a better day: what else is art but an expression of hope? The Nameless One is not only my political opponent but existential enemy. With every fiber I refute and revile him. We cannot coexist: one of us must go. No doubt if he knew of me (happily I am too small), he would return the compliment.

I owe him my clarity about this contest. When things are going one’s way, ideas are so many words. What could it matter how we define Good and Evil? Now that Evil holds sway, it’s crucial to understand the grounds of my defiance. What do I believe? Are there any principles worth dying for? If so, which – and why? More Americans each day are forced to choose between humiliation and annihilation. In preparation for that horrific hour, it’s helpful to have thought things through.

Growing up, I recoiled from preachers. To my surprise, the Nameless One has made me one. My revelations oblige me to speak up as persuasively as possible. I regret if this makes me resemble a maniac on his soapbox. Prophets have no choice but to be loudmouths.

For the past decade most Americans have persisted in denial about the dangers posed by resurgent Tyranny. A leader who sees the world as a bloodbath will make it one. Today, faced with daily confirmations of catastrophe, the pro-Human party is waking to our peril. Hapless, verging on hopeless, it consoles us to convene and conspire. What might we do together to resist? How best to live or, if we cannot, how best to die?

For those who foresaw this debacle, the blindness of our fellow Americans dumbfounds. Rehiring this monster was worse than hiring a baby-killer as babysitter: insane! But there’s no use bellyaching or finger-pointing: we are culpable collectively: that’s what “we the people” means. Now we must cope with the consequences of our stupidity.

Not unlike early Christians when their faith was condemned, pro-human Americans are convening in countless anxious corners to converse, console. Here is one. The hour is dire, danger lurks, maybe death. We feel better together.