This week we read "The Black Gate is Closed. In this chapter, Gollum has brought the Hobbits to the Black Gate. But not only is it physically closed, as the title suggests, it is well-guarded.
Frodo announces his intent to enter through the gate, which sends Gollum into a frenzy. Frodo insists that he must enter Mordor, and Gollum says he knows another way, which would be safer, if Frodo is really committed to what Gollum often reminds him is a dangerous plan.
To all appearances Gollum was genuinely distressed and
anxious to help Frodo. But Sam, remembering the overheard
debate, found it hard to believe that the long submerged Smeagol
had come out on top... Sam's guess was that the Smeagol and Gollum
halves (or what in his own mind he called Slinker and Stinker) had made a
truce and a temporary alliance: neither wanted the Enemy to the get the
Ring; both wished to keep Frodo from capture, and under their eye.
(A bit of context:
Previously Sam had awoken during the night and he overheard Gollum
having an argument with himself. He heard him say "She" can help him
get back the Ring. He concludes Gollum has an ally he intends to
lead them to.)
Smeagol and Gollum both want the Ring back. Their disagreement is largely about whether to kill Frodo for it. They have sworn to serve the master of the Precious - they never once swear to serve Frodo by name. A loophole has been found! If they can take the Ring then they can still be loyal to the oath. But Smeagol would still rather not kill Frodo if he can avoid it.
But they definitely absolutely agree Sauron should not get back the Ring, and that Frodo should remain in their company. Both of these objectives serve their common goal of getting back the Ring. This makes Sam very suspicious of even the kinder Smeagol.
What can we make of this partnership? Sam's suspicion is justified - but that doesn't mean this partnership is wholly bad.
I've tried to keep away from politics this year, as leading an ethical life is much more than politics. But this seems like the right time to break the seal, as it were, and delve in.
My wife, Sam, and I do not agree on everything. We have different preferences, as well as practical disagreements, like how to organize the living room. We also have political disagreements. If I have such disagreements with someone whom I love and speak to every day, I should expect to have disagreements with others. I should especially expect to have disagreements with politicians whom I don't know personally.
A politician I vote for (or even one I don't) is supposed to be my representative in the government. I don't have the time or inclination to understand the details of every single policy, and even the ones I care about... well I have a limited bandwidth. So I try to reach out to those elected to represent me. This is a new practice of mine. I want to my preferred views known to those who represent me. We all should - how else will they know?
And I don't just mean nationally, but state and locally, too. In fact, I find I more regularly get a real response from local politicians.
But my power as a single voter is small. I should find others to cooperate with. Let's take prescription drugs - I think there should be a cap on those costs. If I meet a Republican who also thinks that, I can work with him on this topic. A Trump supporter at the capitol on January 6th? As long as this time she'll use legitimate means, yes! A communist who thinks all medication should be freely provided by the state according to the people's needs? If they're willing to accept the baby steps of lower costs on their path to zero cost, sure!
Now I can go to that politician and say "Hey, I have a group of people who think X, and are willing to vote on it. Will you do what it takes to earn our vote?" Maybe we grow to 100. Maybe we become a political action committee and run ads, urging voters to prioritize this issue and getting on the politician's radar that way.
We may have divergent views on many other things. Demanding perfect alignment on everything to agitate for change on one thing dooms us to failure quickly. We may be suspicious of each other - the Communist is right to worry we abandon them on their long-term plans. The Trump supporter may worry this policy win will advantage Biden. I may worry the law will pass but not come into effect later, when we possibly have a Republican president who can take credit. We may have a temporary alliance, but to focus on the temporary nature obscures the real alliance between us. The one permanent bond in my life I've committed to is to Sam (My wife, not the hobbit - though they are both gardeners) . That doesn't mean I should scoff at other potential opportunities for cooperation. Life is fleeting. We can't let temporal limits stop us from making gains where we can. Everything is a limited time offer, technically.
Sam (the hobbit), unwittingly, is also part of this temporary alliance. Sam also doesn't want Frodo captured or for Sauron to take back the Ring. He'll have to be careful to offload their cooperation when they try to go their own direction, but it's doubtless their help will be valuable to him. It's true that Frodo's plan to approach the Black Gate is doomed to failure, and it is not Sam who knows of an alternative way in.
Sam has the benefit of despair. In our lives, we can imagine a perfect candidate and be reasonably hopefully they'll appear. Sam's situation is so much worse that he doesn't have time for such dreams. He has to take what he can.
I think we'd benefit from that reality-check, too. A perfect candidate may one day appear. Will they appear by this upcoming November? Doubtful. But potholes don't get fixed on their own. That's something a wide contingent of voters probably want fixed. Organizing a bloc of voters who demand re-pavement as a local priority is easier than many other priorities I can think of.
While we've been discussing politics here, I've still made a conscious effort to avoid national politics, for as Big Deal as that is, we live in a country with layers of elected officials. Whoever gets elected to the White House isn't going to affect whether the park you live near is properly cared for, or if the public transit improves. National issues matter, of course, but we can affect local ones much more. And if we don't, someone else will. So get heard and get organized.
If you're looking for a great book on this topic which I just finished reading and highly recommend, check out Politics is for Power by Eitan Hersh. If you're interested, I got some extra copies I'd be happy to lend out. Or check your local library.
This had been a patreon-supported project, but that proved too annoying to maintain. If you would like to financially support this project, drop $1.11 (or any amount, I suppose) into my Venmo!
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