With Valentine’s Day coming up it’s a good time to talk about love. First of all, what is love? According to Wikipedia – yes, Wikipedia has an entry on love – “Love is an emotion involving strong attraction, affection, emotional attachment or concern for a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms.”
It represents “kindness, compassion, and affection—'the unselfish, loyal, and benevolent concern for the good of another.’” It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, oneself, or animals.”
Unfortunately, we’re seeing a lot of behavior these days that’s in direct opposition to love. We are witnessing downright cruelty, bullying, and corruption, along with blatant violation of human rights, animal rights, and the rights of our own planet. Worse, much of that anti-love sentiment is coming from and being exacerbated by our own government.
Thank goodness there are enough people who are so big-hearted, so caring, and so determined for love to conquer all, they help counter some of the evil.
So what is love?
Love is McKenzie Scott donating billions of dollars to charities, not leaving it in her will, rather being generous now while she is still alive. Love is not her ex-husband Jeff Bezos whose greed has resulted in breaking labor laws, laying off tens of thousands of workers, and putting stores—and possibly a once-respected newspaper—out of business.
Love is the outpouring of donations of both food and money by individuals to food pantries after the Bill Ugly Bill slashed funds that help feed the hungry. These thoughtful citizens understand that every drop fills the bucket. Love is not Chuck Grassley or Joni Ernst who, along with the majority of the US Senate, voted to give tax cuts to the rich instead of supporting social services that their constituents depend on for a better quality of life.
Love is Sandy Brown, the director of PAW Animal Shelter in Fort Madison rescuing and trying to find homes for abandoned or abused animals. Love is not Steve Kruse in West Point who continues to operate numerous puppy mills under new names after repeatedly violating the Animal Welfare Act.
Love is Chris Jones advocating for clean water and alternative farming practices in Iowa, even sacrificing his university job to stand up to the government and to agribusiness, because he cares more about getting nitrates out of our water and lowering Iowa’s cancer rate than he does about getting a paycheck. Love is not the politicians, corporate conglomerates, universities, and far too many farmers, who, by resisting change and prioritizing money, endanger the health of both Iowa’s people and its environment.
Love is the female survivors of sexual abuse having the courage to speak out and demand justice to prevent the abuse from happening to other innocent young women. Love is not Pam Bondi and the like protecting pedophiles by withholding the Epstein Files, heavily redacting evidence, and constantly lying about it. Enough of the lying already!
Love is the people of Minnesota helping their immigrant neighbors by buying them groceries, taking them to appointments, blowing their whistles and blocking their streets from ICE raids, literally putting their lives on the line to save others. Love is absolutely not detention centers, deportations, white supremacy, Stephen Miller, or ICE and its inhumanity. I try to see the good in all people, but I hope there is a special place in hell for this bunch.
We are up against a selfish, even fascist regime creating a toxic soup of hate. But most Americans want the opposite. They want a gentler, more caring, more united world.
To quote Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” He makes a crucial point, because—again, pointing back to the Wikipedia definition—love is a function that keeps human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.
So don’t give in to the dystopian nightmare. Forget Bezos and Musk colonizing Mars to save the human race. What we need to survive is to treat each other with more kindness, compassion, and respect. All we need is…love.
Beth Howard is an author and filmmaker living in Donnellson, Iowa. To learn more about her film, go to TheWorldNeedsMorePie.com.
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of TSPR or its license holder, Western Illinois University.
Diverse viewpoints are welcomed and encouraged.