By Matthew Sotlar / The Jambar
A couple of days ago, I was listening to the highly acclaimed album “Entertainment!” by Gang of Four. If you’ve never heard of the album or the Gang, I highly recommend checking them out. If you like danceable punk music with solid, meaningful lyrics, this is the album for you.
Now, there’s one particular track on the album, “Not Great Men,” which discusses the Great Man Theory — history is shaped by “great men.” Listening to this song made me think, are there any great men left? Are there even any good men left?
In nearly two years of writing for The Jambar, I’ve done my best to remain unbiased in my columns. Generally, I try to stick to writing about music and funny stuff that happened to me. But right now, there’s nothing funny going on in the world and I must talk about it.
America has taken a far-right shift. This isn’t some whiny preaching from a loudmouth radical leftist — this is just a simple fact. America, the country that no more than 80 years ago fought and defeated the fascists, has accepted the fascists as its own.
Since Jan. 20, a certain powerful politician has done nothing more than make the worst possible decisions imaginable. From executive orders that ban transgender individuals from serving in the military to his disastrous tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, he continues to make the worst decisions.
This politician’s association with a certain unqualified billionaire continues to jeopardize not only the job security of millions of federal employees but also the privacy of Americans no different than you or me. Would you want a billionaire to know all of your private information? Me neither.
Ohio, a red state through and through, also continues to introduce the worst possible laws. House Bill 8 is our very own “Don’t Say Gay” bill. This means that if a student feels comfortable enough to come out as LGBTQ+ to their teacher, the teacher must inform the child’s parents of this. Call me a hippie, but this is pure evil.
If a child feels comfortable enough to confide in someone that they are gay, telling the child’s parents might be the worst decision. It not only shatters the trust of the child, but it puts them in a potentially dangerous situation at home. To the representatives who wrote and promoted this bill, shame on you.
Shame on anyone who thinks someone should be treated less for who they choose to love, the color of their skin, the God they choose or the country they or their parents were born in. I’m a very tolerant person, though I will never tolerate intolerance.
Many of these Republicans are supporting executive orders and state bills that run on “American values” and “Christian values,” yet they choose to go directly against everything that Jesus Christ preached. In fact, if Christ were walking around today, he’d be plastered as a “whiny liberal” or some other tired, hateful trope.
There are no great men, at least not now. Certainly not politicians or businessmen, definitely not anyone who believes in the oppression of others. But there are clear skies on the horizon.
Somewhere out there is a great person — a man or woman who will stand up for the rights of everyone, no matter who they are. If one of those great men has to be me, Matt Sotlar, then so be it.
