Pat Taub
GUEST POST by TOM SANTULLI
Lord of the Flies, William Golding’s 1954 novel, was required reading for many of us growing into adolescence. It’s the story of a group of young boys, educated and known to one another, on a plane that crashes, landing them stranded on a desert island. They make desperate attempts to maintain civilization and not give in to their primitive instincts of savagery and barbarism.
Like a character in Lord of the Flies, I ponder, how would I respond in the face of a charismatic, shouting leader – ostensibly ‘one of us’? Taking another page from the book, “How many of us will unintentionally, unexpectedly, descend into savagery?”
The challenges facing the characters in Golden’s novel are applicable in 2026. At home and abroad we’re experiencing a growing and unpredictable tsunami – ‘might makes right,’ vendettas, personal arrogance, and violence – economic, political, military.
This is our new world order.
At home:
Terrify the people: “go ahead, take that video, you’re in the domestic terrorist database now.” “Raise your voice, I’ll erase your voice.”
Minneapolis protestor sprayed with an unknown substance by an ICE officer
Human life, citizen or immigrant, is easily demeaned; fractures set neighbor against neighbor; co-equal branches of government are silent; but the final resting point is never well-defined.
The story is managed by lies – ‘truth is what I say it is’. The Constitution is threatened.
Greed, created fear, twisted geopolitical arguments, and political and personal gain justify these extreme behaviors abroad and at home.
More questions I ask myself:
What forces are at work within a person who seemingly romps in the ashes of what’s being destroying?
Is more at work than just insulting those who challenge, more than just “bullying?”
Whether out of fear or the delusion of omnipotence, the president refuses to honor any reality other than his own. He seems proud of venality, florid corruption, illegal behavior.
He threatens, penalizes; then changes his mind. He seems to revel in the economic and political changes he forces upon Europe, Cuba, Iran… the US. He’s admired by many for this, for his naked ruthlessness. And feared.
What does such brutality and aggression actually say about the brute?
Is the perverse dynamic at work in Washington these days understandable? Can understanding help to shape our focus in the coming days? The descent of the children in The Lord of the Flies is a cautionary signpost for today. Those upheavals needn’t repeat.
Children in Lord of the Flies descending into barbarism (BBC series, February 2026)
What is emerging in parallel, as the challenges of Washington’s unpredictable behavior grow, is the evolution of community – Minneapolis and beyond – to answer threats and irrationality. Guideposts and templates for appropriate actions are taking shape.
Minneapolis neighbors in a peaceful ritual honoring Alex Preti
To the midterms, then: we know that fairness is under siege; moves are afoot to challenge legitimate voting rights. Assuming no further escalation of violence at home, and no self-inflicted international catastrophe to ‘rally the citizenry,’ the upcoming elections are the next test. They’re an opportunity to peacefully advance the course correction we need.
Every voter, no matter the stripe, must be assured their vote counts.
Unlike presidential elections, popular vote this Fall and its magnitude matter.
There are no ‘swing states’, and the two major political parties, fossilized by inertia and self-interest, are unlikely to change on their own. They must be moved to action by the public they serve.
Minneapolis has shown that communities can be prepared and are able to react quickly.
Even before Election Day, voter registration can be encouraged and supported – legally. Intimidation can be identified, called out, across the country. Voters standing in lines, lawfully and peacefully, to state their preference, must not feel bullied, harassed, isolated. Organized communities can support and protect threatened voters, precinct by precinct.
The challenges ahead are numerous, diverse, and in many cases contentious – folks will certainly disagree on specific tactics and goals.
I suspect the civil rights workers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on that March morning may not have fully agreed with one and other, yet they were determined to get across the bridge together.
That must be the focus in the days ahead.
Civil rights workers lined up to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 7, 1965–police brutally intervened, making it known as “Bloody Sunday.”
