Every Christmas movie worth its salt has a single underlying message: The only important thing in life is the way we treat each other. It has Biblical references in the golden rule, and it’s the core concept of anti-bullying campaigns. It’s also the underpinning of any solid society because a how-we-treat-each-other philosophy is the glue that holds us together.

Liberals and many conservatives believe, falsely, that good always wins; that deep down every human being loves his fellow man; that the world, while imperfect, continues to move toward harmony, albeit at a glacially slow pace. To misquote Anne Frank, we believe with all our hearts that people are basically good.

We were wrong. We see that now. And while that insight hurts and we must go through the stages of grief, that knowledge is also power.

Well, perhaps we were half wrong. Humans, deep down, may be basically good. But for so many people, unfair childhoods, a drive to succeed, an I.Q. that makes them feel inadequate, or an addiction to drugs or sex or power steers them down the wrong path. Still, recent events have allowed hidden unfair behaviors to bubble to the surface.

For liberals, the past 20 years have been a holiday party where all the relatives agreed not to talk politics. Everyone knew Uncle Ernie drank too much; Aunt Eloise had two affairs; Cousin Jack goes on racist benders after two drinks; and little Ernie Jr. is a positive terror to his younger cousins. But we pretended none of that was true, an easy lie we told ourselves because the Ernies, Eloises and Jacks kept quiet. It was fake, but we didn’t care.

The party and the world seemed like a Christmas movie with peace on earth and good will toward men. Discrimination was politically incorrect, gays gained the right to marry, and the less-nice among us had to pretend they were good people in public.

So now we know. We’re aghast when Cousin Jack suddenly spouts racist rhetoric after only one drink surrounded by a crowd of people that he knows disagrees.

But should we be?

There’s cold comfort in knowing the truth: The world is not only darker than we want to believe, but we must also accept some blame for ignoring that fact. Liberals shocked by old friends’ attitudes must first admit to themselves that they shouldn’t be shocked. Deep down we knew the truth all along, but we created a nice, comfy bubble of ignorance for all the right reasons.

Lesson learned. We may never lose our newly found gnawing fear that life will never be perfect, that people will never be perfect. But the world can be better. We can make it better.

We can wallow in a vacuum of despair or roll up our sleeves, but the former is surrender and the latter is hope.

Choose hope.

© 2016 SmithTakes.com