We Have Outgrown Patriarchy
We have now lived through eleven months of threats to our democracy, especially to those who are of lower income and to those who are immigrants and threatened to be thrown out of the U.S., even though they have contributed mightily to our economy. I think more and more these days that white men through this presidency are trying to reclaim our nation so that patriarchy, exclusively white patriarchy, once again rules and laws that serve men most will be leading our nation once again. For patriarchy rewards men, especially the rich ones, even as it demeans women and children, anyone with mental illness, and any other races than white, in favor of filling the needs of white men primarily. Keep in mind as you read this blog post that we are called by Jesus “to love our neighbors as ourselves [all of them]” (Matthew 22:36-40).
It’s easy to see the underlying rational for putting down the needs of immigrants, women, gay and lesbians and trans people, and the poorer people in this country because they require more from our economy and our acceptance than these men want to give. In this country, men have lived with partial caring for others, but they are not willing to really live from the heart and support others because they judge the people in need as not doing the best they can to meet their own needs.
Just for example, look at our country’s attitudes towards “socialist” countries in Europe which provide through their laws a sustainable standard of living for all citizens in terms of medical care, the requirements for vacations and time off, a salary bottom line, so that all citizens at least have a decent standard of living. Then the people who have or earn more money can live as they wish commanding more in salaries, time-off from work and medical care. It turns out that the United States ranks low on the list of industrial nations in terms of health care outcomes. But we would never want to be a “socialist” nation! Given our capitalist economy, we spend more on healthcare per person than other wealthy countries.[1] That is double the average of other wealthy countries: $12,742 for the U.S. versus $6,850 for the average wealthy countries. We, however, are 13th in life expectancy, the 13th in infant mortality, 9th on the list of unmanaged asthma, 13th in unmanaged diabetes, 13th in safety during childbirth, and 11th in heart attack mortality.[2] These statistics are from the 2024 report of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development on health statistics.[3]
As the richest nation in the world, we certainly don’t have the best healthcare system for our citizens. Of course, we do have the most expensive one! Nor do we provide a decent standard of living for the workers on the lower end of the totem pole. For example, here is what McDonalds pays its American workers versus what McDonalds has to pay its workers in Denmark. Here in the U.S., as of June, 2025, the average hourly wage for employees at McDonald’s restaurants is approximately $13.27. After three years they are entitled to 15 days of unpaid vacation. After ten years they get 25 days of unpaid vacation.[4] In Denmark , McDonald’s employees earn approximately $22 per hour, are entitled to 6 weeks of paid vacation every year, good health care, as well as paid maternity and paternity leave.[5]
The second Trump administration is determined to reduce taxes for the rich and to reduce, if not eliminate, any welfare for the general population. There is no caring for people on the margins, but there is pure denial of the rights of any immigrants, including the children who were born here which should make them citizens of our country. And there is complete denial of the need to fight Global Warming, as if the sciences know nothing. They’re also denying science in medicines and in every other area. And they tend to denigrate the needs of women and minorities. So, the new Covid vaccine is not readily available. Other vaccines won’t have the scientists in the universities or in the government agencies working on them. And I question whether this government would purchase vaccines from other countries for future outbreaks.
We all need to learn how to work together to take care of our whole population. We can no longer blame the poor for their poverty or the mentally ill for their illnesses. We have to see every person as God sees them—with love and interest in who they are and what it is that they most need and desire in this life. What are we missing in our judgment of them from afar is the truth about their lives. We need to get up close and personal and show genuine interest in how we can help them and no longer deride them. Then we can all work together for solutions that are fair and loving to all. This is especially true of the different races—how we have treated them in the past and how we have used their free slave labor and their cheap immigrant labor to our advantage, leaving little to them in the past and now.
Patriarchy has been our bedrock belief system; ours was born in the Enlightenment Era when white peoples and the intellect were celebrated over all other populations and human abilities. It no longer works in this world where, across this country and the world, we all face the same problems of global warming and diseases that terrify. We need to work together with everyone in our country and in our world to face the problems that threaten us all. We need to work as a community ready to undo the global warming effects now or it is just going to be impossible to live in so many parts of the world in the very near future.
NOTE: I think the hardest task that Jesus told us to do is to love others as we love ourselves. How can we even love ourselves if we can’t live the life that the Trinity of God offers us all along the way? We would have to give up all that we were taught in this culture about who we should be, as well as our own expectations of ourselves, so often unmet. We have to be willing to accept that we are not created to be perfect people and that we will never be as long as we live in these human bodies. If we are willing to follow God where He would take us and let go of all that is sinful or unhelpful to ourselves and others, if we would let God heal us of all that is off in us, then we would be able to live more and more life of the life He gives us to live. We are called to follow His wishes for us and let go of the desires of our egos, so that, as we follow Jesus over time, we will find that the Fruit of the Spirit(Galatians 5:22-23)—love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control or humility—are arising within us. From then on, we will continue to grow into our true selves, but total perfection will not be ours until we join the Lord after we die. So, we will have to love ourselves given our imperfections. If we can truly love ourselves, we can love all other human beings.
[1] https://www.pgpf.org/article/how-does-the-us-healthcare-system-compare-to-other-countries/
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid