haven't been taking in the news as much because what i have found is just the same stuff over and over again. the unbelievable amount of corruption coming out of the right is staggering. judging from history though- it could just as easily have come from the left. politicians are politicians- the color of money is still green. so- that's where i am at.
i have been thinking about america quite a bit for the last 7 years or so- and i think i have run the gamut of what could be described as 'grief emotions.' i wasn't sure that's what it was but having thought about it- i have reached that conclusion. i thought that i grieved for my country but that really isn't so. i grieved and still grieve for the illusion of what america stood for. the reality has been very different than the image portrayed, but i grew up believing the illusion and did not know any better. well, now, i know. there are parts of me that cling to hope that we, the few, can change things- change the direction that we are headed.
the weekend 'blogswarm against theocracy' gave me hope. hundreds of folks taking the time to THINK about an issue- really think about it and not just spew rhetoric- and then taking the time to WRITE about it and share. my mom says that people turn to religion looking for hope. i don't have that luxury. once the scales fall off of your eyes- you can't put them back on again. i don't think you work at faith. it's like working in a relationship- if you have to work hard at it- it isn't the right one. you either have it or you don't. anyhoo- this isn't a post about religion.
this is my rambling thoughts about life in general. my thoughts right now are that the illusion that was america is over. if you look at the state of what matters- infrastructure, ie., roads, bridges, sewer lines, electric poles, housing stock, education system, medical care, parenting- all of that is old and outdated. i live in an area where most of the houses were built in this country's hey day- the period after world war 2 when jobs were plentiful and people started spending with wild abandon. we became one of the most educated nations on the planet and were on the cutting edge of technologies and exploration. we also left millions of our own citizens behind.
i was lucky. i grew up poor in an alcoholic family where i was encouraged to read and play and think. my mother worked herself into an early grave- her health is very poor and she isn't quite 65 years old yet- but i knew i was going to college. and i did. i grew up watching PBS and playing the clarinet and singing in choir- because i could. they weren't phased out due to budget cuts then. i don't know if people in general thought more or less than they do now- 20+ years later. i have a sneaking suspicion that it has been the same types of people who think and act and the same kind of folks who are sheeple since time immemorial. seems to be a human trait.
my point- ah yes- history. many folks today don't care about it. 'dry, dull, boring' are words i have heard before. never hear inaccurate- but that's another post. however, looking at history with a grain of salt- patterns emerge. patterns that can be looked at to prevent occurrences from happening again but often aren't. thinking back- i seem to remember the ancient empires rotting and decaying from the inside out. history will tell you that these empires were conquered by other folks looking for power and that would be partially correct. what you don't see is precisely what we only have to look at our own culture and other 'modern empires' such as the european empires and see- the fading and wasting away before the end.
folks aren't learning- and if they have learned- they have forgotten. i have seen many wonderful quotes this weekend- and this one was one of my favorites- please forgive me for not citing who posted it- i thought i had it bookmarked and i don't:
"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them."
mohandas gandhi
the end. well, not quite. america will go on but it will not be what it has been in the past. we are going bankrupt- financially and all of the rest of the 'allies'- there will be recession and food shortages, power outages and water shortages. war will eventually come here and we will not be prepared. that is my prediction and i hope that i am wrong. the only hope that i have is that there are enough of us to stem the tide. when you have a large chunk of the population of a country siding with a corrupt government- it isn't a good thing. that's where we are at. are there enough of us to at least keep the country afloat? are we up to the challenge of rebuilding this country from the ground up? that's what it's going to take. we have to start from scratch because there aren't any 'do overs.' do we have enough forward thinkers to lead us into a new era? do we have any thinkers left is probably a more relevant question? if this weekend's blogswarm was any indication- i say yes.
5 comments:
I know it is discouraging, but let's hope that through adversity, we will finally grow. Many of us grew up believing Norman Rockwell life and now we are having to learn to deal with reality. I think we can do better than ever before.
its really nice to came to back to your blog after a long time. i'm so happy to see thinking people in the world.
being from a third world country and india in particular, america is not my favoutite place nor are americans my favourite peoole in the world. nut i still have tremendous respect for you guys.
there are few countries that are lucky enough to have as socially conscious a people as america. your fight for civil and fundamental right as well as environmental rights is phenomenal. i'm not all that worried about you. there are millons around just like you.
I hope you are right, however, I don't have much faith in humanity because of the overwhelming raciscm and stupidity of the Reich Wing diehard 30%ers.
me- thanks for stopping by- i try to think. i hope to inspire others to think- perhaps not always agree- but to think. it is a fundamental american trait in certain circles to fight for rights. unfortunately, there is that segment who fights to take rights away. we are not getting along at the moment.
peacechick and liberal- i don't have much faith in humanity either- and i don't know that i am discouraged about it. i am working my way through realizing that my country isn't what i thought it was but wanting to make it better than it is. there have always been those of us in the minority who have wanted better things for america and our fellow man. we have not always been successful- but at least in this era- we are better connected and organized. my hope is to at least bring america through intact. we will not be the world's leader perhaps, but at least we will still be the 50 states. here's hoping.
Okay, here's my thinking. Never give up. Don't quit before the miracle. Never give up.
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