Thank you Peter for your reasonable assessment of the American abyss. For those of us outside the fringes, attentive to current affairs and engaged as citizens the response to the country's instability by too many 'sane' Americans is either to be frozen in fear or to wear rose colored glasses. There has not been nearly enough democrati…
Thank you Peter for your reasonable assessment of the American abyss. For those of us outside the fringes, attentive to current affairs and engaged as citizens the response to the country's instability by too many 'sane' Americans is either to be frozen in fear or to wear rose colored glasses. There has not been nearly enough democratic socio-political organization, Black Lives Matter representing an important exception; a lack of substantial local, grassroots organization; effective local and state representation by the Democratic Party or lively and consequential journalism on a local level. Americans have been asleep or deeply angry for much of the last fifty years. The economic safety net created by The New Deal and 'The Great Society'; fairy tales like 'The American Dream'; the goals of civil rights movement and a 'square deal' have been whittled way. All of that and more have led us to this dark and terrible breach. The image of exhausted and at risk nurses, therapists, doctors and healthcare workers comes to mind and so do the deaths and sorrow as a result not only by Covid-19 but also by the lethal ex-president and his allies. The point now is not that it didn't have to be this way, but what are we going to do about the threats to democracy and a civilized society?
Thank you, Fern, I wish to goodness we didn't have to see these things and deal with them, but that's the hard reality. Meanwhile, let's never leave go of our lifeline to the light when night and fog seem to be closing in on us.
Thank you Peter for your reasonable assessment of the American abyss. For those of us outside the fringes, attentive to current affairs and engaged as citizens the response to the country's instability by too many 'sane' Americans is either to be frozen in fear or to wear rose colored glasses. There has not been nearly enough democratic socio-political organization, Black Lives Matter representing an important exception; a lack of substantial local, grassroots organization; effective local and state representation by the Democratic Party or lively and consequential journalism on a local level. Americans have been asleep or deeply angry for much of the last fifty years. The economic safety net created by The New Deal and 'The Great Society'; fairy tales like 'The American Dream'; the goals of civil rights movement and a 'square deal' have been whittled way. All of that and more have led us to this dark and terrible breach. The image of exhausted and at risk nurses, therapists, doctors and healthcare workers comes to mind and so do the deaths and sorrow as a result not only by Covid-19 but also by the lethal ex-president and his allies. The point now is not that it didn't have to be this way, but what are we going to do about the threats to democracy and a civilized society?
Thank you, Fern, I wish to goodness we didn't have to see these things and deal with them, but that's the hard reality. Meanwhile, let's never leave go of our lifeline to the light when night and fog seem to be closing in on us.