We are not, thank the Almighty, engaged in a civil war. But it does seem that we are waging a war on civility. Rage, anger, violence, division, hate and fear have crept into every corner. Politics is increasingly regarded as a zero sum game. Compromise and accommodation are considered by many to be signs of weakness. If I can't get everything I want, then you will get nothing. Should this be our modus operandi?
And the country is in pain. We are still suffering from the aftershocks of a horrendous pandemic. Our kids lost a year of education. Inflation is roaring ahead with no clear end in sight. A recession with rising unemployment may be just around the corner. Folks are scared. A war in Europe reminds us that democracy is at risk. Political campaigns have taken on a coarse vulgarity that mirrors the erosion of etiquette and decorum at large. The January 6th hearings, while necessary, are only further dividing a fractured nation. And as all of this was boiling over, the Roe decision was handed down by the Supreme Court.
Tomorrow is Independence Day. Can we pause for a few hours and collectively reflect on the birth of this nation and what it has meant to us and the world? There were spirited disagreements among the colonies who had competing priorities and interests. They knew that the greater good was worth the compromises that would be necessary to achieve it. How would we fare if we faced such a challenge today?
I find myself reflecting more and more that there's not much to be celebrated given that our nation was formed on a foundation of oppression and continues to sustain itself with it. I read about the GOP traveling to Hungary to learn how Orban manages his autocracy directly from the horse's mouth. And how Orban then sends emissaries to present at CPAC to make sure the GOP knows how to oligarch effectively. We're about to have a lived reality that's a mix of 1984 and The Minority Report. Strange, dangerous times and it seems freedom was nothing more than a dream this whole time.
ReplyDelete@P of P, appreciate your input and I certainly share your concern about what seems to be a diffuse 'Lord of the Flies' culture. But I believe (and have to believe) that there are and will be enough forces of good to right the ship. We have to hope that his will be the case. We will have a better sense of this, I think, after the elections of 2024.
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