Tag: Politics

Thoughts Before the Big Blow

Politics, weather, pandemic.  I think it is all making me even crazier than before.  We can expect 40 mph winds on Tuesday.  The temperature will be cooler than the 90F of yesterday, so hopefully less chance of fires.  It’s like the end times so many look forward to, but not me – I like my life!  Still, there is an interesting bit of stress going on that I can only equate to living in a war zone of some sort.  We just don’t know what is going to happen.  I wonder if what I am feeling can be equated to what people and families went through when WW2 was beginning – a sense of unease and that the fabric of life is not what you think it is supposed to be.  It’s a very strange feeling.

So, the Big Blow.  Some areas are going to get 80 mph winds – not quite hurricane strength, but certainly strong.  People in the midwest have gotten those just recently along with a lot of snow.  That doesn’t sound pleasant at all.  Can you imagine your roof flying off?  I know that several years ago parts of Great Britain got them and villages were cut off and food supplies and other stuff needed coptering in.  At least here we have a lot of things, and the stores are open.  And no snow.  Even further back, upstate New York had horrific blizzards, and livelihoods were lost amongst the farmers, especially dairies.  Cows died because they couldn’t be milked without electricity.

I’m just blithering around thinking about things.  Nothing profound, but I have finally had a few minutes to sit down to reflect as I have been really busy today.  We had to get some tools for Josh’s car project, so we looked at plants and bulbs and seeds.  Then I talked with Am, our aunt who has been working hard in the hospital caring for Covid patients.  She is doing really well despite it all, and it was good to have a chance to hear how things are.  Then, off to buy some computer stuff – our keyboards are worn out, and as I had to replace my old computer last week, I am still catching up with it, installing software on it, coordinating printers and scanners.  It is a pain but now that things are sorted, this is my first post using the new computer, keyboard, mouse, etc.  No new monitors as I got those awhile back for my birthday.  Luckily, I know a fair amount about computers so it is not challenging, just time consuming.

The studio, though, has been the scene of upheaval.  Computers need cords and such, and while you are down there sorting things out, you better get into the dust and debris that lurks under the desk.  I did, and while it wasn’t awful, it was good to sort stuff out by vacuuming and untangling cables.  Now I need to place things back where they belong so I can find a paint brush or a camera.  Finally, sewing – the new space is working out well.  I’ve made an apron and two pairs of jammy pants for Josh; time for me to get something!

Despite all the external upheaval, things are pleasant around here.  We are fortunate to have good family and friends and good health.  Not much to gripe about at all.

Time to get out on the bike for the next adventure!

“But What if We Didn’t?” – Why Enmity and Outrage is the New Normal

I came across this posting via Jim Grey’s Recommended Reading column for today.   He linked to John Scalzi’s post entitled “But What if We Didn’t?” – and that has cleared the confusion as to why the American Congress has gone from attempting to work together to tearing each other apart.

When Ronald Reagan was President, he and Tip O’Neillc ould get along.

Now?

I will leave you to ponder what Scalzi writes – and strongly suggest you Scalzi’s post in its entirety by clicking on the link above or anywhere on the quotation below:

I have a theory about the Republican Party, and it is that around the time Newt Gingrich became the head of its brain trust, the GOP added a fourth functioning principle to its previous tripod of “Southern Strategy to corner the racist vote,” “Abortion to corner the Evangelical vote” and “Tax cuts to corner the capitalist vote (and money).” The fourth principle was not about kettling and controlling a voting bloc, but rather a principle to maximize its power and to motivate the voting blocs beyond whatever the GOP could offer them politically.

That fourth principle, to put it in its shortest and bluntest form, is:

“But what if we… didn’t?”

Somewhat more broadly, the Republicans recognized there was a suite of political conventions and traditions that were designed to make it easier for things to get done, and that this suite of conventions and traditions were exploitable by denial. While people in both parties (and the parties themselves) would occasionally use this exploit, it was not done systematically.

 

July 4th

Getting older, one can become more cynical, more realistic, more idealistic, more involved, more aloof.  Time is ticking away.  At the same time, one gets a better sense of perspective and history because there is a definite pattern of repetition in life.  Personal history is one long narrative.  Family history blends in with local and national history, which in turn leads to world history.  Someday we may have a sense of a history across the cosmos, as in, hey, my parents colonized Mars in 2892!

I am not too happy with the increasing political polarization in today’s politics, nor the corruption, nor the increasing gap between the haves and have-nots.  I dislike the wars we are fighting.  I dislike the search for a scapegoat, namely the illegal immigrant, and laws being drafted making it okay to target certain populations.  On the other hand, I can say what I think, live in a country which is peaceable in many ways and is politically stable, and am not forced to conform to a state idea of what is acceptable religion and what is not.

Days which celebrate a country’s history need to be days of reflection of its people – for the country’s ideals and visions, as well as a concern for what is best for all in the country, not just a few.  Internationally, we try to make things work, just as we do on a local level, or within our families.

Is the U.S.A. perfect?  Hardly.  Neither is the rest of the world.  Countries around the world are filled with humans who have history, loyalty, aesthetics, political ideas, conflict, needs, morals, religion.  National holidays, such as July 4th, celebrate our own uniqueness, but need to also be filled with an appreciation for the rest of the world, and our part and place in it.  We are not the only ones on the planet.  We need to share, and do it responsibly.

Yes, this is rather giddy-eyed idealism, but I prefer to look at life this way.  Granted, I am not starving, I am not unemployed, nor am I living in a country which is in the throes of revolution or isolated and surrounded by enemies.  I have the luxury of such thoughts and such hopes because I am not concerned about my next meal or if I will be attacked on the way to the well.  I am fortunate, more so than many in my own country or elsewhere in the world.

What, then, is my responsibility as a citizen, as a human, as a member of the planet?