I do know there are people more knowledgeable than I to judge the difference and delta betwixt the years....I was not here for 9 months of that year, and only aware for 2 months. I was in Vietnam most of that time, and in Bethesda Medical Center the rest.
I do wonder at the similarities I see in photographs, I read in the papers (I guess media we should say now), the fact the same issues are being discussed/argued/and vilified now, 50 years later. 50 years. 50 fucking years. Jesus fucking judas priest, can't believe it. Just over a year from that date, 51 years ago, I was in a motel room in Portland for a conference watching the moon landing.
All this other shit was out there, the race issues, the war, but here.....we were landing on the fucking moon!!! Obviously we can't keep this other shit up when we're going out to space, humanity heading to the unknown?!!! Right??
Turns out not, we as a group are far more trivial, tribal, whatever than that. We can build the technology to go perhaps to other planets and maybe eventually to other solar systems, but we cannot overcome the prejudice to keep us from our own characteristics.....that of sexuality, gender, and other. We limit ourselves, willing and with the giving up of our soul.
Some pictures of then and now:
Anything look familiar so far?
"Enough is enough, you ignorant men...." Geez, that sound familiar?? I was only 50 years ago this sign was hand printed.
Oh yeah, trump always insisted his inauguration group was 'the largest in history'.....well, this one exceeded it by a half million, and it was in protest of him.
Currently -12, might hit 30 below tonight. Apparently the the uppermidwest this is disaster, catastrophe, etc. Here, it's another night in early January.
Cheers to all, oh! And Happy New Year.
Very discouraging to say the least for so many reasons past and present and yet... in my new role as caretaker for my spouse, I and she remain surrounded by many guardian angels. Former students, friends and neighbors nearby and far away. In these hard times I remain certain of the resiliency of our country and the good will of those generations that succeeded us. Happy New Year, Mike
ReplyDeleteRay and Barb (the Troutbirders)
Mike I fear that our idealism, while propelling us to causes of justice, betrayed us, not because it was wrong, but because we were young, not seasoned by the hard slog of life. Now that we've extended our exposure to gravity, we more clearly understand intransigence and our idealism, now aged, leads us not so much to hope as to disappointment at the apparently unavoidable nature of imperfect and perhaps even fallen human bipeds. We lament, oh what could be....
ReplyDeleteIt can be glum, but things are slowly getting better or so some say.
ReplyDeletehttps://stevenpinker.com/publications/better-angels-our-nature
https://michaelshermer.com/the-moral-arc/
Disclaimer: I have heard of the one and only read half of the other as I only catch up a bit at the cottage. It's my brother-in-law's book.
Mike, none of us will live to see the result of this fight for right. It is not our privilege to quit. We are raising children who know how to carry on; it's our job to carry on to the end. Until last January I wouldn't have given you even odds. Now I will.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite modern American philosopher was Joe Bageant who died too soon in 2011. Of course, he was already very angry by then so I'm hoping he's having a beer someplace better right now and enjoying the ridiculous show.
ReplyDeleteHere's just one quote:
“If middle-class Americans do not feel threatened by the slow encroachment of the police state or the Patriot Act, it is because they live comfortably enough and exercise their liberties very lightly, never testing the boundaries. You never know you are in a prison unless you try the door.”
― Joe Bageant, Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War
If you're interested at all here's an in-depth article about him on The Baffler called 'Toxically Pure'.
I'm glad you're still here, Mike. Happy New Year to you and many more to come. Remember: This too shall pass.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
ReplyDelete- George Santayana
Looks like we have chosen condemned. We've obviously learned nothing from history.
Bill said it for me
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year let's hope it's a good one dear friend
Plus ça change...
ReplyDeletePeace to you in the New Year.
Happy New Year, Mike. People are weird.
ReplyDeleteThe faster we go, the behinder we get...
ReplyDeleteHope you holidays were great ones!