The recent ruling from the Supreme Court, coming on top of Biden’s weak performance at the
debate and the ensuing pearl-clutching amongst Dem politicos, not to mention
the growth of authoritarianism all over the world, and brutal wars in Ukraine,
Gaza, and Sudan, and, oh yes, the downward spiral of our planet’s environment
has left me . . . what?
I think I’m
by nature optimistic but at the same time, fairly cynical. A difficult
combination to be sure.
When faced
with an unpleasantness, my first thought is to ask what, if anything, I can do
about it. If it’s dog poop on the rug, I can deal with it. If it’s the existential breakdown of life as we know it, my options are more limited.
At my age
and with my limited mobility, marching and protesting is right out. No one
wants to be the elderly woman overcome by heat in the crowd. And in the
seriously MAGA rural environment in which I live, going door to door in an
attempt to change minds seems like an exercise in futility which would only
endanger the live-and-let-live policy we’ve adopted with our neighbors for the
past fifty years.
I can write
letters or make calls to my congress persons, send some small amounts of money
to progressive political organizations. (The cynical part of me doubts any of
this does any good.) Of course, I can and will vote at every chance (no matter
what the cynical one whispers.)
So, what
does one do in these perilous times, when our country seems to be lurching into
a quasi-dictatorship, when money buys SCOTUS justices, when the Republican
candidate promises tax breaks and deregulation in exchange for dollars, when
the whole of the Republican party seems eager to embrace a man I wouldn’t have
in my house?
At 81, I
suspect I won’t live to see the worst of these trends mature. But I worry about
those who will. Though I’d be okay with catastrophic flooding in Mar-a-Lago. Oh, wait, DeSantis is taking care of that by keeping climate change
out of the textbooks.
As for our 81 year old president—he has accomplished more and still makes more sense than the red-hatted loon, raving about sharks and batteries and exploding trees. And should Biden prove incapable, Kamala Harris is an excellent backup. Query: Has the GOP forgotten that as Reagan sank into Altheimer's, Nancy Reagan's astrologer may have been running things?
As a matter
of fact, the Democrats could nominate the proverbial yellow dog, or a wad of
belly button lint and I’d vote for it rather than the anointed one of Project
2025.
So I retreat into the precept of an unknown Zen master:
Brew the tea correctly. See that the house is warm in winter and cool in summer.
Breathe. . .
8 comments:
Bellybutton lint: very good, m'dear. I won't go on, but I understand your frustration, for I think all sane people feel it.
At this point, as I look into my crystal ball, there's a great fog on the horizon...and it swirls and has bits of sparkles, but no clarity! Nope, don't even own one, crystal ball, that is. Zen is a good way to live.
I despair for our country, but I will do all I can: vote Democratic and donate to campaigns.
Another sad day today with the judge in FL throwing out the indictment on the classified documents case against tRump.
All I can do is vote!
Thnaks! I feel much the same. I'm 86, have hoped that this country might become more progressive for most of my life. My husband is able to be less worried. I asked him to "tell me about the rabbits." Before we were married, when I was wishing, that is what he would say. It's from Of Mice and Men.
I feel the same and I'm not even in your country! But who takes power will affect the whole world. At least here we seem to have moved into a hopefully more sympathetic and more thoughtful phase but I have no real belief that it will last. All politicians are both hampered by reality and prone to losing touch with it. Sadly the attempted assassination will, I think, only strengthen its intended victim's cause. (I'm sure I'm not the only one who wishes deep in my heart that the perpetrator had been a better shot! Sorry, I will confess my sinful thoughts.)
I hear you and feel the same. For a while I was very afraid that France would also turn to the extreme right, but we have averted this, somehow. I think there are trends in civilizations and now the trend is going to the right. I also think that it will turn again the other way, back to a more normal state of affairs, but it may take 10 years or so.
I just don’t believe all the American people are so obtuse as to elect someone like the orange koolaid. Biden will be elected and there will be fights from the MAGAs, for sure. J. D. Vance is a disaster for women. I hope they will understand that with 45 and him, we’ll go back 100 years, and come and vote in mass against them.
I also believe in justice, somehow, and think that 45 will finally be arrested for good. Justice might be delayed, but it will come. Do not despair. When I feel kind of hopeless I think about being a homeless widowed mother in Gaza, with what futur? That is a terrible fate.
Life could be worse, Vicki.
Wise words, all of you.
I absolve you, Jennyfreckles. And the UK's new government gives me hope
As does France's rejection of the hard right, Vagabonde
Jean, I'm sorry to hear about the return of the cancer. May its removal be swift and sure and complete. I love the things you are doing.
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