I woke up this morning thinking about what a unique, challenging time this is in American history. With creative leadership able to lead a significant national will, amazing progress could be made on urgent issues, such as repairing infrastructure and preparing for climate disaster. America has done this before. In a war against superior forces in WWII, we created ship building and weapons communities. We created a scientific community to build an atomic bomb. During the depression, we created any number of communities to build and fix and even to put on plays and write state guides. In a crisis, we don't have to sit around with a thumb up our ass. We acted during times of crisis in the past.
We don't have the leadership to do this, of course, and I don't see any on the horizon. I see only more conflict, more violence and, finally, before our Moron In Chief leaves office, an over-reaction against dissent, including martial law. That's the future I see in the U.S.
But how different it could be! First, realize that immigrants are an asset, not a threat. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." True in the depression, true today. The Moron In Chief's greatest skill is creating fear to get his way. But communities of immigrants could earn citizenship with important work screaming to be done. This doesn't take away jobs, it creates new jobs. We can fix things, we can feed people, we can teach immigrants English, we can do all number of constructive things, like a WPA and Peace corps (and Diggers and Black Panthers!) rolled into one.
What a fantasy! The Great America that supporters of the Moron In Chief want to return to never existed, of course. But problems visible today were invisible in the past because the media didn't report them, we weren't bombarded with news, most of it bad. America's greatness was an ostrich. When a book about poverty in America was published in the 1950s, it shocked everyone! What? Poverty in America?
Man, I am so glad I am an old man. I should be dead before the worst of impending shit happens. I think the gods daily for my old age.
We don't have the leadership to do this, of course, and I don't see any on the horizon. I see only more conflict, more violence and, finally, before our Moron In Chief leaves office, an over-reaction against dissent, including martial law. That's the future I see in the U.S.
But how different it could be! First, realize that immigrants are an asset, not a threat. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." True in the depression, true today. The Moron In Chief's greatest skill is creating fear to get his way. But communities of immigrants could earn citizenship with important work screaming to be done. This doesn't take away jobs, it creates new jobs. We can fix things, we can feed people, we can teach immigrants English, we can do all number of constructive things, like a WPA and Peace corps (and Diggers and Black Panthers!) rolled into one.
What a fantasy! The Great America that supporters of the Moron In Chief want to return to never existed, of course. But problems visible today were invisible in the past because the media didn't report them, we weren't bombarded with news, most of it bad. America's greatness was an ostrich. When a book about poverty in America was published in the 1950s, it shocked everyone! What? Poverty in America?
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Michael Harrington |
Man, I am so glad I am an old man. I should be dead before the worst of impending shit happens. I think the gods daily for my old age.
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