America, Set Your Clocks Back
I’d say it’s more like 60 years. It’s a regression to the purely patriarchal society we had before the rights of women, LBGTQs, and people of color began to emerge. It’s what those on the radical right mean when they call themselves “conservatives”; they are desperate to conserve that period in which our country was defined by gross levels of injustice for everyone except white Christian males.
Making matters far worse is the fact that pulling the United States back to the year 1960 is a great deal more complicated than it may initially sound, even if we were sufficiently hateful and ignorant to think it’s a good idea. That’s because the world is not remotely in the same place as it was then. The planet’s population at that point was about one-third what it is now, and it did not feature many of the problems whose solutions need to be implemented, at least in part, by government.
Consider the following, and how lame our society would be in the the absence of intervention from the public sector to deal with each of them. Think about climate change, ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, lung disease associated with fossil fuel consumption, water and air pollution, viral and bacterial pandemics, nuclear proliferation into rogue nations, a recurrence of the Nazis and the growth of the KKK and other white supremacist groups, large-scale denial of science, the dumping of toxic chemicals, the erosion of rule of law, right-wing populism, failed states, social media on which enormous disinformation campaigns can be waged, a cable news network channel that serves up extremist right-wing propaganda to 5+ million viewers nightly, a U.S. congress that is largely owned by corporate interests, and an education system that is sinking to new lows with each passing year.
The next few months will prove pivotal in U.S. history, and, to a lesser degree, world history as a whole. Humankind’s greatest and longest-running experiment with self-governance will either survive, or it won’t.
A bit hyperbolic maybe?
If we deny science, or feign ignorance, we can avoid facing questions such as whether people make choices as to their sexuality or these matters are “hardwired” into our brains. We can avoid taking responsibility for the increasingly warm world we inhabit. We can cling to old leader’s tales about the origins of diseases and the manner in which we can conquer them. I’m an old, fat, bald straight guy who attends a church with many gay and trans members, and have found this to be liberating and enlightening.
We need science, common sense, and love toward all others – even the unlovable. WE have just put a letter of the law justice in the Supreme Court. Sorry to get preachy here, but an even more Supreme being said that the letter of the law kills and the spirit of the law gives life.
The Puritans were able to pronounce their own daughters witches and hang them based on their superstitious reading of the Old and New Testaments. I’m afraid the rejection of science, reason and compassion will have untoward effects on our environment and our society.
Yea Craig, try forcing the genie back in the bottle.
Folks, we haven’t come to the edge yet. The guys so desperately trying to experiment with illogic really have to seek the shaman’s sacred grooves the next time they or their loved ones are sick with something truly terrible. To understand them, just try picking the psyche of the followers of Pastor James Jones at the good Jones Town in the late 70s. Anyone recalls?
Now, by clamoring for war of whatever kind, they forget one simple fact of village civilization: They that are first to set fire to the thatch roofs are the most burned and scarred when the dust and ashes finally settle. It’s been like this throughout human history.
If the views from the “other side” are unremittingly cast aside because “our side” is self-clothed with righteousness—I wager this is wrong. Let’s check between the lines, for it’s not about accommodation and tolerance, but rather setting fires to the roof when we’re all trapped between the four walls. Here, instead of preaching some more hollowed ideals, humanity’s preservation dictates that all brave and good hearts stand and prevent the start of the conflagration!
And pray, good fellows, let all remain true to the dynamics of rationality and compassion.
An excellent article. Yes 60 years does seem about right, however I suspect that those who have been taking action after long planning perhaps are a lot more sinister and dangerous than many may realise: https://metrotonemedia.com/2020/06/05/people-you-may-know-2/
The British-made 92-minute film follows Charles Kriel, advisor to a UK Parliament disinformation committee, who discovers Cambridge Analytica is collaborating with a software company on a microtargeting platform for US churches.
In my long familiarity with your work, I think this is one of the best pieces you’ve ever written, Craig… Timely, simple, direct, and utterly reality-based.
I salute your enduring courage, holistic ethics, and formidable intellect, and I continue to welcome your informed observations and conclusions.
I will always love this country, and the great potential it has offered for the human spirit, worldwide, in it’s overthrow of the tyranny of monarchy. I continue to fear more and more for the fate of this our great experiment in practical justice and human evolution.
I have been grieving for the damage already done, and I coldly apprehend the abyss folks are now flirting with in their arrogant ignorance.
I see elite interests, foreign and domestic, wedging further the jagged and yawning rift now deeply and meticulously worked between segments of our population, in an effort to drag an evolving civilization back into despotic barbarism.
As I write this, nestled within a quiet, affluent suburban community, the clear morning air around me is crudely polluted by the the unending din of a fossil fuel powered fascist rally, parading in big trucks and cars in a loop through the neighborhood – and featuring the unmistakable and unlawful political use of public address systems by peace officers in official vehicles – in brazenly strident support of the concretely demonstrated racist, sexist, lying fascist living in our White House.
I can hear all of this plainly on the other side of the highway from my home, with an accompanying cacophony of incessant horn honking and shouted slogans. Cognitive dissonance on parade, flying Trump flags in superior positions to the United States flag.
I have complete respect for freedom of speech and assembly, but I’m at a loss as to their expectations of changing anyone’s mind at this point, except negativity by the potent force of their shrill, intrusive, and strident irritation.
I wonder if these folks will have the patience to wait for the count to finish. We shall see.
I can only hope the people of this country have quitly mobilized to act on good data with compassionate reason, so that the opposition will enjoy a victory of landslide proportions that will preclude any objection to the peaceful and orderly transfer of power.
Likewise, I hope that the opposition, upon having succeeded, will then probe brave enough to deal honestly with the management of this nation in a science-based, sustainable, civilized, and socially responsible manner.
There is an article currently in The Atlantic by Mike Giglio about a growing militia, supportive of the current administration, which has recruited thousands of police and military personnel.
The playbook is all too familiar. The path is wrenchingly predictable. The choice is simple. Stand up, or bend over.
May God help the United States of America.
I so appreciate the kinds words.