Yes. So sad. Bill Clinton said recently he thought we’d get back but it probably would take a decade. I don’t have that many decades left & it’s going to be a tough haul.
During college, some friends gave me a ride home for Thanksgiving. We’d all spent the semester protesting the Vietnam war. We turned the corner & gasped. My American Legion father had installed a full sized flagpole on our front lawn. It was a message to me. My friends dropped me on the corner.
The house I walked into then didn’t feel like home. The country didn’t feel like mine. Sigh.
Rita, imho, when we pay more honor to a flag than the people it represents, we're in trouble. Thanks for sharing. I was too young to protest, but have bern wondering lately if previous generations felt that things were *this* precarious. Wishing you peace. ✌️
I get you 100%. Something about the total alignment of your thoughts with mine makes me feel better. If we feel this way, loads of other people must too, right? I read this morning in one of my writing prompts something along the lines of, "Hope is usually unrealistic but our only proven strategy." I liked that. Also, I have been thinking a lot about an article by Gerard Baker, a columnist for the WSJ, in which he talked about the UK being just as divided as us, but in the Queen's recent 70th anniversary celebrations showed they are still one nation. He said that we Americans do not have this. We used to have the flag but that has been hijacked by the right. That really pisses me off, BTW. Anyway, I keep asking people what symbol could unite us as a nation again? My husband said the Statue of Liberty. My friend Deb said the natural beauty, "Sea to shining sea" of our geography. I'm still wondering. Gerard Baker suggested Dolly Parton. That IS probably the one person most of us could agree on. What do you think?
The other thing I reflect on is that there have to be loads of smart people working all of our terrible problems. I still believe there are more good people than bad. This must be true. I don't know. I hope so! Thanks for writing! Peace.
I do believe there are more good than bad people in the world. But does it not seem that the bad are running the show? I love this country. But it's becoming like the marriage where you just can't live together anymore. Scary.
As far as a symbol -- well, I wonder if that isn't part of the problem. That we rely on symbols and not enough reality to our American psyche. I hear this phrase a good deal when people talk after some tragic or horrible happening, "That's not who we are" -- as in "that is just not America." Sadly, that is EXACTLY who we are. I think we have to recognize that first.
Your thoughts are so poignant and I'm grateful for them.
You've captured how I feel. Hopeless and feeling this is NOT the country I grew up in, or thought it was. And that the Gop has lost their direction...scruples. SCOTUS's dismantling of settled law is unsettling. They voted along party lines! McConnell did a great disservice by not allowing Obama to name a judge. RBG did us no favors by clinging too long . Husband and I have also checked into moving out of country. What makes that option palatable is that I've already lost certain family members to the Trump cult.
Yes. So sad. Bill Clinton said recently he thought we’d get back but it probably would take a decade. I don’t have that many decades left & it’s going to be a tough haul.
During college, some friends gave me a ride home for Thanksgiving. We’d all spent the semester protesting the Vietnam war. We turned the corner & gasped. My American Legion father had installed a full sized flagpole on our front lawn. It was a message to me. My friends dropped me on the corner.
The house I walked into then didn’t feel like home. The country didn’t feel like mine. Sigh.
Such a poignant moment.
Rita, imho, when we pay more honor to a flag than the people it represents, we're in trouble. Thanks for sharing. I was too young to protest, but have bern wondering lately if previous generations felt that things were *this* precarious. Wishing you peace. ✌️
This seems worse. And it’s so depressing to see how quickly 59 years of progress can be overturned. ✌️Back at ya.
I get you 100%. Something about the total alignment of your thoughts with mine makes me feel better. If we feel this way, loads of other people must too, right? I read this morning in one of my writing prompts something along the lines of, "Hope is usually unrealistic but our only proven strategy." I liked that. Also, I have been thinking a lot about an article by Gerard Baker, a columnist for the WSJ, in which he talked about the UK being just as divided as us, but in the Queen's recent 70th anniversary celebrations showed they are still one nation. He said that we Americans do not have this. We used to have the flag but that has been hijacked by the right. That really pisses me off, BTW. Anyway, I keep asking people what symbol could unite us as a nation again? My husband said the Statue of Liberty. My friend Deb said the natural beauty, "Sea to shining sea" of our geography. I'm still wondering. Gerard Baker suggested Dolly Parton. That IS probably the one person most of us could agree on. What do you think?
The other thing I reflect on is that there have to be loads of smart people working all of our terrible problems. I still believe there are more good people than bad. This must be true. I don't know. I hope so! Thanks for writing! Peace.
Maggie Nerz Iribarne, Syracuse, NY
I do believe there are more good than bad people in the world. But does it not seem that the bad are running the show? I love this country. But it's becoming like the marriage where you just can't live together anymore. Scary.
As far as a symbol -- well, I wonder if that isn't part of the problem. That we rely on symbols and not enough reality to our American psyche. I hear this phrase a good deal when people talk after some tragic or horrible happening, "That's not who we are" -- as in "that is just not America." Sadly, that is EXACTLY who we are. I think we have to recognize that first.
Your thoughts are so poignant and I'm grateful for them.
Maggie - we are NOT united at present, therefore thinking of a symbol is hard. The last time this country really rallied together was after 9-11.
Peace ✌️
You've captured how I feel. Hopeless and feeling this is NOT the country I grew up in, or thought it was. And that the Gop has lost their direction...scruples. SCOTUS's dismantling of settled law is unsettling. They voted along party lines! McConnell did a great disservice by not allowing Obama to name a judge. RBG did us no favors by clinging too long . Husband and I have also checked into moving out of country. What makes that option palatable is that I've already lost certain family members to the Trump cult.
I am not alone, and I think that is what is so sad. If it were just me, I'd question my own thinking. But unfortunately, it's not.