I made a long overdue realization today. Of course, it looks like the world is falling in. Of course, it all looks desperate. We never had a magnifying glass like the Internet before to show us just how bad it is. Network news? Please. Dan Rather was in combat situations in Vietnam. Many reporters have been embedded with troops in various parts of the Middle East since 9/11. But the Internet shows all the gritty truth: angry disenfranchisement, angry privilege, angry youth, anger everywhere.
And god knows I don't want to hurt the feelings of the younger generation. They're so sensitive. I was once too. But I think many of them were either too young or not born to remember the Reagan Administration or even the Bush I and Bush II Administrations. Those were real times too, people. Scary times. It wasn't that bad then, you say. Oh, I don't know about that. There was war, there was poverty, there was the discovery of a disease called AIDS and a drug called crack. There was 9/11. Before that moment empowered us, first it scared the hell out of us. Many of us remember it well, and not just because we were told to. Those were bad times too.
And I'm sure, back in say 1985, when I was but 10 years old, there were angry people then too. There was no Twitter or Facebag for them to say so, but yes, they were angry.
And god knows I don't want to hurt the feelings of the younger generation. They're so sensitive. I was once too. But I think many of them were either too young or not born to remember the Reagan Administration or even the Bush I and Bush II Administrations. Those were real times too, people. Scary times. It wasn't that bad then, you say. Oh, I don't know about that. There was war, there was poverty, there was the discovery of a disease called AIDS and a drug called crack. There was 9/11. Before that moment empowered us, first it scared the hell out of us. Many of us remember it well, and not just because we were told to. Those were bad times too.
And I'm sure, back in say 1985, when I was but 10 years old, there were angry people then too. There was no Twitter or Facebag for them to say so, but yes, they were angry.
And it's not that it's not serious. It is. Most of it. And some of it is overblown. And some of it is misdirection. And some of it is spectacle. And some of it is ridiculous. And some of it is downright wrong. And ugly. And some of it is lies and not quite truths. Sadly, I really don't think we have true heroes anymore....not in the public service kind of way. And as a country, I don't think we'll ever be the same.
Or will we?
Is this just another stumbling block? Learning curve? We will someday look back on this time like we look at the American 1960's? As a tumultuous, deadly hard-learned lesson?
I'm not sure, but I do know this: battling with your mean old uncle at Thanksgiving and calling liberal-minded people "snowflakes" ain't gonna fix it. Fighting violence with violence and insult with insult has never made sense. Trying to prove intelligence over ignorance may seem right but not with that side dish of snark that so many serve with it. And side note, that is pretty much exactly why HRC lost the election.
I don't know what the answers are, but I know most of these aren't it. And I, for one, actually do remember the 80's.