The other day we passed by the Chicago Holocaust Museum which we had visited several years ago. There was a sign that I had not seen before and it read: "Remember the past, transform the future." I thought about it and how it varied a bit from the traditional sign and decided it was quite timely and sadly so.
Tonite, when I opened the computer, I read a story that told of the Jews of the Netherlands disappearing, either killed off during the Holocaust with 75% of 140,000 Jews being killed or leaving the country as anti Semitism grew and many moved to Israel. The Jews of France have been doing the same thing of late and there are areas in Israel where one hears more French than Hebrew. Incidents of violence against Jews, PC anti Semitism disguised as BDS and twisted involvement with Black Lives groups etc., violence against Jewish kids on campus merely add to the smoke and fire and the fear.
Then we turn to the elections and its seems that every year we elect more and more unfit people to office, people who are dictatorial in manner, committed to one or two issues to the neglect of others and to the detriment of the electorate and politicians who seem to have taken a page from bad history and bad examples and have formed alliances and loyalties to issues and Party with that capital P. Loyalty to country, to electorate have gone by the side, simply deemed not as important.
We seem to have developed a group or layer of people who wish to be dictators and who have done all they can and could to do so, or to make a person they support the dictator. People develop a blindness and a nastiness, a preference to designate lots of people as "others" and therefore not worthy of attention, of humanity or even of entering into the country. NIMBY expanded in a nasty manner, in a frightening manner.
We have forgotten to remember the past in a big way. We have turned a deaf ear to its echoes. The campaign of Trump is an example of that forgetting of the past and the harmful possibilities it engenders. Harmful? No, rather dangerous, frightening, life threatening. He insists that only he can fix things, that we have much to fear and he is the answer to it all. Well, folks, we have heard all that before, have we not? And what is worse is that he has people who follow in his footsteps.
Take a look at our Village where steadily and surely we are being deprived of the rights we are entitled to simply by living in this country and being Americans. Freedom of speech. Freedom of assembly. Freedom of information. Freedom to question. Free press. And now it seems that our resident dictator and his subordinates, including WPRF where the head of it here works at the pleasure of the President of UCO, suddenly we have added to the control over our lives within and without the Village. Outside businesses are threatened with dire consequences or are conversely, invited into the Village without the acquiescence of the Villagers. And now we are to expect the history echoing call of being stopped by " authority" figures and hear the words: "papierian". Evidently we are now to be forced to carry our ID card all over the Village, be aware that these figures whom we pay for now have the right to stop us and ask for ID, be it by the pools or anywhere else. Really? I do not carry my ID or money within the Village. Why should I? I do not buy anything nor do I figure I look like a crook out to steal pool acreage from someone else! Perhaps there needs to be another method and certainly there needs to be a logical and sensible explanation and a time for it to take effect and neither should there be threats of being forcibly and bodily removed and the sheriff and deputies have no business being called upon. I thought we already settled that when PBSO made it very clear that they were not to serve as the posse of David Israel. So what is the deal now?
Remember the past? We have forgotten to do that for too long. We have questioned all those historians who have warned us that we must remember it. Transform the future? We must - but how? Only by active memories of the past and a determination that we will not allow dictators to take control of our lives ever again - not nationally or locally or Village wide.
This is a life transforming and endangering event. If we do nothing, if we leave it to others to do something, if we shrug our shoulders - then we are doomed and let me tell you, the youngsters are losing hope .I spoke to a whole bunch of them over the weekend and what I heard over and over again is that it is no use. Things are broken too badly and does voting even matter? I gave them the whole spiel of winning the vote, especially for minorities and women, of the importance of having a say and yet... the connection was not really there and just listen to their music - it is down, full of violence, full of despair, in what sounds to be rational sentences, but listen to it.
Transform the future? We had better or the future is dark. Begin by transforming the ethics of our country, its politicians and our supposed leaders and then head on down to the localities and for Pete's sake - remember our Village. Time for transformation here - and soon. Tick. Tock. And you know who - you are an unmitigated moron or else you never listened in English class when allegories and metaphors were discussed. Too bad for you. this is way over your thick head.
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