Just finished watching a brief vignette of an awful situation in a J.C.Penny store wherein a woman went on a rant, a racial rant, directed at two Hispanic women. Their crime - one was on line, paying, and the other woman came up with a few more shirts. Frustrating? Yes, but you and I know that many people have done this with one person on line with items and the other somewhere who might or might not show up with more items. So what? So it takes another five minutes but certainly in this season supposedly full of love and smiles, well, think again. The rant was awful - I cringed at it but what was worse was that it went on and no one stopped it until supposedly after the video of it ended. Not there, but certainly the woman should have been told to shut up already. And if people do not stop this then what about worse, like roundups and registries such as Trump was insisting yesterday that he will institute. NO!!!! Cannot be and remember folks, goose and gander. Never stops with one "hate" but instead always grows to include more as the suspicious attitudes and the paranoia grow.
How did we get here? How did we in America forget our roots, our values and go insane? Things changed. The world is different and it changed quickly, so much so that people were often caught unawares, left jobless, even homeless or found themselves struggling where they never had to before. There was hunger in homes that had never faced that before nor ever expected it to be so. The wealth of society began to concentrate with Fat Cats of enormous wealth and power and the very fabric of our society was straining and tested, with failures at times.
So people got angry and had no sure idea of where to focus that anger and how to improve the situation. The world situation did not make things any better what with terrorist attacks and stories every day of more wars all over the globe and Russia invading other countries and it just felt hopeless. So people were sad, yes, but they were also angry and unfortunately there are always those in society who pick up on that anger, who wait for it, hiding in ambush and they went to town.
Viciousness became the order of the day. Anti everything that one could think of from anti Semitism and the old but "trusted" canards, xenophobia, and anger at women who did not "keep their place", anger at the overly wealthy and yet once again they escaped responsibility as they went into disguise, especially under Donald Trump who promised the world, who promised much with no details and look where we are now - all the billionaires and all the negative and selfish people all in power and the little guy, the people who voted for him in their blind anger - well, they are screwed and the anger will rise and the sadness will flow. We have now even been told that there is no more "drain the swamp" philosophy or actions. Well, duh, kinda figured that out already even if I never believed it in the first place. We are now being told that Russia is our friend and never mind all the ethics and conflicts of interest here.
So the anger is there and there has never been such a president before so hated as he prepares to enter office, with such a low percentage. There has never been such fear of what he portends, of his plans and what will be of our democracy. There is a deep sadness and anguish that we are lost, we have wandered off the paths of justice and honor, of care and compassion, of right and freedom and it seems as if we will never get back, certainly not in the next four years. What kind of world will we have when a congressman thinks it okay to delay taking his child to the emergency room for a broken arm and waiting till the next day to save a couple of bucks - on his kid's back! On his kid's broken bone pain and having been there before, know how godawful painful it is! What have we come to? That is child abuse!!!
People are saying that he will never last that long, that his incompetence will manifest itself and lead to resignation or impeachment. Would that it were so! But what if not? What then? Will we ever be able to return to where we should have been all along? Cannot answer that and therein the anger and the sadness that is not only in me but in thousands and even millions of others. The majority of Americans voted for Clinton and we are stuck with the devil's disciple due to an antiquated system.
It is okay to be angry for that is how we progressed thru the centuries and where we hope to continue and it is also okay to be sad for there has been a turnover of society and values here in America such as we have never seen before, at least not for those living. All the old ugly things have comeback. The fear in immigrant families, the fear of children brought here, who do not know another life - and what, now throw them out? Are we forgetting the enrichment of our society by immigrants? Are we to see the rending of families? G-d help us for did we not see enough of that in the Holocaust, in the lands of Africa where kids are kidnapped, where families and societies have disintegrated? The fear in the LGBTQ communities and the fear in those who have stood up for the people? Just what is to be expected? No one knows and hence the uncertainty, the fear, the anger and the depression.
So what to do? Speak up. Stand up. Reach out. Be proud Americans and represent our values. That is the only way.
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