Ah, who can forget the thrill, the fright, the daring, on that first step into the car of that ride. Up and then down, around the turn, being jerked hither and thither and going back for more. And now, we just stand there and watch and pray as our grandkids go on the most extreme rides ever. "I want him/her back in the same condition" is what I often semi jokingly say to the operator. Life changes, joys change, and values change -or do they? Or is it simply that we leave certain things behind and the ones we take are often changed drastically. Have we become jaded with the amusement park rides of life or have we begun to treat and evaluate them differently?
As one gets older, one wants a bit more peace in and of life. Not for us those extreme ups and downs, the agonies of defeat and the triumph of victory. Yet, today, that is exactly where we are. The radicals of the 60's and 70's, those hippie flower children, singing of love and peace, turned into a generation of strivers, many forgoing their early ideals, giving up those dead and dying flowers and turning to the amassment of money and power instead.
Today, there is a split in that generation, with one segment verging conservative, all the better to calm those ups and downs, to stop 'wasting' their time, to deny their past and their former ideals. The other part finds itself on the firing lines once again. Back with the signs. Back with the campaigning. More phone calls to make. More hope that once again, just maybe, we can turn the world on its head. Can we? Is that park ride still working? Do we have the stamina to face its chills and thrills?
Well, the night of Nov.3-4 will go a long way to telling us the answer. Will the shouts of 'the whole world is watching' ring once again, as we wonder why there is that deja vu of standing against the cops once again, being told to leave if we are not willing to give up our rights in order to stress those rights? Weird reasoning in weird times and we are right back in that weird amusement park once more.
But these parks are not the names of the past and the present. No more Freedom Park in the Bronx. No more Action Park in New Jersey. The sweetness of Hershey Park and Dutch Wonderland, the joys of the little ones - and not such little ones - at Sesame Place. The true magic of Disney. Where has that all gone? Instead of laughing and yes, stressed, family groupings or laughing teenagers, being oh so grown up and kids again at one and the same time - all these are replaced by walking politics. The most dangerous and least enjoyable rides are the ones on the pavements, on the heads and chests of people as they wear their politics openly and with hostility, as if with something to prove. And perhaps that is so.
But the present roller coaster that has grown into a devouring monster, one that swallows all the values and ideals, the one that grows apace even as we weaken in determination to keep alive those rides of old, that monster is swallowing whole the idea and reality, the dreams and hopes of America. Of what makes us Americans, once able to state that fact with pride, and yes, even conceit, but now, are unwelcome in so many places in the world, whose people fight viciously against each other, who have imported the open statements of old prejudiced memes and trolls, contaminating the newer rides found on the internet.
Quite frankly, I do not like this new amusement park or its selection of rides. Its whack-a-mole game is tainted as the heads of politicians arise rather than the proverbial moles. The targets have changed from rolling ducks to statements of rights, and people shoot them down, much to their own disadvantage. We jeer at the poor dude getting dunked instead of sharing a good natured laughter. We forget our past in a crude nd mean rush to mortgage our future with the highest and most unrepayable rates ever. These rides stink! They are dangerous in more ways than one can even count or understand. So the cry of "I want my Maypo", I want my past values again, rings through the air, as a generation and its descendants confront the most hostile amusement park ever.
'Maypo' will never return until we prepare for it. We need to restore the safety regulations, the right of people to be secure in their jobs and not have politics interfere. We need to allow for freedom of speech, for differentiation and disagreement with the views of the ruling administration. We need to be determined re the rules of these rides, as they change, hopefully allowing for the remaking of themselves into something that can make us proud. We need to rid these rides of the true fright and danger they present. Difficult, admittedly so, but not impossible,
Get rid of those who cannot see the park that America was and is meant to be. Get rid of Trump. Get rid of Kushner, he of old fashioned prejudice and thinking. Get rid of Ivanka who traded her liberal tendencies for that shiny key to the WH. Get rid of all of those who think they can impose their religion and belief on others. Get rid of those unamerican Americans who twist and flout all that we hold sacred, shiny, meaningful, challenging and inspiring. Open the government, stop with these nasty conspiracy fables. Open the meetings to the light and air, and just as an aside, David Israel, why the hell have there been no Executive Board meetings since March. You make believe they are scheduled ad then cancel them the night before!! Shame on you. Time for you to leave this amusement park ride so we can fix it, oil it, open it to new and fresh thinking. To people who can think ahead, care for the Village and not just about how to hold onto power. And spend our money and negotiate our contracts in deep darkness.
People, we have got to fix this park of ours, this beautiful park of America. The turnout must be huge. Every vote must be in, hopefully by Nov.3 to avert all falsehoods. VOTE, as if your life depends on it- for it does. VOTE! Vote against all that Trump means and represents, and VOTE to deny it, to cleanse it from our national profile. Vote because it is a privilege that must be used if we are not to lose it. VOTE for a good future. VOTE for a park where we laugh, where values are valued, treasured, where America rides the ups and downs of life with confidence and pride.
Vote so that this insane virus is met hands and heads on, that 80,000 a day stop falling ill. Vote, so some idiot can no longer say it is a blessing, nor stand on TV and make an ass out of himself, admittedly not a difficult thig to do, and yet, still have his backers. VOTE to lift the blinders. Vote for rights, for hope, for a future. VOTE BIDEN. Vote Democratic party for I cannot think of one Republican candidate on any level who has any moral courage left within.
VOTE!!
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