The title statement is one of various interpretations and uses. It can be made at a time of necessary encouragement, that a goal is indeed achievable. Attainment can be anticipated, fought for. On the other hand, those same few words can be some of the most chilling words ever used and heard. So many, too many, nefarious plans, hatched in the nurseries of hell, are nudged along, with evil smirk and victory in sight, to crush, demean, stamp out all the embers of hope, the wisps of goodness, of rights, of freedom, all the better to crush the spark of humanity that remains, with difficulty, among the battle scenes of today's myriad battles.
Zelensky states that "We do not lose hope. We do not stop." The embattled defenders in Mariupol continue on, the heroes of a modern-day Thermopylae. Not 300 against 6,000, the comparison rings true, as the same fate awaits these brave, embattled defenders of Ukraine. The motto of these doomed souls? "We do not lose faith. We do not lose hope." We, the rest of the world, need to hear and feel those words, internalize them, take comfort from them, and act accordingly.
“It is the smell and sound of war, fire, constant explosions and smoke,”
That description is now to be used, appropriately, in scenes of battle round the world. These battles may not be the battlefields of gore, nor will we hear the cries of the wounded, the desperate, whose last hope is at stake. However, they are there. Cutting, forewarning and foretelling a dangerous future. A time of a return to no hope, no freedom, of crushing disaster to humanity. If we lose the battles now being fought in courtrooms and rallies, the consequences are indeed replete with bloodshed, with the destruction of any vision of a viable, positive future, of rights respected, of progress. These traits of a civilized, advanced society are now embattled, threatened with extinction, by attackers of neanderthal thinking. Remnants of human dinosaurs among us, their brains tiny, atrophied, yet all the same gaining the upper hand over us, throwing us, crushing us, threatening us, with ever growing success.
How has this come to be? How are troglodytes, i.e., Matt Goetz, in powerful positions, stating 'new', retrograde legislation that turns back the clock to eras of battle for rights, for justice, for freedom, for equality. Why have we allowed ourselves to be pushed against the wall, no way out other than fighting, a civil war of disastrous consequences, not necessarily winnable by the right side. Scary, that thought indeed, but a realistic one. In fact, I, and many other brighter minds, have deep concerns, dark visions, of an American society barely recognizable as such, under dictatorship. Women forced into clothing similar to those demanded by the Taliban. Children laboring once again, in the mines of the world, education a right of the rich, the powerful, and hunger stalks the land, uneven, unfair, in its application, as families go hungry, as shelter grows rare.
Quoth Goetz, “How many of the women rallying against overturning Roe are over-educated, under-loved millennials who sadly return from protests to a lonely microwave dinner with their cats, and no bumble matches?”
How dare he, yet there it is. Representative of his supporters and backers. This issue of healthcare, of life itself, of a viable future for women, has been turned into a male/female battle along lines which long ago should have been consigned to the dust heap of outmoded, discarded errors of human thinking, particularly those of men. Yet despite all the progress made, the positive and hopeful changes, here they are again, these ugly words and thoughts well fleshed, well nourished, vicious in intent and desired results.
McConnell, the desiccated individual way past his sell by date, states that "Yeah, it's possible." when asked about the corrosive consequences of these laws. We ask, “How many men arguing against women’s right to body autonomy would appreciate losing that same right to make medical choices about their own bodies" We wonder how many of these benighted souls screaming re abortion rights, painting those who support choice as murderers, guilty of homicide, understand that THEIR rights are on the chopping block as well, right there, up front and personal. Nastiness, hatred, oppression, consume the society they rule, without any boundaries or limitations.
All are in eminent existential danger, yet this simple truth appears to have been overlooked, ignored and denied by these backward mobs, as the 'leaders' of an increasingly doomed human race cheer them on. A virtual love fest, even as it is a replication of the horrors of hate.
We are at war. Ukraine fights Russia, the enormous bear attempting to swallow it whole. The land is pulverized, the hopes, the dreams, the futures, the very lives of tens of thousands destroyed. The stink of Sulphur, the choking smoke, all pervasive, all destroying - all over the world, in various forms. Make no mistake about it. ALL this is intertwined, very little separation, a battle of mankind for its future. Do we survive as we wish - as we are - as we progress towards, or do we turn our backs due to a misshapen mode of thought, as we follow the wrong leaders? As we allow others to penetrate into our most sacred areas and rights, and doom ourselves? It is a battle royale with shots indeed heard round the world. Do not fool yourselves. WWIII in all its battlefronts, in all its ugliness, in all its importance. We must choose. We must take a stand, make our determination all powerful, to defeat those who would defeat the rest of the world, return it to a time which must continue to be totally rejected by a modern society. Yet some among us return to it willingly, placing the manacles upon hands and necks all by themselves.
What is the matter with us? What has happened to us? Why have we consigned our granddaughters to a special hell in a society of 'macho' men? Yes, we can sing all the anthems of the women's movement, but I fear there will be a need for more than that. The students and workers in Les Miz sang of "one more day" - well, we have no more days to spare. We need to get out there, campaign, speak up, vote, vote and vote. Reject the Neanderthals and their stone age thinking, beliefs and preferred reality. Most definitely inimical to the humanity of women.
Yes, there must be faith, there must be hope, but there also must be resistance. Now.
We are being warned of possible shortages of electric power as soon as this summer, of rolling blackouts. Well, we are in the midst of rolling blackouts of rights, a growing darkness of repression. Let us keep those lights powered up, defeat the shortages already upon us. Last chance. Last call. So dire is the situation. A rolling blackout of humanity, of decency, of hope as the world grows dark, as the stink of Sulphur, the cries of the wounded, the wails of hungry children, grow in intensity and amount. Are we to remain deaf, blind, and speechless in the face of this challenge?
I hope not. Oh, hell, I pray not.
Yeah, it's possible - but which possibility will we choose?
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