Page 4 of 8 FirstFirst ... 23456 ... LastLast
Results 31 to 40 of 74

Thread: Grieving for our Country

  1. #31
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Vermont
    Posts
    14,637
    Quote Originally Posted by ApatheticNoMore View Post
    bf and me did two in our private book club: "days of destruction, days of revolt" (very interesting) and "death of the liberal class" (more ranty but we got through it).
    He is ranty, which I'm not crazy about. But I think he's right about many things. I respect that he has seen the world and reported on it at large--he has volunteered to be in places that his journalist colleagues would have no part of, and now those for whom he worked won't give him press (purportedly because he is attempting to slay the dragon that is feeding not only the few news outlets that control most of the media in the US, but the culture at large.)

    I am reading him not because I'm as pessimistic as he is but because I like the kind of guy who tries like hell to lead us out of Plato's cave.

    I was attracted to him recently because he calls himself a Christian anarchist akin to Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. But he is not a "Christian" in the sense that he's dogmatic about his beliefs--only insofar as he believes in the age-old spiritual directives (Christian/Jewish/Muslim/etc.) that we should feed the hungry and clothe the naked and above all beware of of our own hubris.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
    www.silententry.wordpress.com

  2. #32
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    265
    Quote Originally Posted by ApatheticNoMore View Post
    bf and me did two in our private book club: "days of destruction, days of revolt" (very interesting) and "death of the liberal class" (more ranty but we got through it).
    I've followed this most moral journalist for years, reading his books and his essays for "Truthdig."

    https://www.truthdig.com/author/chris_hedges/

  3. #33
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    533
    Quote Originally Posted by Simone View Post
    I've followed this most moral journalist for years, reading his books and his essays for "Truthdig."

    https://www.truthdig.com/author/chris_hedges/
    Hedges is an interesting guy, and a good deal of his social and political analysis is accurate. Unfortunately, when it comes to solutions, he's too inflexible. Witness his support of Jill Stein over Bernie in 2016.

    I don't like incrementalism, but it's the most realistic approach. As Bismark observed, politics is the art of the possible.

  4. #34
    Senior Member Rogar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    5,219
    This may not be our worst era of the last century or so, but we've always bounced back to some semblance of prosperity. There is not a guarantee that assures that outcome. The climate may have already crossed an irreparable tipping point that could affect health and the economy in the next couple or few decades that at this time seems irreversible. Not to mention the accumulation of persistent pollutants like plastics in our environment and waterways and the loss of natural habitat that is causing the extinction of species. The global balance of power is beyond my understanding, but even the two great wars did not have decisive outcomes at one time and there have been incidents like the Cuban missile crisis where global disaster was narrowly avoided.

    I would say that we are living in a dangerous time. There is a reason why science is beginning to define this as a new major division of earth time, the Anthropocene Era, where maybe the old rules of global expansion no longer apply.

  5. #35
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    8,306
    Quote Originally Posted by oldhat View Post
    Just out of curiosity, which ten eras would you rank as worse?
    There are so many to choose from.

    I would include a US President leading troops in the field to put down a tax rebellion during a period of economic chaos.

    Or the New England secession crisis during the embargo of the Napoleonic Wars belligerents.

    Or the time of the Alien and Sedition Acts.

    Or the burning of the capital by enemy raiders.

    Or Bleeding Kansas.

    Or the financial panics of 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873 or 1893.

    Or the War Between the States.

    Or the period of the Haymarket Riot, Pullman Strike or Homestead Strike.

    Or the 1919-20 flu epidemic, punctuated by anarchist bombings.

    Or the Great Depression and subsequent power grabs by FDR and bloody labor unrest.

    The war against the Axis.

    Or the long, perilous Cold War period.

    Or the burning city centers of the sixties.

    Or Disco.

  6. #36
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    6,686
    I for my part am very worried as we perch on the edge of 2019. I've never seen America quite like this but older people tell me that 1968 was just as bad but minus the widespread economic oppression and offshoring of opportunity, plus health care wasn't today's nightmare then, either.

    But what a mess America truly is in.....in a bitter trade war with China, on the cusp of said trade war escalating with the potential extradition of Ms. Meng from Canada, the ACA being ruled unconstitutional thereby destabilizing health care, one of the few US growth industries......moving along to a stock market in free fall and a leader who seems to delight in alienating former allies. DH and I have spoken of possibly Puerto Rico if not Mexico.....no hassles for me to get in as a US citizen and much less expensive health care that is up to US standards. Also life moves slower there and it is blessedly difficult to get things done (meaning more middle class jobs with benefits for all the gatekeepers/progress blockers).

    Puerto Rico comes with numerous issues, too....I am aware of this. But as America continues it's increasingly rapid downward spiral, for some few of us it may be an option. Rob

  7. #37
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    15,489
    I remember 1968 as very exhilarating--so much change!--and one of the best years of my life so far.

    I have perhaps an optimists belief that this is another of those pivotal times in our history--for the better.

  8. #38
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    6,686
    Quote Originally Posted by JaneV2.0 View Post
    I remember 1968 as very exhilarating--so much change!--and one of the best years of my life so far.

    I have perhaps an optimists belief that this is another of those pivotal times in our history--for the better.
    Jane.....I love your optimism, something I seem to be in short supply of. For what it's worth, I hope you are right......The Trump years will take some time to heal and recover from once The Orange Thug is out of office.....question is, will Americans learn anything from the wreckage authored by The Orange Thug? I'm cautiously 50/50 on this one. Rob

  9. #39
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Nevada
    Posts
    12,889
    I was only 14 back then. My older sister was living in Milwaukee and I remember her talking about all the riots and curfews.

  10. #40
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Vermont
    Posts
    14,637
    1968 was awesome. Yes, there was chaos, confusion, and rebellion, but it was built on optimism (probably accounts for Jane's optimism even now). If you look at the songs from back then, you can't help but feeling good about the future, and good about the things that people cared about back then.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
    www.silententry.wordpress.com

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •