It was not hard to see the contrast yesterday between the attitude of the oceans of youth that swarmed cities around this country during the March For Our Lives and that of the nation’s current governing party.
These kids are amazing. Stunning, really. They are smart, focused and savvy in the ways of media that goes well beyond their years. They have boldness and strength, a clear-eyed vision of rightness and a true sense of serving the greater good. There is a guileless purity to them that is refreshing and clarifying.
Now contrast that to the politicians who stand opposed to their agenda. The words that spring to my mind are words like cowardly and greedy and self-serving and evasive and deceptive and amoral. Corrupt in every sense of the word. Their craven attitude is bringing this country to the brink of a disaster, enabling a transformation of our democracy that may be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.
As Andrew Sullivan deduces in his review this week of the book Can It Happen Here: Authoritarianism in America, it may already have happened and we just haven’t recognized it yet.
It’s hard for me to not think that we at this moment in history are standing on the middle of the yin yang symbol above and we could go either way, into light or into darkness. We need to decide right now whether we want concede our future to those who think nothing of selling that future to the highest bidder and lying to us about doing so.
If the great numbers of people somehow are offended by these kids’ call to action, if they prefer to stand behind the craven cowards in congress and in the white house — neither deserve capital letters in my opinion–then I fear we have already moved into the darkness.
But for today, in the wake of yesterday’s demonstration, I see a little light. I have always been disappointed by the youth vote in this country but I have hope that these kids can take the lead to make it the force it should be. If they can unite behind a few issues they have the numbers and power to change this country. The future is their’s if they choose to take it.
I hope yesterday was the beginning of that recognition in this new generation, as well as in the older generations, like mine, who have been asleep at the switch for much too long.
Okay, for this week’s Sunday morning music I am going back to another turbulent point in our history, the 1960’s and anti-war movement in the wake of the assassinations of MLK and RFK. Here’s some Canned Heat from Woodstock in 1969 doing A Change Is Gonna Come.
Have a good day. But think about which way you want things to go and do something to push it that way. Take a page from these kids– get off your butts and make the world the way you want it.
Redtree Times 
Gary, you say it well… Selling out the long term good for short term goals. And yes, I feel both parties are complicit. Ever since the ’90’s when the Democrats moved to the center, the moral high road has been a muddy trail through the swamp of lies and obfuscations.
The left has spent twenty-five years compromising with no one but itself. The right lost the ability to compromise with their Contract With America which I never signed off on.
But… I share your optimism. If these kids can do something no other generation has managed, and inspire their peers to get out and vote, we may manage to step back from the brink. Now we just need to get corporate dark money out of our politics.
One of the great things about these kids is their lack of connection to the past. They only see now and the future, unfettered from the failures of the past. They don’t feel bound by the Contract with America, the Citizens United ruling and all the other things that have allowed big money to overrule the voice of the people. Their will to mold their future reminds me of RFK’s campaign. I was only 9 years old in ’68 but I was completely captivated by the vision he was putting forward. To paraphrase, these kids look at the future they want, even when us old folks say it will never be, and say “Why not?”
Let’s hope they have the will to carry it through.
On Sun, Mar 25, 2018 at 11:01 AM, Redtree Times wrote:
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My younger brother heard Canned Heat do this song at Woodstock. He appreciated this entire post.
Glad he liked it, Gary!
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