Been a while, no?
Let's get to it with a hearty rant.
Here we are in the 21st century, supposedly living in the freest nation in the world, backed by the biggest, most diverse economy the world has ever seen, and with a history of being a beacon of hope and refuge for those who are persecuted abroad, yet we are being besieged by censorship on the right and left, are living in the most unequal era in our history, and are seriously knotted when it comes to immigration policy that many want to use to insulate us from a world we did much to create, while starving our workforce of the workers we need to grow and thrive. And all the while we fantasize about a warming world whose problems can be mitagted without much sacrifice from, well, anyone.
This is where we find ourselves under the full weighted blanket of conservative political and social influence. Did you really believe that control over your own body would extend to your pregnancy? Don't be so foolish. Woman are merley vessels who carry the more important life. The assumption is that any woman who wants control over their body must have done something wrong. Or is selfish. Or wants to live. Or is immoral. The assumption on the right is that there is always something more important than you. And in Texas, your neighbor can arrest you and the Uber driver you rode in with if you dare to express your opposition.
What about parental rights? Evidently, parental rights only means that you support banning books from all libraries because you're afraid that your child might read something that makes them think differently or that leads to questions you'd rather not answer. Parental rights don't extend to that sweet child who has known since birth that they are not going to confrom to your reality and is gay. Or knows that they are not in the correct body. Or knows that they are not on a spectrum, they are on a continuum that enables them to express their individuality in a way that, wait for it...makes them happy. And seen. And heard. But if you want to support your child, the state will stop you.
And, oh Israel and free speech. Here is where the left joins the ugly shouting match. The speech codes that rule the modern college campus are the product of fear and the inability of the adults to impart the most important lessons of a college education; that you will find opposition to your ideas, that you need to find the intelligence and moral clarity to argue from a set of evidence-based ideas, and that you need to be tolerant, understanding, and sympathetic to someone who is on the other side of an issue from you.
On the right is perhaps the greater hypocrisy. The very movement that tolerates and encourages antisemitism and racism in its ranks is in no position to lecture anyone about antisemitism in other parts of society. And the right wing has been utterly devoid of humanity when it comes to Palestinians who want self-determination. I watched the horrors of October 7 from a Jewish perspective and cursed the Hamas terrorists for their utter depravity and inhumanity. But as a world citizen, an unabashed supporter of human rights, and someone who has followed Middle Eastern politics and society since the Six Day War, I also looked at how Palestinians were forced to live and I asked the most relevant question:
What did you expect?
You simply cannot treat people with such disdain and expect them to accept that treatment decade after decade and not expect an explosion. We propogated that type of treatment of marginalized people in the United States, then ignored their pleas. And what did we get? An explosion.
What did you expect?
No, there is no room for racism, sexism, elitism or any other manner of thinking or speaking that denigrates another human being. There is not room for marginalizing or silencing or ridiculing another person for whatever reason. None. Ever. The problem is that we've tolerated and even encouraged those behaviors over the course of our history. We've taught that it's fine to see another person as inferior because of an attribute that we've assigned to them that is less than acceptable. If there is good news on this, it's that the younger people, you know, the ones who get ridiculed because of all the avocado toast they eat, are leading us through the difficult process of recognizing our demons, confronting them, and perhaps becoming a more equitable, accepting country. We can, and will, do better.
I still have enough optimism to believe that we can overcome our differences and create a more equal and just society. It looks bleak now, what with a country that has more guns than people, but things will turn because there are enough people who believe that it will turn and will do what they need to make that happen. Many states, even conservtive ones, have seen their citizens reject limits on abortion. Libraries and librarians are fighting back against censorship. And new laws that are planting the seeds of a new, cleaner, more resourceful energy system will take root. It's been slow and uneven, but like all new technology, we will reach a tipping point that will see an acceleration of the new. It happened with cras, radios, televisions, computers, and phones. It will happen with new technologies that will make this country, and the world, a greener place.
I do have hope. I do have energy. I do smile when I think about the future. How about you?
Thank you for reading. It's good to be back.
