Occasionally I take a step back - or try to - from the day to day miasma that we're living through and ask myself "How the hell did we get here"?
In my time we've gone from Camelot, 'Ich bin ein Berliner", "Ask not what your country can do for you ... " and "Tear Down That Wall Mr. Gorbachev" to ... wtf is this exactly?
I was born in '54, Boomer Central. During the late 50s and early/mid 60s, there was a glow that our country rightfully sported, a post WWII halcyon. There was an American pride that part of our very essence. We welcomed immigrants because they loved America. They made us feel even better about our country.
Vietnam began the erosion. I've read a lot about that war and the people making those decisions and it's clear we knew as early as 1965 it was unwinnable, but we continued feeding American bodies into the SE Asian furnace because there was this amorphous domino theory we all bought into. Then Reagan and his wealthy white man Presidency and booming deficits; and Newt who ushered in the era of GOP guerrilla politics under the guise of Family Values; etc.
But little talked about: Vietnam also began large scale immigration from Vietnamese, Chinese, and other people who didn't look like us. My classrooms in the 60s were 100% Irish, Polish, Italian and a few kids with German roots. But we were all white. I really believe racism toward Asians began to escalate in the late 70s and 80s. And today a large % of our population is less European in its roots, and much more Asian and Middle Eastern.
What fertile ground for the emergence of hateful, racist media.
There has been no bigger, wider, deeper influence in our path, specifically Limbaugh and Fox News. They've fed dishonest, hateful right wing propaganda into our living rooms and the minds of America for >40 years now. Trump isn't the CAUSE; he's the RESULT. The road was already well paved for a creature like him to come along. There wasn't a yellow brick road ready for him; there was a red carpet. We were there for the taking and he and his media have rolled over America like a 5 ton steamroller.
So now the legit question we're asking ourselves "is all lost? Or about to be lost?"
I've had a good life; I saw American greatness. But my daughter is 24. I worry for her.
I am hopeful that your daughter (at 24) and my daughters (at 27 and 25) will play good roles along with their generation in propelling America forward beyond this mess. I am also hopeful that we can continue to provide the support and guidance they need to take this journey!
Occasionally I take a step back - or try to - from the day to day miasma that we're living through and ask myself "How the hell did we get here"?
In my time we've gone from Camelot, 'Ich bin ein Berliner", "Ask not what your country can do for you ... " and "Tear Down That Wall Mr. Gorbachev" to ... wtf is this exactly?
I was born in '54, Boomer Central. During the late 50s and early/mid 60s, there was a glow that our country rightfully sported, a post WWII halcyon. There was an American pride that part of our very essence. We welcomed immigrants because they loved America. They made us feel even better about our country.
Vietnam began the erosion. I've read a lot about that war and the people making those decisions and it's clear we knew as early as 1965 it was unwinnable, but we continued feeding American bodies into the SE Asian furnace because there was this amorphous domino theory we all bought into. Then Reagan and his wealthy white man Presidency and booming deficits; and Newt who ushered in the era of GOP guerrilla politics under the guise of Family Values; etc.
But little talked about: Vietnam also began large scale immigration from Vietnamese, Chinese, and other people who didn't look like us. My classrooms in the 60s were 100% Irish, Polish, Italian and a few kids with German roots. But we were all white. I really believe racism toward Asians began to escalate in the late 70s and 80s. And today a large % of our population is less European in its roots, and much more Asian and Middle Eastern.
What fertile ground for the emergence of hateful, racist media.
There has been no bigger, wider, deeper influence in our path, specifically Limbaugh and Fox News. They've fed dishonest, hateful right wing propaganda into our living rooms and the minds of America for >40 years now. Trump isn't the CAUSE; he's the RESULT. The road was already well paved for a creature like him to come along. There wasn't a yellow brick road ready for him; there was a red carpet. We were there for the taking and he and his media have rolled over America like a 5 ton steamroller.
So now the legit question we're asking ourselves "is all lost? Or about to be lost?"
I've had a good life; I saw American greatness. But my daughter is 24. I worry for her.
Sorry about the length here
I am hopeful that your daughter (at 24) and my daughters (at 27 and 25) will play good roles along with their generation in propelling America forward beyond this mess. I am also hopeful that we can continue to provide the support and guidance they need to take this journey!