Note of explanation about self and political orientation — For all of my formative years/youth/young adulthood I lived among poor people, people of color, people who did not speak English, people in church and with parents in the parsonage who spoke about and lived an existence modeled after Jesus’ serving those in need, doing all they could to follow His simple message of love and justice. (Although all of us far less perfect in execution than the original.) Over the decades I’ve never forgotten those roots and those experiences, memories, and encouragement (but never feeling ‘forced’ to toe any line) … while developing a socially conscious interpretation of the Gospel in the process. All of the above has served as rock and inspiration for my subsequent political decisions. Add to that my coming (eyes wide open) through the 60s and 70s love generation, anti-war, feminism, and black power movements, and being thrown in the very midst of it in San Francisco- Berkeley and …well, you get the idea. Conservativism never stood a chance with me… and especially not the cruel, noxious, corrupted version that exists today. Residing for several years in far more conservative Pennsylvania, and having gotten older there may have taken some of the sharper edges off, but I am still a believer in social justice and that our country needs to take care of ALL of its people and do right in the world. Socialism is not a dirty word for me, for example. Nor is environmentalism. Nor was pacifism.
Note– I was never an advocate in any era of drugs, alcohol, or ‘free love’ for numerous reasons. I’ve always objected to excessively rigid demands on how to think or be.
Years later, with all the turmoil and the heart of our nation and future of our world at stake, I have landed again on the Left Coast, with all kinds of old and new variations and shades of liberal/tolerant political thought… many in tune with my basic, progressive to the bone positions and others, not so much. There is some comfortable familiarity with the openness of thought/creativity here. And the bottom line is that it has not been hard for me to join this latest resistance to something I know to be unethical, immoral, and distinctly unAmerican.
Additional clarification.
No to anarchism
No to nihilism
Yes to non-violence
No to lies / distortion to further any cause
That said…Despite all the aggravation that comes from what’s going on in DC…with Trump and his ethically challenged cronies trying to do away with everything I believe in…I’m still able to sleep and laugh…appreciate life and the many blessings it brings. However, as someone who’s been around a while, I’ve never seen anything so dark, distasteful, and frightening as this. Every day there are new outrages. It’s akin to being pulled inexorably down these river rapids toward a giant waterfall. No brakes and hope dimming. A cheery thought, I know. Our country needs to understand we are on brink of something awful. No heads in sand, please. Republicans and independents are just now starting to figure out how wrong it’s all going. They need to act. The Resistance will do our share but it may not be enough.
Yanqui1 en la cueva 