Salutin: The strange, and very political, death of hope.
Rick puts his finger on one of today's major problems - but he's a little weak on possible solutions. Still, in this he's no different from the rest of us - and maybe this is the important first step...
I think it's helpful to recognize when hope has been extinguished. Sometimes hope confounds us and leads us to tolerate the intolerable. There is a sedative quality to hope that can be self-defeating.
ReplyDeleteAs we proceed along what some have called "The Century of Revolution" we see some, mainly educated but underemployed young people, release themselves from the bonds of hope and take to the streets to force change.
Yes, the Arab Spring is very exciting - I keep wondering if it will inspire our rather sedate countrymen to something a) similar, and b) effective...!
ReplyDeletePaul, I really don't see that happening in Canada. In my view it could, however, occur south of the border - eventually.
ReplyDeleteThe Tea Party, misdirected as it is, shows something of the discontent simmering within the United States. The Tea Party is based on an illusion but can the deception really be maintained for any length of time?
We still have a pretty viable middle class. In the US the middle class has been greatly undermined. The wealthy never understood how critical a healthy, robust middle class is to their own prosperity. It is, after all, the most powerful force of stability because it resists extremism, left or right. Coupled with solid public education, the middle class is the very ladder of social mobility, the fulfillment of the American Dream. What is America without it? 'Frightening' is the word that comes to my mind.
Without the social cohesion of the middle class, American society could easily be torn apart. That's a candle that's now burning at both ends.
Bill Moyers gave the first Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture in November 2010 - one of the things I remember is that he predicted that a lot of the Tea Partiers are going to be very disappointed...
ReplyDeleteHow can Moyers not be right on that one? That movement's entire premise is based on misunderstanding and falsehoods that are carefully packaged and spoonfed to them. Eventually they must discover how thoroughly they've been conned unless, by then, they've been harnessed to an even bigger con.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! But there seems to be a core of Tea Party people who are honestly fed up with the falsehoods and craziness, and might lead to some healthier directions in US politics...
ReplyDelete