I have always found the death of empires and states (and I guess people when I think about it) more interesting that their birth or growth. Spain after the Armada rather than England during the same years, for instance.
I do try to keep reminding myself of Gore Vidal's warning to middle aged writers that they try not confuse their own personal mental and physical decline with that of the nation's. But I'm becoming fairly certain that that isn't the case here, I'm passed middle age at any rate. I find myself comparing today with my younger days and wondering just when I stopped being cool, though.
I look around and see decline and fall every where with little or no apparent desire to move us in a different direction. States replacing asphalt covered roads with gravel roads because they are easier and cheaper to maintain, raising the costs of going to college so that the lower economic classes (and in time, probably a short time the middle classes) presidents looking around and deciding that we have to cut benefits and "safety nets" in the middle of the second greatest economic down turn we have ever experienced in the face of all intelligent economic recommendations. The very people who drove the country to this drop off, being given positions of authority to continue to direct the nation: Geither, Paulson, Sumner. Listening to the war monger neo-liberals who got us where we are in two wars we seem to be unable to either win or end, or for that matter want to end and maybe not even want to win.
Then the nearly complete co-option of liberal groups (including unions) and liberal commentators by a clearly conservative (not moderate) democratic party and president. People who seem to be totally unself aware of what they did to get us where we are and what needs to be done to get us back from the brink (oh hell perhaps we are really past the brink now and in free fall, who knows) are in charge.
I do try to keep reminding myself of Gore Vidal's warning to middle aged writers that they try not confuse their own personal mental and physical decline with that of the nation's. But I'm becoming fairly certain that that isn't the case here, I'm passed middle age at any rate. I find myself comparing today with my younger days and wondering just when I stopped being cool, though.
I look around and see decline and fall every where with little or no apparent desire to move us in a different direction. States replacing asphalt covered roads with gravel roads because they are easier and cheaper to maintain, raising the costs of going to college so that the lower economic classes (and in time, probably a short time the middle classes) presidents looking around and deciding that we have to cut benefits and "safety nets" in the middle of the second greatest economic down turn we have ever experienced in the face of all intelligent economic recommendations. The very people who drove the country to this drop off, being given positions of authority to continue to direct the nation: Geither, Paulson, Sumner. Listening to the war monger neo-liberals who got us where we are in two wars we seem to be unable to either win or end, or for that matter want to end and maybe not even want to win.
Then the nearly complete co-option of liberal groups (including unions) and liberal commentators by a clearly conservative (not moderate) democratic party and president. People who seem to be totally unself aware of what they did to get us where we are and what needs to be done to get us back from the brink (oh hell perhaps we are really past the brink now and in free fall, who knows) are in charge.
Jeremiah (without god).
Oh yeah, I started this four days ago and I can't make it copy or move the date so it will go up as if it has been here for four days.
2 comments:
So, am I six days late in commenting, or only two?
It looks like decline to me. It could be temporary. The UK seems to be turning things around somewhat, though partly due to better managing their expectations about empire. I wish I could be optimistic, but with so few people even interested in looking at our problems, let alone addressing them realistically, it's hard to be.
It is difficult for me to tell. I'm kind of over whelmed with the guy who usually is in the office about 5 feet from me forcibly being kept at home until his meds get corrected again, which leaves me with two attorneys case load.
I'm pissed and exhausted.
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