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| A certain kind of regret you get from looking back in time... |
Part of the feeling is from what David says, part of it is what I make of it, knowing what I know now and part of it is the contrast between the exhuberant monotype image and the faded slide.
As an American living in England I inhabit a particular space. I can't easily be pigeon-holed but as soon as I speak people make assumptions. Since the election, I have chosen who to speak to with care. Although just a little over half of Britain voted for Brexit, it feels like way more than that percentage knows that what America did when it elected Trump was tomfoolery. I feel ashamed when I speak here.
But my uncomfortableness is nothing in comparison to how those Trump maligned must feel. David, I forgive you! But also know that we share a similar vision for the future. The thing is, how do we get there? And if you are telling me to smile… it's still a bit early.
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Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly enough, now that the worst has happened I feel jubilant. Not by the victory but what I consider the opportunity to make the biggest batch of lemonade the world has ever seen. Unfortunately, I am here in California visiting my 100 year old mom and her computer, understandably, is old though it gleams like a brand new mac. No, the reason I'm jubilant is that the American people have (from my perspective) just made the loudest possible noise for…economic justice. This is energy we should be trying to harness. The media, the powers that be, the corporate structure, however you define the oligarchy is very happy right now. They feel like they've got all the cards in their hands but that's not quite an accurate assessment. What they have is an angry populace on both side of the political fence. This is excellent news for them. We'll squabble and they'll run away with the world. We can't let them but this means we must see ourselves in the other. Entirely possible if if if if...we don't fall pray to let our politics by which I mean our fuckin political brand become who we are....we are people first. One other thing, it's easy to be good (ie pure of heart, non-racist, large-minded however you define it) when you're well-fed. Not so much when your life is sketchy and you need scapegoats for your situation. The left has been challenged as it has never been in my lifetime and what has been its response? Well, despair is palpable as well as other things I do not regard as helpful but let's see just how creative this creative class is...To me, the most creative, innovative thing, the thing no one in the existing power structure expects is for our to find commonalities against the beast that is about to dismantle whatever good things have come out of our government since Roosevelt. This was my overly-caffeinated idea yesterday: Drain The Swamp: a march for economic justice across party lines. A show of force to the oligarchy that upsets the applecart of their expectation that we will go on hating eating other and leaving them in power to take the lion's share (which as you know, in Aesop's fable, meant everything not just the largest portion).