Country in Chaos
The world swirls around me. Chaos is everywhere in our nation.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is dead.
A liberal voice on the Supreme Court, her life was devoted to the fight for equality for woman (and men). She became a rock star in her lifetime for her fearless devotion to - and work for - legal reform and the education of, not only her fellow jurists, but us all in the social inequities of our attitudes and laws.
The balance of the Supreme Court now hangs in the balance; in the hands of the Republicans who are maliciously delighted by the timing of her death. They cannot wait to put another conservative on the high bench. So Washington gears up for yet another ugly and passionate fight.
And that is just today’s news.
We Americans are in the midst of the worst pandemic in a hundred years with the numbers of souls lost approaching 200,000. Today, without a plan in place, we see the virus unabated as we enter the fall season and move inside. What is getting done?
COVID-19 has exposed so many flaws in our society: in health care, hunger, access to medical care, education, access to voting. The economy is shattered by the virus. The list goes on and on.
We are 45 days away from a presidential election, a consequential election to decide most everything for the future of our country. The process is already frightful; lies, innuendos foreign government interference. There are questions around attempts to slow mail delivery at the post office and voting suppression. The race promises to be morally offensive, the decision already contended.
Racial prejudice and white privilege are on the ballot. Peaceful demonstrators continue to march throughout the country with cries to address police brutality and existing law enforcement practices.
Our government institutions are in jeopardy. Leadership has been gutted of smart and capable leaders and replaced with those sympathetic to the whims of the President.
The country underwent an impeachment trial and acquittal by a Republican Senate. How long ago was that? A major event in the story of our nation yet lost amongst so many other crises.
And, lest we not forget, the existential issue of climate change. The west is burning with forest fires. We have run out of names for hurricanes this year. What will we do to address the destruction of our earth and when, if ever, will we do it?
Chaos is everywhere. Consequential decisions are necessary now: in our government, both local, national and international. In our personal lives.
As President Obama warned us in his speech at this year's Democratic convention, there are no magic bullets.The responsibility lies with each of us as individuals. It is our country, it is our world, it is our planet. It is our collective decision as to what is valuable, who we wish to be as a nation.
I agree with Vice-President Biden that the ‘soul of the country is at stake’. Now what am I going to do about it?
20 September 2020