The Blind Sensation meets....
Ok, admittedly, this post has nothing to do with the title. I've found myself listening to a lot of Waylon Jennings lately and I've remembered how my dad used to sing the opening line of Lukenbach, TX. This was his own unique version.(Incidentally, I don't know what's up with my muscial tastes lately. I've also been digging on Ray Charles. When he says "Go on Margie, sing your song," I get chills. I almost pee when Margie sings "BAYBAHHHHH!" ...even when her words come out of Rudy Huxtable's mouth....)
I don't have original ideas anymore. These days, I just comment on other people's observations. This is no exception.
I think that when "older" people refer to "America," they're referring to a place where poverty and racial prejudice can be eliminated. Some Americans remember segregation and when war and economic depression made everyone poor. So, they've seen some enormous strides in both of those areas.
People born in the 1970s and '80s don't remember those things and don't have a grasp of the progress made. In my mind, that could be a good thing. There is still a lot to be done and the time to rest on our laurels isn't now. (What is a laurel, anyway? Is it like a big fat self-rightous pillow?)I get so excited when I consider the possibility of making as much progress in the next generations as in last generations! This is the possibility in America that I love so much. Pause for a moment and just consider what our world could be if that happened.
Unfortunately, I've seen some real Anti-American sentiment among the young lately. It's a puzzle to me because I think we live in the richest and most opportunity-filled period of American history. This isn't your mom's America. It's better. Perhaps it's just a reaction to some of George Bush's neo-con foreign policy (YES, I went there J.P.!! I'm not sure what that means, but I said it!) but I hate seeing such negativity because it is paralyzing. How are we going to make America more fully the "land of the free" if we've given up? Well, we aren't. If we don't fight for America, where are the poor who gain financial stability and the black folks who rise up above racism and the marginalized who plop right down in the middle of things going to live?
Oh, Canada? Whatever. I hope Canada is game. Or France. Or Greenland.
The Texas Hoss. When I get to heaven, I want to hear them both.
5 comments:
Me too! I think I like the one where Theo gets his ear pierced better, though.
Su
my great aunt and uncle always bought an american flag for their grandkids 16th birthday. Supposedly you can purchase a flag in someone's honor to fly over the capital, and then they mail it to you. My point being, it would never occur to me buy an american flag, fly it in one's honor, and then give it as a present. it does bother me, though. i just don't know what to do about it.
That's wild. I had no idea you could do that. I wonder if it is expensive. I think we just have to have hope. I think that's the big thing. That doesn't mean we have to be blind to the problems in our country, though. We can still be realists.
I'm so glad you posted here!
Su
I would say young people don't 'hate' America, but they are frustrated with it. I know that my ideals of what America is (I might post on that) are not the ideals being held up by our government. I give the American people, on an individual basis, a lot of props for sticking to their beliefs of the American way.
Personally, I consider myself a conservative, but I cannot align my beliefs (small federal government, more localized control, lower taxes, etc) with Bush's conservatism (huge federal power with constant bumps in executive power, big spending on everything, tax cuts to the rich).
But as much as I disagree with the administration, I will always respect the offices and the Constitution. America is a great idea.
I agree, Ersatz. I don't think our current administration is doing what it could to protect the things that make America great.
I just want us, as younger Americans, to have hope for our country. We can't mobilize without hope! Frederica Matthewes-Green recently said that someday we'll look back on abortion like we look back on slavery. I love the hope in that sentiment. (I know that's not quite on topic.)
Anyway, so much has changed for the better in America and I don't want this generation to forget that we can change things just as much as the abolitionists, the suffragettes and the civil rights leaders of the 1960s. It's tough and requires sacrifice, but we can do it!
Su
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