It’s just like you read in your junior high or high school textbooks, if you were of such a mind to actually read the textbook. (Of course, we only read it with the teacher said that we were absolutely going to be tested on the content which was not presented in the lecture.)
The story was always the same: a period of unease and disturbance followed by rising tensions, whether they be taxation, postwar issues, economic collapse, or somesuch stimulus. Then, an incident would occur relatively minor, in the grand scheme of things, but perfectly placed to be the flashpoint for a cascade of visceral reaction by the populace. In our case, during the throes of the initial pandemic era, the so-called president separated himself from the governors Thus splintering the nation into 51 separate parts, 50 states plus the Federal government. Each state became a nation state unto itself and determined its own path during a national crisis. As a Pennsylvanian, I was paying attention not to the federal government, but to the dicta emanating from Harrisburg, in particular the office of Governor Wolf. The main stay on national TV was Governor Cuomo of New York leading his own band in that state.
But in the background lurked a terrible evil, one which has been simmering since before the dawn of the nation as we know it. The fact that a person of color cannot sleep safely in his or her own bed, stand on a street corner, drive a car, or conduct ordinary life without fear of not only harassment, but of DEATH was the tinder and the multiple killings by police were the match. With no leadership, at the federal level especially, this became the inevitable disaster. With a concomitant pandemic and economic collapse coupled with extreme social unrest and fear anything is possible and can occur in a matter of days, not weeks, not months.
In a sane society the central government would recognize this and take steps to minimize the damage, make corrections where they were needed, and attempt to march o. With this Miscreant in the White House this is not going to happen. In fact, it’s going to be a terrible response which will engender more unrest.
I watched television Saturday night in anger and fear, the national reporting showed the corner where my office is at 16th and Walnut Street in Philadelphia as the fire trucks the looters and the police were in constant motion. We are now witnessing the televising of the revolution. The problem is that revolutions often do not result in the desired effect. I learned that in high school as well.
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