General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I am not posting this for the purpose of getting either sympathy or suggestions. I just think [View all]Bradshaw3
(7,521 posts)I think a lot of people of a certain age are feeling the way you describe. We've gone from the goals of peace and love to this miasma of fascism, might makes right, and intentional ignorance we're in today. I've always been interested in politics and seen ups (post Watergate when the bad guys went to jail and the Church committee tried to reign in our foreign adventures, and electing our first Black President) and downs (Reagan, the Bush wars and then the POS). And now the sicknesses of greed, racism and hate have been emboldened to bring their pathology to the rest of us. We have to deal with their destruction of the Golden Rule in our everyday lives, as well as the destruction of the Social Contract that is a pillar of our democracy. It is discouraging.
Like you I feel like I have often been a fool for believing in the basic goodness of people and that our country was headed in the right direction. Now I wonder if it will survive another 20 years as the imperfect beacon it was. I've had several friends my age express the same feeling that we are glad we lived when we did. That's a sad way to feel and I kind of feel guilty for thinking that way. But there it is.
As others have pointed out here, there are many great things to celebrate and that are moving in the right direction. We just have to keep moving them that way and hope the younger people continue to get more and more involved. Plus, we just can't let these assholes win. Bullies want us to quit and fascism depends on it. We have to keep fighting.