Eight Kinds of Sideways

Madame M:

Yes, we are probably too late.  After all, this is the disposable era of momentary spectacle-focus, usually followed by attention deficit.

“A nation of hypocritical immigrants.” Well said.

An irony (there are many) of the upset crowd is that the lyrics to the song itself were written by a woman whom lesbian activists of today claim as a historical lesbian and feminist activists of today claim as a historical feminist.

Blended, synergistic diversity has been America’s promise, and often our success, and yet we keep sabotaging ourselves over it.

America, the Land of SO MANY advantages, seems bent on squandering most of them.

It takes blessings and turns them into curses.

Sees many right answers—and chooses the wrong one.

Has so many opportunities to be grandly noble—and follows pettiness instead.

Lifts up ideals that all can be inspired by—and fails nearly thoroughly in trying to live them.

And manages to twist and pervert even the right ideas it carries forward.

For instance: We have, partially rightly, granted access economically internationally to our markets.  The world does need to share, and the world will be a better place when all the peoples have opportunity —and it will be a much safer place too.  But we the willfully ignorant let it be carried out at our working class and middle class expense while the rich benefit.

We need a society—national and world—that simultaneously allows a decent life for decent work while also permitting the exceptional to be exceptional and reap exceptional rewards.

The concept is not that hard.  There are even some societies that have made some initial strides toward it.  You may have mentioned them in this blog a time or two. :)