Don't Be a Sucker

In my little corner of the world I got the results from my lab tests today, sent documentation to our lawyer about the contractor malfeasance, and generally moved along. I had a wonderful date night out with my spouse where we played Hive and only talked a little bit about politics. I read an article in the NY Times today about China's drive toward technological dominance and intellectual property and mentioned it to Dave, and then I headed down the Trump-Is-Evil-Scum path bringing up fracking, coal, the diminishing of solar and wind power in this country and their rise in China. That discussion was maybe 10 minutes out of the 24 hours of my day and it was the only thing I did that was not completely centered on my tiny life. No, that's not quite true. I did watch the entire anti-fascism film "Don't Be a Sucker" made by the War Department in 1947 that Bill linked to on his Facebook feed. I had previously seen the much shorter edited version that Al Jazeera English put out. It's worthwhile to watch the entire clip. Nevertheless, I didn't give a thought to Charlottesville, Trump's ongoing twit idiocy, or Heather Heyer.

When I sat down to write this post tonight I was going to delve into the intricacies of my vitamin B12 deficiency, newly diagnosed diabetes, and the news from the doctor that I have the liver of a teetotaling teenager (I wonder when she'll want it back?). I was going to mention some of the current issues with the contractor litigation, show off the progress I made on my hollow-form jewelry project last night, and ramble on a bit about the upcoming Tour de Hives. But the ugliness of current days overwhelmed me, and I couldn't continue the banal little post I had started.

There are serious things happening in our country now--more so than in a very long time. (Cynthia Morgan posted a link on Facebook to Jim Wright's post on his blog Stonekettle Station about the late '60's and George Wallace. I don't remember that time--I was too young, and I lived in Western Montana. Maybe had I lived in a city that burned or even had large populations of minorities--any minorities--I would remember more.) There is an alarming amount of hatred, bigotry, stupidity, and the rise of the lowest common denominator not only in this country but in the world. Though I can't keep up the level of moral outrage that the times deserve, every once in awhile I have to stand up and be counted as one of the outraged and to acknowledge that I am very privileged, and with great privilege comes great responsibility. I will not forsake my neighbor, I will continue to stand against injustice and prejudice, and if necessary, I will march. I don't know where I'll march to, but I'll march and I'll vote.