I received an email this week from a friend who was putting his frustration and despair on display. There is little doubt that we older folks are leaving behind some problems we might have thought were in the rearview mirror. But unfortunately, recent events have proven that we haven't moved the needle far enough on issues like racism, social justice, gender equality, income disparity, infrastructure neglect, healthcare availability and cost, and voter protection.
After forty years of slurping the 'trickle-down economy theory' a teaspoon at a time, we recognize its toxicity too late. We literally drove ourselves over the cliff with the climate crisis. Electing a black man as our president did not make things better for all blacks in our society. In fact, it flipped over the rocks and what crawled out was a layer of animosity and fear that was always there but not exhibited. As a result, our roads, sewage systems, electricity grid and freshwater systems are so far in debt it will take a generation or more to bring them back. In Milwaukee, our once envied park system is going to hell in the proverbial handbasket.
Our gerrymandered redistricting has produced a legislature that intends to restrict voting rights, block social justice issues, and fulfill the racist dreams by filling our jails with young black men, so the whitest of us can feel safe.
I tried to reassure my friend that all was not lost. On the contrary, we have reason to place our faith in the younger generation. They appear to have their heads square on their shoulders and, for the moment, have rejected the worst impulses of their elders. One can only hope.
Punderfull Fun.
Well said - I'm watching Chicago eat itself alive.
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