I'm Pretty Sure that Hopelessness is Not the Best Choice.

 

Subscribe to My Blog! July 25, 2022 I'm Pretty Sure that Hopelessness is Not the Best Choice PREVIOUS BLOGS: TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED. PODCASTS, EVENTS, INFO, POSTERS: LilithTheater.com Image from Shutterstock.com Lately, my friends have been expressing despair about the world, and especially our own little corner of it, the U.S. of A. On Sunday, I started my day by checking my email. My friend and Bloggelini Evelyn had written me to declare:  "My head splits open a little more every day, when I hear the endless platitudes that follow each massacre. Me? I’m over this country. Oh, I will vote and be engaged, but I have no hope that that we are not at the end cycle of our capitalist democracy. I predict another civil war, tho not, I think in my lifetime....  I can’t say more. I have a watercolor class on zoom and that’s about where I am at in my history. I know you have the energy to get really angry and active, but not me. I am done!" I pondered what to say in reply. But before I could figure that out, my friends, a lesbian couple, picked me up to drive to Mountain Lake Park for a walk with our total of three poodles. As we walked, they told me about their recent trip to Holland, France and Belgium. They're freaked out by what's happening here, are considering just pulling up stakes and moving to one of these smaller, saner countries. Wouldn't it make sense to flee this American mess and continue bringing up their son in a more rational and compassionate country that had, for example, socialized medicine and free higher education? My position is this: The U.S. has so much power that it effects the whole world. An example of our power: Our invasion of Iraq, the catastrophe that keeps on giving. BUT the people of the world have very little ability to affect what the United States does. Only we, the citizens, have a chance of effecting change in this country. Many of us believe our country must offer equal opportunity for all & take care of those in need. Many of us believe the invasion of Iraq was a horrible tragedy that must not be repeated. We have a responsibility to the rest of the world to stay here & keep working on change HERE. We cannot abandon the problems in the U.S. Morally, we cannot say that we are "done." And there are good things happening too! 1.The Pope is visiting Canada to apologize for crimes the Church committed against native children! (I see reparations in the future.) 2.The descendants of Black people, who owned and developed a beach in Southern California that was stolen from them by the government, have just gotten that beach back! 3.There are a lot of incredible progressives in Congress right now -- and some of them are even white men! 4.And don't forget the hearings of the January 6 Committee, which have entertained and enlightened and horrified us with their revelations. The truth is that the White Supremacists are agitated BECAUSE we have actually moved forward. They must have been asleep at the wheel when gay people got the right to marry and women got the right to control their own bodies. There's a Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times." We are, for better or worse, living in interesting times. We are called to do what we can, to do SOMETHING. For now, here are two petitions to sign. Petitions are symbolic acts. But they have made a difference many times: This is to urge the Democrats in Congress to fill all the 60 empty judgeships before the end of the year, after which they might not have a majority. Click here for the petition. This is a petition by the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) to the White House demanding that Biden do whatever he can to bring Brittney Griner home from Russia. Griner, a professional basketball player in the WNBA, was playing off-season in Russia and was arrested for possession of a small amount of hash oil. Putin is making the most of the situation. There's lots more info on Griner's cause on the petition page. Click here to sign. All for now, Bloggelinis mine. And Evelyn, if you're painting watercolors instead of changing the world, I want to see those watercolors! Terry

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