Turkey with sides of humility, regret, and hope

 Thanksgiving Day has always been anticipated as a day to enjoy turkey and other great food and always with someone(s) I love.  This year the truth underlying that casual assumption has been laid bare.  The assumption is not casual at all.  For some there will not be any turkey or great food for there will be no food at all.  For some, they will not be able to be with a loved one in person or not at all.  The pandemic has wrecked havoc on a cherished belief.  However, I am very grateful that many of us will be able to reach out and see family and friends thru Zoom and other video means.  That's the turkey, the meat of the meal and day.

The side of humility concerns the humbleness I feel and have felt since April for all those people doing their jobs - the medical workers, the janitors, the truck drivers, the researchers, the shelf stockers, the bus drivers, the teachers, and way more.   I am in awe to your dedication and perseverance.  Thank you is all I can offer in return but it is deeply heartfelt.

The side of regret concerns all the little actions and words I said that made someone feel less than.  When I was younger, regret was all about the big actions or decisions that had major consequences for myself or someone else.  I have beat myself up enough and can't atone for them anyway.  So, my priorities have shifted to just trying to be a nicer, more polite person each day. Success is seeing a smile on someone's face (eyes now) each day.

The side of hope concerns the prospect of one or more vaccines arriving soon.  It appears all that dedication by scientists have paid off.  Now it's up to governments and community health services to deliver it across the globe effectively.  Before the election I had faith the vaccines would be created but little hope they would be distributed without a big mess.  It will still be difficult and complicated but I believe that from the top down fair and effective distribution will be a priority task.  Making the world safe from COVID19 will be the goal not cash in someone's pocket.

Happy Thanksgiving One and All in this strange and terrifying year. 

 

A revolution by any other name

Speaking my bias up front: I do not like the Trump presidency and did not vote for him.  There are many reasons and I fervently hope he is not re-elected in November 2020.  So, I have been watching the political campaigning by the candidates of the Democratic Party, hoping to find one I really can support even though I know in my heart of hearts, no matter who it is, I will vote for that person.  I've been hoping the candidate won't be as aged as I am but I really don't care because what I want is someone who will NOT take away social programs that benefit the poor and middle class and will NOT harm the rule of law, which is a fundamental social mechanism that has had egregious failures in the past but overall drives us to a more just, equitable society over time. 

I am a dyed in the wool feminist and fairly progressive for my age.  I would be so happy to see the ERA finally added to the US Constitution but here is the revolution I am going to cite -- the feminist one.  It has been a quiet one that has taken most of my lifetime but is almost complete.  Yes, I know we haven't elected a woman as president of the USA but it will happen inevitably.  The difference in opportunity and basic respect and expectations for a woman graduating from high school in 1965 and now is strikingly stark.  Yes, I can hear you on the left saying "Well, that's true if you are white!".  I think its true no matter your ethnicity or skin color.  Yes, it will be harder if you are not "white", but is still doable.  Having a goal of becoming a presidential candidate was laughable in 1965 but not now.

The feminist revolutionaries were very noisy in the beginning with "bra burning" and "witches of Wall Street and the Chicago Stock Exchange".  So noisy and boisterous that the ERA almost became part of the US Constitution.  It stalled but the revolution didn't.  Small policy changes in law, banking, politics, education, health care etc have added up to a big revolution.  And, the fight should never stop.

Thus, I would like those progressives who started out noisily in the 2016 campaign as Sanders supporters to learn from my experience and US history since the '60's.  Please don't throw shade on candidates who aren't as "woke" [shudder] as you would like.  It is more important to win the White House in 2020 and the Senate and the House and state legislatures than any immediate goals to upend the institutions you see as supporting the status quo.  Right now, wielding power in the White House is someone whose goal was the deconstruction of those institutions.  Trump is succeeding at that goal.  Stepping into the vacuum created is greed and corruption, because that is what happens with fast revolutions without the rule of law constraining them.

Learn from the old feminists.  Be practical and go for a "cold" war.  It works and you have to stop the slide into the abyss before you can start up the slope towards greater equality, opportunity, and respect.