America has reached a massive fork in the road. One path leads us to civil war, race riots, totalitarianism, and religious bigotry. The other path leads us to an uneasy peace, future generations marginally less bigoted than we are, and perhaps a grudging acceptance that we’re in this together. Progress moves not linearly, but by inches. It’s always a two steps forward, one step back kind of deal. In one decade, Barack Obama wasn’t allowed to sit at the lunch counter. In another decade, he was President.
Having been raised in the wilds of northern Minnesota by Lutherans, I was subjected early to the old "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down" ethos. Having traveled in Iceland and Norway and written a book in which I discussed the Norwegian social system at some length, I'm less convinced than my countrymen that America is still #1. I'm becoming progressively more convinced that America is becoming the precursor for a series of Mad Max sequels.
Holy crap, so those movies freaked you out, too? I was so disturbed and horrified, I had to stop watching. Because I could TOTALLY see that happening in the U.S. In a way, it already is.
Thank you for this article. It feels very accurate. It’s been increasingly hard for me to feel comfortable living in the US. The misunderstanding and elevation of personal freedom is the heartbreaking issue for me. I am not optimistic that people here will get it, that your freedom ends where the freedom of others begins. Or that we are truly dependent on each other, or that it’s not all about “me”, but about “us”. Way too much ego and too much selfishness, too much importance on wealth, too much “ I’ve got mine (wealth), but I don’t want you to have yours. I am so disappointed that we can’t see the forest (or lack of it, thank you global warming) from the trees.
You understand everything, Harrison. That is exactly the point I'm trying to make. Like you, I'm not optimistic. Our reckoning will come, most assuredly, but maybe not our wisdom. And I blame much of that divisiveness and willful ignorance on Fox News.
Having been raised in the wilds of northern Minnesota by Lutherans, I was subjected early to the old "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down" ethos. Having traveled in Iceland and Norway and written a book in which I discussed the Norwegian social system at some length, I'm less convinced than my countrymen that America is still #1. I'm becoming progressively more convinced that America is becoming the precursor for a series of Mad Max sequels.
Holy crap, so those movies freaked you out, too? I was so disturbed and horrified, I had to stop watching. Because I could TOTALLY see that happening in the U.S. In a way, it already is.
Yeah, the “Mad Max” genre was less fiction than predictive (pre)documentaries. It’s time we embraced it.
Thank you for this article. It feels very accurate. It’s been increasingly hard for me to feel comfortable living in the US. The misunderstanding and elevation of personal freedom is the heartbreaking issue for me. I am not optimistic that people here will get it, that your freedom ends where the freedom of others begins. Or that we are truly dependent on each other, or that it’s not all about “me”, but about “us”. Way too much ego and too much selfishness, too much importance on wealth, too much “ I’ve got mine (wealth), but I don’t want you to have yours. I am so disappointed that we can’t see the forest (or lack of it, thank you global warming) from the trees.
You understand everything, Harrison. That is exactly the point I'm trying to make. Like you, I'm not optimistic. Our reckoning will come, most assuredly, but maybe not our wisdom. And I blame much of that divisiveness and willful ignorance on Fox News.
Agreed. Foxx news is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who is Australian.. Is he even a US citizen?
That man could buy anything, including a US citizenship. But I do find it ironic and ALMOST funny that we were done in by an Aussie.