I thank you for your insightful writing. I don't think it is pointless to express your views. It helps you to get it off your chest. It helps that you are gifted with beautiful, nuanced words. It helps that you know the word "nuance" and can spell it. It helps me to know I am not alone in having similar thoughts. Before the election, I was of the mindset that, "most people are good and things will improve." I was wrong. We are less educated, more influenced by corporate news, and more polarized, and at the end of the day, our selfishness and inability to learn from our mistakes may do us in. But on the tombstone of humanity, it may read, "Died of apathy."
You, in your writing, are a pilot light of hope. A little flicker shining, however dimly against the darkness. Even if there are less of us, we are smart and get shit done. Bruce Cockburn wrote, "Got to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight." And that's what you are doing.
In this late-stage-capitalism, hospice unit we find ourselves in, I hope that people can pull back the curtain on our Wizard of OZ stage and realize it is not so much right versus left as rich and powerful vs poor.
Pitchforks and people hopping the fence at Musk's compound may be what it comes to and I'm not sure I will sit idle.
But put pen to paper and write your heart out. The world needs perspective now and yours is a radiant, shining one. Joe Strummer would be proud of your musings and so am I.
As a survivor of Hurricane Andrew, which you may recall, devastated the city of Miami and points South along the penisula in 1992, I'd like to share some thoughts on disasters. I recalled the same type of comments following that storm. I lost my house and all it's contents. We were taking showers in what little water pressure we could get from the garden hose. The clothes we salvaged from our closets were impregnated with fiberglass insulation (which we didn't realize until an afetrnoon of sweating in them) from the destroyed roof of our home which we found two houses down from ours. My three small boys spent the storm huddled in the bathtub with a mattress over them and my wife and I held shut the bathroom doors for the better part of 5 hours. We discovered we were in the EYE Wall after the third"vortex"(tornado) came thorugh. The following five nights, my family stayed with friends who at least had windows and a roof while I slept atop what was left of mine with firearms by my side, due to looters in the area. Hearing gunfire on and off through the night was normal. Relief came through when trucks could navigate what was left of the roads......a week later. There were complaints about the president not showing up, but they weren't blaming it on everyone in his party. We were thankful in knowing that people were helping but, understanding there were hundreds of thousands in the same boat and some worse off than us. We surely didn't have authority figures in the government running in to blame the opposing party. They came to assess and help. I've heard the comments about it being three months and nothing much has happened there. Miami had debris piles in place and broken, shell of businesses and homes for over two years. This is not meant to desparage such remarks but, to enlighten folks on what to expect when there is such large scale destruction. Complaints about FEMA are childish. They have a plan and it works, maybe it's slow, just due to the numbers of issues involved. The small amount of $750 people were launching off about is misunderstood. They can not just bring in $160 billion dollars in their back pockets to disperse in a week.
First, is to get people something so that they can acquire the Immediate Basics. Most food, clothing and donations came from our surrounding communities and across the country, as I am sure the same took place there. We relied on neighbors helping each other and guess what......they did and it worked. But, be mindful of those from out of your area that want to come help rebuild and supply goods. Florida had to create a special law that made it illegal to transpoort goods into the state and basically rob the people of the aid money they recieved by overpricing to drastic degrees, what they were selling. As much as we are a nation of helping hands, we also share this nation with opportunistic scumbags. Believe me when I say that, I saw many of my friends openly scheme to defraud insurance and the government. I lost touch with many whom I deemed as more of parasites on the attempts of the government honestly trying to help. But then again, we learn more about people during times of stress than at any other. My best advice would be to be patient, stick with those that offer real comfort and help. But, it means little if you do not return the comfort and help. Leave the politics out of it for God's sake. The road ahead will be long and it will not get shorter through accusations and stomping feet. I am glad to hear that you took this subject on. Stay strong my friend.
Sounds like an insane time - glad you made it through. Yeah - I'm not sure why anyone would expect the recovery to be quick. Gonna be a long long time... Thx Tory!
Used to be a disaster would unite us, no matter how divided our philosophies . . . even for just a little while. Now disasters (floods, wildfires, mass shootings, etc.) seem only to elicit anti-benedictions from the fear mongers and haters. As Indigenous wisdom postulates, "hatred walks a path that leads nowhere."
Man o' man, Ang that's some deep, deep poo poo there! REALLY great writing, as evidenced by the fact it made me shake my head and mutter "man o' man". Be safe on your bike and keep up the great writing.
It took 9/11 to bring us together, and it seemed like that was just for a few minutes. It’s just getting worse. Everybody knows it, but it seems we just can’t do anything about it. I wish you the best, Ang.
I thank you for your insightful writing. I don't think it is pointless to express your views. It helps you to get it off your chest. It helps that you are gifted with beautiful, nuanced words. It helps that you know the word "nuance" and can spell it. It helps me to know I am not alone in having similar thoughts. Before the election, I was of the mindset that, "most people are good and things will improve." I was wrong. We are less educated, more influenced by corporate news, and more polarized, and at the end of the day, our selfishness and inability to learn from our mistakes may do us in. But on the tombstone of humanity, it may read, "Died of apathy."
You, in your writing, are a pilot light of hope. A little flicker shining, however dimly against the darkness. Even if there are less of us, we are smart and get shit done. Bruce Cockburn wrote, "Got to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight." And that's what you are doing.
In this late-stage-capitalism, hospice unit we find ourselves in, I hope that people can pull back the curtain on our Wizard of OZ stage and realize it is not so much right versus left as rich and powerful vs poor.
Pitchforks and people hopping the fence at Musk's compound may be what it comes to and I'm not sure I will sit idle.
But put pen to paper and write your heart out. The world needs perspective now and yours is a radiant, shining one. Joe Strummer would be proud of your musings and so am I.
Oh man, thanks for this Matthew. Oh jeez, the hospice unit - great stuff. Now I gotta go listen to The Clash!
As a survivor of Hurricane Andrew, which you may recall, devastated the city of Miami and points South along the penisula in 1992, I'd like to share some thoughts on disasters. I recalled the same type of comments following that storm. I lost my house and all it's contents. We were taking showers in what little water pressure we could get from the garden hose. The clothes we salvaged from our closets were impregnated with fiberglass insulation (which we didn't realize until an afetrnoon of sweating in them) from the destroyed roof of our home which we found two houses down from ours. My three small boys spent the storm huddled in the bathtub with a mattress over them and my wife and I held shut the bathroom doors for the better part of 5 hours. We discovered we were in the EYE Wall after the third"vortex"(tornado) came thorugh. The following five nights, my family stayed with friends who at least had windows and a roof while I slept atop what was left of mine with firearms by my side, due to looters in the area. Hearing gunfire on and off through the night was normal. Relief came through when trucks could navigate what was left of the roads......a week later. There were complaints about the president not showing up, but they weren't blaming it on everyone in his party. We were thankful in knowing that people were helping but, understanding there were hundreds of thousands in the same boat and some worse off than us. We surely didn't have authority figures in the government running in to blame the opposing party. They came to assess and help. I've heard the comments about it being three months and nothing much has happened there. Miami had debris piles in place and broken, shell of businesses and homes for over two years. This is not meant to desparage such remarks but, to enlighten folks on what to expect when there is such large scale destruction. Complaints about FEMA are childish. They have a plan and it works, maybe it's slow, just due to the numbers of issues involved. The small amount of $750 people were launching off about is misunderstood. They can not just bring in $160 billion dollars in their back pockets to disperse in a week.
First, is to get people something so that they can acquire the Immediate Basics. Most food, clothing and donations came from our surrounding communities and across the country, as I am sure the same took place there. We relied on neighbors helping each other and guess what......they did and it worked. But, be mindful of those from out of your area that want to come help rebuild and supply goods. Florida had to create a special law that made it illegal to transpoort goods into the state and basically rob the people of the aid money they recieved by overpricing to drastic degrees, what they were selling. As much as we are a nation of helping hands, we also share this nation with opportunistic scumbags. Believe me when I say that, I saw many of my friends openly scheme to defraud insurance and the government. I lost touch with many whom I deemed as more of parasites on the attempts of the government honestly trying to help. But then again, we learn more about people during times of stress than at any other. My best advice would be to be patient, stick with those that offer real comfort and help. But, it means little if you do not return the comfort and help. Leave the politics out of it for God's sake. The road ahead will be long and it will not get shorter through accusations and stomping feet. I am glad to hear that you took this subject on. Stay strong my friend.
Sounds like an insane time - glad you made it through. Yeah - I'm not sure why anyone would expect the recovery to be quick. Gonna be a long long time... Thx Tory!
Used to be a disaster would unite us, no matter how divided our philosophies . . . even for just a little while. Now disasters (floods, wildfires, mass shootings, etc.) seem only to elicit anti-benedictions from the fear mongers and haters. As Indigenous wisdom postulates, "hatred walks a path that leads nowhere."
Great quote man...
Man o' man, Ang that's some deep, deep poo poo there! REALLY great writing, as evidenced by the fact it made me shake my head and mutter "man o' man". Be safe on your bike and keep up the great writing.
thx for reading it!
It took 9/11 to bring us together, and it seemed like that was just for a few minutes. It’s just getting worse. Everybody knows it, but it seems we just can’t do anything about it. I wish you the best, Ang.
thx tony!