Do you hope, or do you wish, when you think about the future?

[whatever4]

Just some rambling thoughts I wanted to share.

What I wish

Remember when we used to wish for things like a nicer house, or a better job?

Does anyone find themselves wishing for different things now? Like, a less insane and greedy government? Like, another nation to run to? A plan?

Anyone find themselves getting lost between the things they used to aspire to, dream of and try for...and what they now wish WAS not so. Wish my nation was not so violent, wish the prisons were not overflowing, wish we were not so foolishly dumping every provision of the constitution we held dear? Remember the futures we hoped for, but in may ways, feel there is no hope?

It seems now, survival is the only reasonable thing to wish *for*. A reasonable level of survival. It seems pathetically UNreasonable to believe our futures will be any other way.

Global warming, peak oil, depleted uranium, housing bubble, unemployment, outsourcing, health care lack and health care problems abounding, mental health at the bottom of any measure, wars and terrorism, spying and free speech, a president that lives in an insane bubble, and a nation wigged out on legal drugs, illegal drugs, and every other sleep deprived, overworked, overstressed, underpaid variation you can think of but slavery. And with the prisons overflowing with young black men, is slavery really gone? Or just another name? If your race predetermines how VERY likely you are to wind up in prison...what is it? Just unfortunate? Hardly. Soldiers being lied to, forced into a war, returning not the same. A nation divided, and in the midst of it all, simple-minded idiots telling us to concern ourselves with the family values of "others", targeting abortion, as if murders by women were to blame for ANY of our problems, as if there are not terrible and lengthy disconnections between the people that don't want their babies and the couples that want to adopt. Schools failing, churches being funded by our tax dollars, so they can further interfere with the family values of "others".

I was in a church the other day, for my son's music class presentation. Parents, grandparents, cameras, the whole bit. A church must be the most economical place to hold such things, nowadays. A church is now apparently where they hold MOST such things, as a parent attending such functions.

Not a church we're members of. A church with a pin up board. I looked at the fliers. They were about how horrified a father was that his son heard about gay people and gay married couples in school. That is their focus, their concern. NOTHING about the war was up in THAT church. Not one damn word about the war.

That is the life these monsters have crafted for us. We HAVE to attend church in some form now, as going along with the program of the public school system. And this is only one small example among many more.

As if no one has ever been killed, discriminated against or targeted in any way over religion. NO, it's all about god, it's all good, no controversy there, right?

Sure. America.


Remember your dreams and hopes? What do you hope for now? A long life? I'm not sure I hope for that anymore either, and that being said, civilization? I think I was right in preferring anarchy all along. We've been led down a golden path, right to the butcher.

Those of us that see it...do you wish you had a little part left of the real America that you could move to? That the monsters could not touch? Like what the individual states used to be, does anyone else find themselves wishing such a place existed? Is anyone else finding themselves letting go of their dreams and hopes, and instead just wishing? Wising for things we never thought we'd have to wish for? Fighting the negative influences and attitudes, but losing the battle over hopes, losing hope, left only with wishes?

[justinsb]

1. Neither really, I just work.

For the best future I can, for today to be better than yesterday even if only for a few, even if only in small ways.

[On the Road]

2. As Chuck Palahniuk Wrote in "Invisible Monsters,"

"When did the future go from being a promise to being a threat?"

I still don't know, but it was sometime after the technological euphoria of the International Geophysical Year.

[whatever4]

3. I have to wonder how common it is. To those who think, it's undeniable nt

[BiggJawn]

4. Neither. I cry.

The America I learned about in grade school no longer exists. the "American Dream" is a fucking NIGHTMARE, and everything I learned in high school Civics class has been turned on its head and discounted big time.

Just waiting for my town to tell me that I need to dig a well and a privy outside m apartment because they can't afford to supply water or sewer service anymore....

and this will be the next fashion craze, Snoods and stockings. No Codpieces, THOSE are for your "betters"....

[wli]

5. less than wishes

I'm very afraid of these fascists who have hijacked all three branches of the federal government. The impending natural and economic catastrophes would be bearable if people weren't so cruel.

These days I'm a lot less concerned about making something good happen than I am about avoiding something bad happening. I'm scared the government will blow their own people up in a false flag operation, including me. I'm scared the government will lock up their own people, including me, and throw away the key for no good reason, with no trial. I'm scared they're going to do the same things to their own people, including me, that they're doing in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. I'm scared because they're already doing all of these things to their own people, and it's only a matter of time before I'm the target.

The real terrorists are in the White House.

[bigtree]

6. both, absolutely

and I value moments in time also. Despite the ignorant way man sets himself against man (and woman, etc.), and despite the indifference we sometimes practice towards the needs and concerns of others, I still believe that the fact of life itself, our mere existence, and the existence of other life around us, and our ability to interact with that life, is amazing enough to motivate me to hope and wish for the future.

[raccoon]

7. Great post.

I don't have much optimism about the future of the US. I only hope things don't get TOO bad.

One thing I wish is there were not so much emphasis on wealth in the media. What I'm talking about is, on TV, movies, and in novels as well, so often the main characters are wealthy. Seems to me this started in the 80s or thereabouts.

I wish the "mainstream media" would do decent news coverage, instead of one-sided coverage and stupid stories about Michael Jackson and the runaway brides.

"Like, a less insane and greedy government? Like, another nation to run to?"

Yes to both.

And I wish we had more political parties whose candidates could actually GET ELECTED. Both our major parties belong to big business.

"And with the prisons overflowing with young black men, is slavery really gone? Or just another name?"

No and Yes. I believe one of the main reasons for the so-called “War on Drugs” is to disenfranchise the underclass, especially blacks.

"Remember your dreams and hopes? What do you hope for now?"

Now I just hope things don’t get too awfully bad. I don’t see things getting better, not much better anyway. Things were already bad and the Bush junta just f*cked them up unbelievably.

I hope we can get the Republicans out of power.

I hope some of the Bush supporters will wake up and see how royally we are being screwed.

"We've been led down a golden path, right to the butcher."

No question about it.

[whatever4]

8. Thanks for all those responses. I think we need a community...

That's what I keep on coming back to, over and over again. Like minded people, in *this* environment, they should congregate. For safety. For sanity. Be nice if there was a real "place" for that. I guess that's what I really wish for anymore, a place to go, since this is rapidly turning into *not* the place to be.

Wouldn't it be nice to walk outside your front door and talk to your neighbors the way we can talk here? My neighbors, the lawn-n-garden types, we don't seem to get along well. But they had no problem yesterday with letting their kids play with firecrackers, on the littlest one's pet turtle, poor kid can't stop his bigger brothers and friends from doing that stuff. Turtle lived. The kids, I figure they'll end up in Iraq. My kid, not out there with them, by design. That is our world, now. The people we live by, Christian, neat and tidy, picture perfect neighborhood. While the little monsters blow up turtles.

[marions ghost]

9. I resent the fact

that we cannot just live our lives in peace and deal with our everyday problems without being asked to "save democracy" on top of it. I resent this just about everyday. I understand exactly the state of mind you describe so well, whatever4. But I'm also very convinced that if we don't TRY to do something, we will become even more downtrodden. With what power we do have left, we must fight. There is no insulation from this hard cold fact once you realize it. No place to hide. Denial is even more stressful.

Even while the task is huge I refuse to imagine a downward slope...a decline into misery and depression for the rest of my life. Instead I envision the better world that could (could) also evolve out of this pit of despair. There will be opportunities. I am very disturbed that the primary way this current regime has moved into power is through the Christian churches, and I think it is past time for people identifying as Christians to fight back against this particular hijacking (google Jacksonville Declaration--a positive step). Of course the real political agenda is not about Christian values--far from it. Meanwhile the rest of us must not lose hope--dare I say faith--that we have power too. A mantra I say everyday is "WE have a mandate..." to turn this ship of fools around--to make this country NOT ONLY better for our children but better for ourselves!--right now. Don't get used to being behind the 8-ball. Don't just think of survival. Think of what WE want and deserve. Set goals. Make it concrete. Make our network as strong as any rightwing fundie camp. Support our fighters, on the national scale & also on the local scale. Don't let go of the vision of what we want and have every right to expect in a Democracy.