|
My parents were of this same generation, born a little later, and the older I get, the more I realize what a treasure that whole New Deal Generation was, and how they left us all with a blueprint for how to conduct a civilized and equitable society and economy. I appreciate what they did, and their whole general attitude toward life, toward politics, more all the time, especially as we are so close to losing so much of it. Their whole attitude was to take care of us, their kids. Be kind to your animals, don't litter, you aren't the only person in the world, and we will always love you--all of this added up to a really great adult/societal attitude.
The civic sense, and along with that the sense of being Democrats, was much stronger then, but has been largely killed by the corporate-media "marketplace of Party choices" propaganda, as if they are all the same, it is all advertising, and the choice is all personal. My middle-class, union family placed such an emphasis on being educated and intelligent about what went on in the world, that we not only understood why, (for example), Lyndon Johnson was a great President--unlike many little teens on this website--but also why Sargent Shriver was a hero (the "War on Poverty" programs, VISTA--domestic Peace Corps--etc.), and why Eunice Shriver was (invented Special Olympics), too. We were taught from a young age to read newspapers (this was back when there were still journalists), and learn the issues. My parents explained things to us, let us know they would always be there, and relied more on conscience than punishment. Right up to the end, when I was taking care of my Mom and she was dying, she handled it all with grace, was still good to people, and tried not to be afraid. I, also, learned how to die, then. I still miss her.
Democrats fought like Democrats then, and came from the middle class, not the "corporate-consulting class," so they sounded like the American people, and reacted against the crimes of big business--instead of having to think about it, and "frame" it! The philosophy that the government is us, that the employees, consumers, etc., need legal protections and rights against the power and threat of the moneyed class, was so obvious, that I remember a time, even during the '70s, when nobody had to "explain" to anybody why there should be regulations for commercial business. Everybody knew, as a general fact that never used to be falsely tied to "partisanship," that Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were the saviors of the Nation, and that Nixon was a crook. You would have been considered some kind of a nut if you had tried to attack somebody for such commonsense opinions.
As a matter of fact, just very recently I have been thinking about all of this a lot--how we have lost our way as a country, by denying the New Deal understanding of things, and replacing it all with phony media-relations of "D"LC, Inc. and the rest, and how we need to get back to it, because they were right. I happened to find a book from 1967 that my Mom had, "The Thirties: America and the Great Depression" by Fon Boardman (yes, Fon), and have been reading it for the past couple of weeks, getting back to a non-corporate common sense understanding of how things happened, partly similar, partly different from today's depression. There was a recent thread on DU about the Depression, and a poster on it recommended the great Studs Terkel's book "Hard Times," the bestselling oral history. I intend to read that next; also bringing me closer to my Mom. These things are suddenly not far away at all anymore.
What has really been making me feel the tragic gulf between today and yesterday, or between the oligarchy and the people, has been the horrific unfolding of events after the explosion at this West Virginia mine, currently going on. The poverty of the people, the violations of management, with no consequences, the sense of neighbors helping neighbors and all feeling first the joy of thinking that there were 12 survivors, then the shock, grief, and anger, of having been lied to, and all but 1 dead. I can't help but think of the contrast between someone from the area right next to the mine, on CNN today, a white male, talking and just giving a very compelling description, full of compassion and details, of how the events happened overnight, the miners being found, people at the Church rejoicing, then the terrible news that the other group was not all alive, as they had said, and the crushing grief. This person made a point of mentioning, as a Christian, that it was disturbing to only find three people praying at the altar for the one dead miner and the family, when a huge crowd was celebrating the "fact" that the others had lived. It hurt that the suffering was ignored so the "miracle" and happiness could be paid attention to. Contrast that with the heartless "plastic people," as they used to call this type (media)--exploiting these people not as a news story, but a moneymaker and ratings grabber, a win with sponsors. They zoomed in whenever someone might cry; cut away when they talked seriously of God. These media sluts themselves told us the remaining miners were all "confirmed alive," it was a "miracle," they were "fine," etc. Then when the truth came out--and that the management of the mine knew they were dead almost immediately and didn't tell it--the media all covered their asses. "Where did this rumor come from--a cell phone call??" they actually asked on the air. No, Anderson Dicksuck, we heard it from you. When talking to a couple of family members angry at the mine owners and their lies, one corporate "reporter" piped up, hopefully: "Do you blame the Governor?" a Democrat, of course. Their answer, "No." These media corporate-climbers, ready to grin at the drop of a hat, contemplating their next silicone injection, wondering how their stocks are doing, never understood these good people in this mining town at all. Those people are us.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
