The Bunny in the Bramble Patch

The Blog March is on! Organized by Robin Renee, we are blogging in celebration of freedom of expression, knowledge and information.

Each Day in May, a new writer will join the March. Visit Robin Renee’s blog to read more about the Blog March, and find the master list of blog marchers.

May 1 is Kevin Patterson, and May 3 will be Domino Valdano.

I’m the marcher for May 2. Thanks for marching along with me.

Yesterday was May First. Celebrated as International Worker’s Day, it’s the cross-quarter day between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice.

When I was a child, we celebrated May Day by creating paper “May baskets” and hanging them on the doors of neighbors and loved ones. Later, I discovered this tradition was a holdover from the Pagan celebration of Beltane, or Beltaine.

As a young adult, I began celebrating Beltane with my friends, complete with a Maypole. When my son was born on May 4, Beltane became a time to celebrate his birthday, too.

For my son’s third birthday, my friends and I agreed to gather at Kettletown State Park in Connecticut for a celebration. There would be birthday cake and games for the kids, guitars, drums and wine for the adults, and a pot luck picnic for everyone.

We all brought colorful ribbons, and my friends who had a truck brought a large pole.

The Maypole dance was the focal point of the day. We laughed, danced, drummed and chanted our way around the pole, weaving the ribbons in and out. Kids blew bubbles and pulled their younger siblings in wagons around the outer circle, joined by our family dogs, gleeful to be part of the festivities.

Afterwards, a few of us walked up to the meadow beyond the space we had claimed, where we saw another group also celebrating Beltane.

This group was dressed all in black and white robes.  Their Maypole was a solemn affair, with black and white alternating ribbons. They moved with precision, creating an equal balance of light and dark as they danced silently with each other.

We marveled that, in this small Connecticut town, there were two groups celebrating Beltane in the same park. Our two groups could not have been any more different. One, somber, precise and traditional, in black and white. The other, playful and colorful, in tie-dye.

At the end, one Maypole stood woven in black and white, the other was a mishmash of rainbows.

Neither of these was the right way to celebrate Beltane, nor was either the wrong way.  One way appealed to my friends and me, the other way appealed to our new friends.

Our two groups enjoyed a conversation and a beverage together, and then we each continued our own celebrations.

We didn’t argue about the one true way to celebrate Beltane, nor suggest that anyone’s deities or ancestors might be offended. We shared a drink, enjoyed our commonalities and honored our differences.

Folks all around the world seem to have a hard time doing what we so naturally did that day nearly 23 years ago – enjoying the things we have in common and finding ways to work together despite our differences. In some ways, our divisions seem to have a dangerous new intensity. Worse, those divisions seem to be fueled by the proliferation of fake news and alternative facts. When truth is only a matter of opinion, it’s easy to confuse people into swallowing a party line rather than making reasoned decisions.

There are many unprecedented components that seemed to have contributed to our current state of division, as a nation and as a planet. Digital media, the 24-hour news cycle, and significant wage disparity all seem factors in our growing division and distrust.

There is also a longstanding aspect of human nature that may require some evolution if we are going to become a peaceful planet with a sustainable future.  

That aspect is our binary world view. We are trained to view everything in terms of good versus bad, and us versus them.

Binary is a basic concept of our existence. As young people, we learn about opposites in absolute terms. The black and white ribbons and robes of the Maypole express this energy of balance between opposites.

When we look at today’s problems, and perhaps, our problems throughout history, we see that much trouble may come from that polarity of our thinking which naturally divides us.

Sometimes we don’t find solutions in the black and white, we need to look to the full spectrum for answers.

We see the obvious problems with a binary world view in our own American two-party political process. Perhaps America is too complex to be labeled as simply “conservative” or “liberal”, “red” or “blue”.

That polarity led us to our unwinnable election. With all the talent and intelligence in the United States, we ended up with a choice between the Pumpkin and the Pantsuit. It may as well have been a choice between Zap Brannigan and Mom from Futurama, or President Snow and President Coin from The Hunger Games. South Park echoed our frustration with a plot line about an election between “Giant Douche” and “Turd Sandwich”.

Maybe the system of absolutes, where your only options are on or off, one or zero, male or female, up or down, doesn’t always work in a diverse world.

Perhaps as we evolve as a species, binary needs to break down. Perhaps we need more than two major political parties. Maybe we need to find fluidity between two poles, rather than being stuck on one end or the other.

That fluidity can be helpful in navigating the wide set of human experiences. When it comes to separating fact from fiction in our world of fake news and alternative facts, though, fluidity doesn’t seem to serve truth.

One of the greatest of all binaries is true versus false. It also the one to which people are most likely to add artificial fluidity when it serves their agenda.

There are different kinds of truths, too.

There are quantifiable truths, such as how many people attended an event.

There are philosophical truths such as “all people are created equal” which, clearly some do not hold as truth.

There’s the truth of what happened in a particular moment, where each person’s perception colors their version of the event. We see this on a grand scale when we watch the news-as-entertainment cable stations each highlight and present news stories in a way that obviously favors their political leaning.

We all experience things differently, and perceive things differently.

Pete Seeger used say that truth was like a “rabbit in a bramble patch.” You can point at it, you can circle around it, you know it’s in there somewhere, but it’s impossible to get your hands around it’s furry, squirmy body.

That we can’t always identify truth scares some people. Those people often find comfort in dogmatic religions and authoritarian leaders – the very things that suppress the truth by feeding us doctrine.

As a society, we complicate our search for truth by raising our children to confuse myth with fact, training generation after generation to believe the fantastic over the logical.

There is something within us that causes us to long for answers, to feel safe identifying with a group, and to cling to stories that support our beliefs, even if neither the stories nor beliefs reflect actual truth.

In the end, our survival as a species may depend on our ability to move beyond our “us and them” mentality, and to understand that we will never all share the same perspective, and we will never agree on what is true. Yet, we can still find a way to live and work together.

As black and white breaks into the spectrum of rainbow possibilities, there is only one binary set that remains. It’s not the eternal struggle between good and evil – that has always been a false construct based on perspective.

The one binary that becomes defining of our precarious future is love versus fear. These are true opposites.

If we focus on fear, those loose boundaries will terrify us, perhaps, ultimately, to the point of our own extinction.

If we focus on love over fear, we can maybe agree on the important truths, like basic human rights. We can learn to tolerate our differences around the smaller truths, like how we worship and what we value.

Some of us had, at one time, imagined and longed for a future in the crunchy granola world that Marlo Thomas sang about during the 1970s; that land where we were all free to be you and me.

That future vision turned out not to be so one-size-fits-all.

Now, when we look to the future, our vision of utopia needs to be replaced with a new paradigm where we simply get along and respect each other.

Perhaps, If we each strive to love more than we fear, we can end this time of division, and all agree that the bunny is alive and well in the bramble patch. 

Thanks for joining Blog March 2017! Make sure you march along each day this month to see what all the contributors have to say!

An Eagle Needs Two Wings to Fly

I usually enjoy election season. Voting is like being a soldier in a bloodless revolution every few years. Of course, my chosen candidates don’t always win, but, to me, that’s not really the point. I don’t think patriotism can exist without participation, and voting is the clearest way to actively participate in the process. That sometimes less than fifty percent of eligible voters actually show up at the polls sickens me. So often, those who don’t vote still manage to loudly voice political opinions, without realizing how badly they, themselves, have failed their country by avoiding their electoral responsibility.

I have always loved political discourse. Over the past few years, that sort of intelligent conversation with people who share differing views seems to be less and less possible. Where once we seemed to understand that free speech meant listening to each other rather than yelling at each other, most forums of discourse (including presidential debates) now resemble kindergarten sandbox brawls.

I’m embarrassed by our behavior on the world stage. I am stunned that necessary compromise is often seen as weakness instead of strength, and that growth in understanding is often seen as disloyalty, as if, once formed, opinions should never change or evolve.

One thing that strikes me is the amount of name-calling and disrespect that people hurl at each other over political differences. When I ask proponents of particular ideologies to enumerate their opponents’ reasons for disagreeing with their stances, the answers I hear, invariably, are insults that show no understanding of the issues.

“They don’t agree because they are stupid.”

“They are simply filled with hatred”.

“They are lazy people who want free stuff.”

“They are evil”.

“They just hate America”.

If a person cannot make an argument for their position without name-calling and finger-pointing, how valid can their position possibly be?

If a person doesn’t take the time to understand their opposition’s point of view, how can they effectively represent their own interests, and how evolved can their own stance really be?

It’s impossible to consider American politics without thinking about the political spectrum which we describe as right and left, or more recently and more divisively, as blue and red.

I think all countries function best when there is a balance between the left and the right, and when both sides can compromise and work together. That we have villainized those who try to cross the isle in Washington to do just that is a sign of how sick we have become.

The question is, how did we get to this place of pedantic name-calling, and how can we fix it?

I believe the political spectrum describes natural human traits, all of which are needed for the survival of the community.

Virtually every American has the best interest of their country at heart. We may disagree about what is best for our country, but we all want our country to be the best it can be. We have to use that understanding to treat each other with the respect that has sadly gone out of style.

Imagine a small village in ancient times. Within that village, different people would have different personalities, and would be concerned about different things.

Some folks would be primarily concerned with the safety of the village. They might worry that a neighboring village would invade. They might be concerned that the village would have enough food and fuel for the winter.

These folks, concerned with security and basic resources, would take responsibility to guard the village, and make sure the food storehouses were full and safe.

Other folks wouldn’t find it in their nature to be so worried about safety. Their primary interest might be the general well-being of the population.  They might concern themselves with educating the children, entertaining the community and providing care to the sick and injured. They would be able to effectively minister to the well-being of the community because those security-conscious people kept the community and its resources safe.

The security people, likewise, would understand and appreciate the value that the education, medicine and entertainment brought to the community.

In our modern American society, those concerned with security are likely to identify as Republican, or “Red”, while those concerned with health care, education and general well-being are likely to identify as Democrat, or “Blue”.

In our mythical village, it is clear that neither type of person is evil. It’s clear that the community needs both types of people to thrive.

Here in the US, we have plenty of Blue people, and plenty of Red people. So why aren’t we thriving?

I think there are three specific reasons our precious eagle’s wings are so battered we can’t fly.

1.       Dumbing Down America

There was a time in our nation’s recent history when we really valued education. After Sputnik, the race to the moon was on. We won that race by making quality education a national priority. Arguably, an unintended secondary result was the youth movement of the 1960s. Since then, education has been vilified as “elitist” and “unnecessary”.

2.       Changes in News and Media

Cable news and the 24-hour news cycles has removed all hope for unbiased reporting, and replaced it with news-as-entertainment. This forms the conversations we have at the water cooler and online, without actually informing anyone.

3.       Mixing Religion and Politics

In any country, it’s often the most superstitious, extreme religious sects who want to frame and lead the national conversation. Let’s face it, if you believe that God sends natural disasters, war and illness as a punishment for particular behaviors, you are going to make preventing those behaviors a matter of national security.

While our national conversation has always honored a Higher Power, the hijacking of the Right Wing to serve the agenda of Evangelical Christianity was craftily planned and executed, much to the disappointment of many right wing politicians and moderate Christians.

In 1994, far-right Republican Senator Barry Goldwater, said, “Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.”

 Goldwater’s words seem eerily prophetic today.

We have to respect the belief sets of others. At the same time, suggesting that we should elect officials who will prevent an angry God from punishing our nation makes as much sense as sacrificing a virgin to ensure a good harvest.

We can see how the confluence of these three problems have created the problems we face today.  Perhaps we can blame our unwillingness to fund education, to truly understand world events and to legislate according to the needs of the people rather than the perceived demands of an angry God, on one huge American problem.

What is that huge problem?

It’s greed.

Over the years, the wage gap between the heads of corporations and their lowest-paid workers has increased dramatically. We’re OK with that, because even the poorest of us is trained to admire the wealthy, and to believe that they, too, could one day be a member of that millionaire’s club.

Perhaps, the fundamental reason our national community is so dysfunctional is that we are all working to create wealth for just a few people. It happens that those people own the media, so they get to shape the conversation that keeps us in a place of fear.

We can thwart their efforts.

Turn off the television, and talk with your neighbor. Listen to people who disagree with you. Don’t quote soundbites, discuss issues.

Educate yourself about issues by reading material from many different sources. And yes, I said READ. Don’t watch cable news and believe yourself to be “informed”.

Don’t share inflammatory memes on social media unless you are willing to have polite conversation about your views, and listen to opposing views.

Resist the urge to unfriend people on social media who disagree with you. Perhaps, instead, you could find common ground with them, or learn something from them.

Honor folks with conservative values for their real concern for our safety and security.

Honor folks with liberal values for their real concern for our overall well-being.

We need both the left and the right in order to thrive. Let’s respect each other and work together. If we can learn to do this as average citizens, perhaps our elected leaders might follow our example.

It is possible to be united as a nation, even when our citizens hold diverse beliefs and values. 

Not only is this sort of unity possible, it is absolutely vital. 

Equal Pay for Equal Work is a Terrifying Notion

I became aware of gender discrimination when I was a child in kindergarten in the 1960s. It happened because of a fabulous toy that suspended wooden airplanes on a metal track. Every day during playtime a group of boys grabbed the airplane toy before I could get to it.

On this one particular day when I checked the toy shelf I found the airplane toy still there. The boys were playing with a new toy that involved cars. Finally, the airplanes were mine!

I sat down with the toy, but before I got to play with it my teacher came running over.

 “Chrissie, dear, that toy is for the boys. I am sure there are some boys who want to play with it. Let’s put that back and find you a good toy for girls.”

I was hurt and angry, but I did as I was instructed. It didn’t make sense to me that there could be such privilege for one gender, and such injustice for the other.

That night my mother confirmed it. Women were not treated fairly, and had been fighting for their rights for years. Mom agreed that girls could play with airplanes, and even fly real airplanes. She also reminded me that my teacher was very old and might not understand that beliefs about what girls could do were changing.

When I was a teenager in the 1970s I subscribed to Ms. Magazine, wore tee shirts with feminist slogans and joined marches and protests. In the early 1980s I worked for the National Women’s Political Caucus campaigning for the ill-fated Equal Rights Amendment.

There was a song we used to sing which discussed the economic inequality of the genders. It was called Fifty-Nine Cents, a reference to the fact that, at the time, women made fifty-nine cents for every dollar earned by a man in the United States.

I bring up that equal rights anthem because of a remark made by President Obama in his State of the Union address this week.

“You know, today, women make up about half our workforce, but they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns," Obama said. "That is wrong, and in 2014, it's an embarrassment. Women deserve equal pay for equal work."

That really struck me. It has been over thirty years that I, as an adult women, have been engaged in the fight for gender equality, along with so many other fine people. In that time we have won exactly eighteen cents. Eighteen cents in thirty years. That’s not even a penny a year.

I wonder what I would say to my twenty-year-old self if I could travel back in time. “All those doors you are knocking on, all those letters you are writing, all that fundraising you are doing…” I might say. “All that you are doing, along with all the hundreds of thousands of other women, will earn you eighteen cents over the course of thirty years.”

How might my twenty-year-old self react to that? Would I say “Well, at least it’s a step in the right direction?” Or would I hang up my marching shoes and recognize my work as a basic waste of time?

Eighteen cents in a step in the right direction. Change takes time, especially when the power structure doesn’t want to change.

Our gender-based society of yesteryear defined masculinity as being able to take care of a woman. I suppose if a woman is making enough money she doesn’t need a man to take care of her financially. That could be threatening to men, I suppose.

 Some of the fault lies with the women, too, who feel that having a man take care of a woman financially makes her feel “like a lady.”

Every family has to figure out what works for them financially and logistically. Sometimes one parent elects to stay at home with the kids while the other brings home the money. The days in which the man was always the breadwinner and the woman was always the caregiver are long gone.

To deny a woman, especially a mother, access to equal pay for equal work creates hardship not just for women, but for their families.

When I was very young, my family consisted of just my mother and me. Mom worked a job to support us. One day she discovered that a male peer whose time with the company was shorter than Mom’s and whose tasks were exactly the same was paid substantial more than she was.

When Mom confronted her boss, this was the answer she received. “We have to pay him more because he has a family.”

That was almost forty-five years ago. I remember it as if it were yesterday. In the eyes of the boss, our family was not a family because it didn’t contain a man.

We’ll come a long way since then, but obviously not far enough.

These days, I notice many strong men and women who believe in the radical concept of equal pay for equal work choose not to identify themselves as “feminist.” When I ask them why, they don’t really have an answer. The concept of being a feminist feels uncomfortable to them.

I think they have let other people define feminism for them in false ways. “Feminists hate men.” “Feminists don’t love their children.” “Feminists are complainers.”

Rush Limbaugh once said “Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women access to the mainstream of society.” I don’t think I need to deconstruct everything that is wrong with that sentence.

The sad part is, that kind of smear campaign against a simple request for inclusion actually worked.

Here’s another quote about feminism that makes more sense to me, from suffragist and journalist Rebecca West. “Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.”

When I was young I believe that to be a funny quote. It was tongue-in-cheek. Of course the basic notion that women are people can’t be radical and scary, can it?

Apparently, I was wrong. The concept of treating women like people is terrifying.

The sad part to me is this. If I do the math based on history, I am not likely to see equal pay for equal work as a national policy in my lifetime.

Sigh.

Carry on, daughters.

What Marianne Williamson Might Mean for us

Marianne Williamson is a recognizable voice and face in the modern New Thought spiritual community. She writes best-selling books and is part of Oprah’s cadre of spiritual masters.  I imagine Marianne Williamson’s teachings would be rolled into the future religion of “Oprahism” as prognosticated by the writers of the cartoon series “Futurama.”

Marianne Williamson has officially announced her candidacy for election to the U.S. House of Representatives from California’s Congressional District 33. Her campaign slogan is “Create Anew.”

We are used to religious figures running for political office; but not this kind of religion. From Williamson’s candidacy announcement on her webpage, we read this.

“While many seekers have turned away from politics, viewing spiritual and political pursuits as mutually exclusive, I agree with Mahatma Gandhi that “Anyone who thinks religion doesn’t have anything to do with politics doesn’t understand religion.” I don’t believe we can afford to be “selectively conscious,” applying more enlightened principles to only some aspects of human endeavor.”

Some people believe that the unprecedented current political divisions in our country are related to the entrance of right-wing born-again Christianity to the political forum. Arch-conservative Barry Goldwater warned us about this possibility in 1994 with these prophetic words.

“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.”

Christian extremists worked together over decades to garner support and take control of the Republican Party. While many of their assertions are laughable (a raped woman can’t get pregnant, for instance) some of these religious politicians make their dangerously erroneous statements as duly elected members of Congress.

While the political left in our country has always had the backing of many socially conscious Christians, the United Church of Christ doesn’t have mega-churches or a prosperity doctrine. It would be impossible for a UCC or New Thought preacher to raise the kind of funds and fervor that the right-wing extremists do.

But what about a candidate like Marianne Williamson? She is using her spiritual message in her campaign, just as the Christian extremists do. She is well-funded, well-known, well-loved and well-connected. She might even appeal to the socially-conscious lefty Christians. If Unity Church and the Universalist Unitarians vote as a block she’s got a good chance at victory.

I am not naïve enough to think that one spiritually conscious person in the House of Representatives could make a lot of difference. But what if she is the first of a wave? What if the “spiritually conscious” could do what the Christian extremists have done? What would happen then?

I could see a number of possibilities, some of them as laughable as the right-wing-nuts forbidding schools to teach actual science. While I might personally believe that tarot cards could help create a balanced budget I can’t condone their actual use as part of our nation’s decision-making process.

I having a feeling, though, that the New Thought and New Age politicians might be a little more even-handed than the Christian extremists. I think the New Thought folks might even try to govern with love rather than with fear.

One question is, can the spiritual community mobilize voters the way the born-again Christians can? It will be interesting to see what happens. Will churches who need to constantly fundraise to keep their doors open be willing to encourage their congregation to hold fundraisers for Marianne?

If Marianne Williamson is successful, and if she is the first of a wave, it will be interesting to see if there is less hypocrisy and more honesty in one brand of spiritual politics than another.

Typically, those who rule with religion rule with cruelty. Will Williamson and those like her be any different? I hope we get a chance to find out.

Photo: Marianne Williamson Miami Book Fair International, 1993
Creative Commons License, MDCarchives

Accountability

Everyone of a certain age seems to have an opinion about what’s wrong with the world today, or what’s wrong with our country today (as opposed to the good old days of the past).

Here’s my submission. The problems we face today are caused in part by our lack of accountability. We seem to want to make other people responsible for our actions and our lack of due diligence.

Here’s an interesting recent example of our total lack of accountability.

On October 14^th in some Walmart stores in Louisiana a computer glitch caused spending limits on EBT (“food stamp”) cards to stop working. Shoppers were able to use their cards to purchase food with no spending limits.

Walmart officials made the decision to allow store patrons to use their cards, and to charge as much as they wanted.

When the stores announced the glitch was fixed and spending limits were restored shoppers abandoned their overflowing carts and left the store.

I am glad we live in a country that makes food available to underprivileged families. I am appalled that in a situation like this greed would be the motivating factor for both the shoppers and the corporation. Why did no one feel accountable for the money they were spending, or allowing to be spent?

What would happen if we all made an effort to be accountable for ourselves, our actions and our responsibilities?

Most importantly, what would it take to restore a sense of personal accountability into our national culture, and how could that change things?

As Above, So Below - Even in the Workplace

It would be nice to believe that the brightest and best of us are those we elect to represent us in government. It would be wonderful if our nation’s leaders were true exemplars; those who would inspire our emulation as well as our confidence.

The fact is, the only things our nation’s leaders have been inspiring lately are laughter and anger.

There is an ancient spiritual tenet that states “as above, so below.” This means that whatever is happening on one level is happening on other levels.

I am finding this particularly true right now as I speak with with an larger-than-usual number of people who are having difficult times getting along and working with their co-workers.

Many people seem to be feeling stuck in their own beliefs about right and wrong. They are unwilling to compromise. Some feel that the ability to compromise is a moral weakness.

Even worse, they forget the big picture. They forget that they are paid to do a job and need to find a way to do it even if they are angry at their coworkers, even if they don’t like their coworkers and even if they don’t agree with their coworkers.

Does that sound like anyone we know?

Sometimes the lessons we learn from our exemplars are not lessons of how to be, they are examples of how not to be.

On an energetic or spiritual level we may have some power here. Energy can work from the bottom to the top as easily as it works from top to bottom.

If we all try really hard to get along, make compromises and get our jobs done the energy of compromise and responsibility might trickle right on up to the top. As above, so below – or vice versa.

When in Doubt, Dance

I'll be turning 50 very soon. I've been practicing owning that age for a few months so it won't be so traumatic when it actually happens.

As I contemplate a half-century on this very strange planet, I think about the cultural snapshot of now, what that looks like, and how I feel about it.

Here's where I stand.

I love Gangnam Style. Recently a CNN Blogger declared Gangnam Style over and dead. I think he's wrong. Gangnam Style makes the whole world dance together. Who cares if the dance is silly?

Honey Boo Boo who? I don't watch broadcast TV, so I only see snippets of stupidity. But, apparently, there is plenty of stupidity to go around. I still like Glee, which I watch on Hulu. I'm also watching The Voice, but was bored with blind auditions - 16 team members per coach seem just too much. And, as usual, the Brits do TV better than we do; Dr. Who was terrific this season.

My favorite adult cartoons are getting grosser and grosser. Vomit and dismemberment just aren't funny. Politics and religion are. Don't forget why I first loved you, Seth MacFarlane!

The new SNL cast is pretty good. I am expecting great things from Vanessa Bayer, and then I am expecting her to be over-used and worn-out, just as Kristen Wiig was.

Right now, the Western world is mourning the tragic deaths of two young girls. Jessica Ridgeway was the victim of kidnap and murder in Colorado, while Amanda Todd took her own life in Canada, a victim of bullying. I guess really sad things have always happened to kids and there have always been monsters in the world; the internet just makes sure we all know about them.

The presidential race is too close to call, with each side terrified that awful things will happen if the other candidate is elected. What a weird national mindset that is. We are ideologically divided. The Tea Party and Occupy extremists seem to have lost their credibility, but that hasn't brought us closer to center, or to each other, as a nation yet. One thing we all agree on - the government has lost its way. We are only divided on what we need to do to fix it.

It has been a long time since there was a national mandate in a presidential election. According to my research, it would have been 1984, when Ronald Reagan was re-elected by a landslide. At the time, I was not a Reagan supporter. In retrospect, I think he and Nancy did a good job in certain respects. The funny thing is that his policies (that many of us considered too right-wing then) now wouldn't be enough to win him the support of the current Republican party, so far to the right has the GOP moved.

I never thought I would say this, but we could sure use a guy like Reagan right now. Doesn't that make me sound old?

But how long can a nation stand so evenly divided, so angry, and so afraid?

The only answer I can think of? Oppan Gangnam Style! When in doubt, dance.

I guess things haven't changed so much over the past quarter century. Then I was seeing as many Grateful Dead shows as I could, always hoping to hear my favorite songs, including this one (Throwin' Stones), whose lyrics described the situation then just as it feels now.

"So the kids they dance
And shake their bones,
And the politicians throwin' stones,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down."

The Problem with Nostalgia

Recently a tarot friend posted a meme on Facebook. It was a lovely picture of people riding bicycles in the sunset. The quotation on it was a simple question that went something like this. "How has society changed since you were a child?"

Many of us answered the question. A few answered the question very directly, without value judgments, mentioning technological developments like the personal computer and the cell phone.

I was shocked by the number of people who turned the question into an invitation to make a value judgment. Many gave answers that basically said, emphatically, that they believe society has changed for the worse. They cited things like more violence, less trust and less respect. No one quoted any actual statistics; it was all just their perception.

I was shocked by this for a number of reasons. First, the original poster is one of the most positive people I know. I also know a number of the people who answered, and had never thought of them as being "negative" people. The fact that they would so easily take such a quantitative question and leap into a qualitative negative assessment disturbed me.

Equally disturbing was the fact that people were so quick to decide that our society is "worse" now than it was in their childhoods. They couldn't actually give real statistics or specifics to back up their particular claims, even when I gently asked them questions like "How are our morals worse now?" and "In what way is there less respect now?" The answers across the board basically said "It just is," as if I must be blind not to have noticed these things myself.

Are there things about our present society that disturb me? Of course there are. Overall, do I think things are somehow worse now than they were when I was a child, say, forty-odd years ago? No, I don't; not at all.

Here's why. When I was a kid, sexism, racism and homophobia were much more prevalent than they are today. DDT threatened the very existence of the birds and the butterflies. Ricky beat Lucy every night on television and people thought it was funny. When I was in my twenties it was the height of the Cold War. Most of my compatriots and I feared our lives would be cut short any minute by nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

In my lifetime I have seen the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nelson Mandala transform from prisoner to president, and much greater sensitivity to diversity. Do we have problems in our current society that scare me? Of course we do. Do I miss my youth? Who doesn't? But I have to wonder why so many people seem to believe that we are moving in the wrong direction.

It seems to me this is nothing new. I remember people in the late 1960's and early 1970's shaking their heads and wanting to go back to the 1950's. I remember Deadheads in the 1980's wishing it were the 1960's instead. I shake my head at the medieval festivals that make the Dark Ages look like fun.

My mother used to say that distance improves our perception of things. We forget the bad and remember the good. In some ways, that's a good thing because it helps us heal. In other ways, it may be less helpful.

Our tendency to whitewash our history may cause us to long for the past, and value the past more than we value the present and the future.

Now, politicians are promising to "return the greatness of America" and call for us to "go back to the things that made our country great." I would like to vote for someone who wants to go forward to greatness, rather than backward.

I wonder, too, if the majority of us long for the past, how can we, as a society, create a positive future? And why are we so unwilling to look at the cold hard facts about our past and our present? Was there really less violence in the past, or was it just not reported? Is it possible that the internet and the 24-hour news cycle give us a more negative perception of our present when compared to a time when the national news was reported only once a day for half an hour?

Yes, times are tough. But what would happen if we were grateful for the wonderful things in our lives, both past and present? What if we looked to the future with hope, rather than with fear? What if we worked to change the problems in our society with an eye on the future, rather than on the past?

It may be time for us to override our tendency to forget the difficulties of the past. Instead, it might do us well to remember them and learn from them as we move forward to a better future.