It seems that the world is a mess.  No, really, a worse mess than we thought.  I can’t even make up my mind which of all the horrors of the past week is the worst. In the days BT (before trump) it was sad that so much of the world is at war, that the other side of the world has no clean water and their children are dying in war.  It was disturbing that here in this country we are not cleaning up our act to stop poisoning our own water and air.  It seemed that we were sliding backward from the advances we had made in civil rights.  But now, AT (after trump) it seems there is a new catastrophe every day and we keep going about our daily chores as if this insanity is just a bump in the road. This is no bump.  This is a thousand mile sink hole that has opened up in front of us and the brakes are bad.

What are we doing about it?  For the most part nothing.  There are rants on social media and neighbors have stopped talking to each other due to being on opposite political sides.  Most folks though are going to work, doing the laundry and shopping, getting by. Several women I know are writing and calling their representatives every day.  I do a lot of that myself.  So far I see no indication that our voices have made a difference.

I hate conspiracy theories.  People who are always convinced someone is out to get them make me nuts.  I am the one always saying get over yourself.   Nobody is monitoring your facebook or hacking your phone; you are not that interesting.  But now, what if I say publicly that I think there could be a second amendment solution to the problem.  Will I suddenly disappear?

It seems to me that the conspiracy is right in front of our faces, hiding in plain sight.  The powerful who are hell bent on staying powerful know that if citizens stand together their hold over us cannot stand.  So, divide and conquer.  Make sure the black people hate the white people and the white people are afraid of the black people.  Convince women that any woman who has or would consider an abortion is a monster and convince those women who want control over their own lives that the other women are religious nuts.  Workers who belong to unions must believe workers who don’t are useless scabs.  Management must hate labor, Christians must despise Muslims, young people should have no respect for the elderly and old folks should have no tolerance for those kids.

It’s working.  While all of us little people squabble among ourselves the powerful make new rules to increase their wealth and keep us in our place.  It is possible to stand up and throw out those in government who do not serve us but that is a task that requires that we recognize the danger we face and attack it together.  We cannot change our world if we refuse to stand next to each other.

 

Today was a pretty good day.  Slept late, walked the dog, caught up the laundry and changed all the beds then made a quick supper before heading out to the high school for some basketball.  Of course before leaving the house I set the tv to record President Obama’s speech .  Back at the high school the girls team won by some ridiculous number, so much so that I was cheering for the opposing team to make a goal, please.  The boys game was better with the home team winning by three or four points (I always forget details when the game is over).

Returning home about nine or so the dog and I went around the block for the last stroll of the day.  He took care of business, barked at some of neighbors for having the audacity to be getting out of their cars after dark and peed on a few mail boxes.  The usual.  Then I got into my jammies and sat down to watch Barrack Obama give his last speech.  I am so thankful to have had this man in office during so challenging a time and I will miss the class his family brought to us.  I so appreciate that he encourages us to be responsible citizens and to never give up.

Even with encouraging words I fear very difficult times ahead for working people like me and my family.  I hope that we can enjoy the everyday things like local sports, fish fries at the lodge, parades on holidays, all the pleasures a free society allows.  But will we?  Will we be able to afford these small pleasures?  Will we be able to get help when we are sick? Will our children have a decent education?  Can our seniors afford decent housing and food?  Will we be war torn and weary?  Will we even be at all?  I don’t know, and you don’t either.

I hope we will survive, overcome even, but I am fearful.