America seems to need an enemy. Not just foreign but domestic as well. Our society gravitates to the ideologies that divide us and then we conquer ourselves. It is not enough to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. It is not enough to have a history of saving the civilized world from destruction. We are driven to find something to disagree on or we become malcontent with our American Dream.
Gender divided this nation from it's inception until the 1920s. Race divided the nation before we were a nation. Religion has divided the world since creation. Native people across the globe have been removed from their land and had their cultures changed because they weren't white, Christian, Anglo Saxons. Practices that have divided us throughout history, for the most part, have been legislated out of existence. Of course there are still people who cling to their ism like a baby to a pacifier. Their ism somehow sustains their reason for being.
Politics, while always divisive, now holds the cleaver that hacks this nation in half. Politics is no longer a philosophical divide. It is now the calling card that defines you.
"I am John/Jane Doe, Staunch Democrat/Republican. I cannot tolerate you or your political leaning."
"How not nice to meet you John/Jane, as I am your staunch opposite. Let us find no middle ground or anything in common, for that would make me a liberal/conservative lover. Let me teach my children to hate your children and with any luck there will continue to be bullying and hate".
What an insult to all those who put their lives on the line to give us freedom. How foolish we are to think that defining our differences is more important than seeking what draws us together. How did we reach this current plateau?
I blame white men.
Now, men friends, don't get your knickers in a knot. I don't mean you personally, I mean your forefathers and their forefathers.
Apparently, since western civilization was formed all the rights and privileges were for white males. Women were property, blacks were slaves and white guys ruled the world. Literally.
Well, gentlemen, you have done a terrible job. In all segments of our society from government to religion you have practiced oppression and hate with your rules and your laws.
My paternal great, great grandmother immigrated to America from Norway. Her husband died leaving her with nothing except hungry children. As a woman she couldn't own property so she lost his money and his farm. Well, not all of his property. She still had herself.
Great, great grandmother Jensen came to America to make a life for herself and her children. Throughout my grandparents lifetime the family struggled. However, my father and his siblings all went on to be successful after growing up through the Great Depression and fighting in World War II. The G.I. bill was perfect for smart young men with no money for higher education.
We baby boomers were born into a great world except for one small problem. A large segment of our society still wasn't free. Segregation and racism were prevalent. Women, after finally being given the right to vote, were supposed to pop out babies and be their husband's domestic staff while smiling and wearing pearls. IF they wanted or needed a career they could be nurses, school teachers, secretaries, strippers and/or prostitutes. If they voted, they were expected to vote for their husband's candidate.
What society has learned from a male dominated culture is that keeping everyone beneath, "Important White Male", status was imperative to keeping us civilized. Through generations of hard work, protests, jailings, lynchings, murders and court cases, white men have been forced to get in line. Shape up a little and quit being such strutting cocks.
With laws no longer on their side, no laws keeping the white guys in positions of authority by laws written by white guys, what's a guy to do? Hammer at our differences and bring every man, woman and child into the fray.
People want to defend marriage, fetuses, bankers, market speculators, gun owners, chicken sandwich makers and gigantic corporations. The Supreme Court has defined corporations as people. Citizens are frightened everyday will tales of gloom about how poor people are killing America. Illegal immigrants are coming across our borders to nefariously harvest our crops. And those non-citizens are actually feeding their children, who work beside them in the fields, with money that American citizens could be making.
Gay people want to have lives. OUT IN THE OPEN! Noooooooooooo. That will ruin everything. That means that gay people can marry, raise children, be productive members of society! Can't have that. Let's pick on gays.
Women want to have insurance that covers birth control! Noooooooooooo. That is an affront to religion. Well, not all religions. Catholics. It's an affront to Catholics. We have seen what an upstanding institution the Catholic Church has been. Keeping people in poverty, keeping women in their place, keeping pedophiles on the payroll. We can't possibly offend the Catholic Church.
STOP IT! We have created a nation where finally, by law, all PEOPLE are equal. We still have issues, we still have problems. As a matter of fact, we have enough issues and problems just maintaining a nation to last our lifetime without throwing in every single hate and ism we can dream up.
Please, let us focus on what we all want. The right to live in peace, live without fear, healthy family members, good jobs, housing, food, clothing, warmth, coolness, freedom to be yourself. That's what we should all want. We should want that for every citizen. Not because we are socialists, not because we are subversive but because we are human.
If you want rights for yourself, want them for all. If you have needs, know that others have them as well. Help where you can. Give what you can to enrich some one's life experience.
And step away from all the Kool-Aid.
Create a sameness, not a difference.
You're welcome,
Lillybell Blues
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