Our Times

In retirement, I have a lot of time to think about all kinds of matters.  This election cycle has given me much to ponder.  I need to organize my thoughts.  Hence this post.

First, I find myself struggling with these propositions:

1. There appears to be a new third rail in American politics (or does that make it a fourth rail after Social Security?).  I'm thinking of the military, service personnel, and veterans.  I think there is a tendency to think of them as interchangeable.  The military = service personnel = veterans.  I think that is dangerous and would like to develop that thought.
2. I am concerned about a growing nationalism that I see in the campaigns of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and, to a lesser degree, other candidates for President from the GOP.  Again, there is a tendency to conflate love of country, patriotism, and nationalism.  I believe we should start to grow beyond all of these.  That probably makes me some kind of "one-worlder".  I'd like to develop that topic as well.  
3. You can hardly talk about a growing sense of nationalism without engaging the immigration issue as well.  The anti-immigrant sentiment that is one of many drivers to the conservative ideology needs to be addressed.
4. I am concerned that education has become devalued by a large segment of our population.  I think I know when it started and I'd like to do something to shed light on this issue.
5. I am concerned that the same campaigns mentioned before have given voice to a segment of our population whose overt racism is suddenly more acceptable than it has been since the 1960s.
6. I am concerned with the degree to which religion has co-opted political discussion.  Barack Obama had to prove he was a Christian.  Ted Cruz wants the US to be a Christian theocracy.  Throw in Mike Huckabee and Ben Carson to the politicians who want our cultural life to be dictated by Christian Evangelicals.  Yet, the United States is apparently undergoing a process of secularization, following what has happened in Europe.
7. What happened to conservatives that I could respect while disagreeing with them?  people like Bob Dole, George H.W. Bush, Everett Dirkson, Howard Baker, even Ronald Reagan at his best.  Where have they gone?  We find conservative commentators like David Brooks and George Will throwing up their hands in dismay at the current crop.
8. I find the whole environment-global warming-climate change debate tiresome and frustrating.  If ever there was an indication of the stranglehold that big business, particularly the fossil fuel industry, has over our political discourse, this is it.

I hope to explore these (and perhaps more) topics in the days and weeks to come.  I'm sure the presidential race will find its place in my musings.

Something to get you started:  Will McAvoy on the greatest country in the world

Abortion -- Where I Stand -- What I Believe

There's a part of me that says I should keep my mouth shut about this topic.  Why?  I lack two X chromosomes.

Having said that, there's some ambivalence in my thoughts.  I don't think that abortion is completely morally neutral.  There are many circumstances that can serve to "justify" the act:  poverty, ignorance, rape, incest, mother's health/life.  Convenience, not so much.  "Not in our plan", not so much.  I have a real problem when the reason for an abortion is that one or two people do not want to take responsibility for their action.

But, I absolutely believe that a woman has the right to make decisions about her own body and health.  Unfortunately, the decision to abort affects a woman and another, incipient life.

Of course, this debate would not occur if we lacked the technology to provide safe abortions to women.  Basically, we perform abortions because we can.

Proud to be

The politicians these days, of course, have to include some kind of national pride talking point in their discourse.  How can you get elected if you're not proud to be an American?

But let's stop and think about that for a moment.  

Usually, we take pride in an accomplishment.  I'm proud of the job I did.  I'm proud of my daughters (although it's arguable to consider how much of what I've done resulted in the persons they are as adults).  I'm proud of  a song I wrote or an essay I composed.  Those are all examples of the pride that results from doing.

But what about those instances when we have pride from being?  I'm proud to be an Episcopalian.  I'm proud to be from Alabama (sort of).  I'm proud of the Alabama football team because I am a fan.  And, of course, with apologies to Lee Greenwood, I'm proud to be an American.

What is it that causes that pride?  I'm an American, not because of anything I've done.  I simply was born in America.  In many respects, it's a matter of luck.  What causes national pride?  Are the accomplishments of the country the source of the pride?  I didn't win World War II.  Other Americans did.  I didn't land on the moon.  Other Americans did.  I inherited the benefits of our revolution and constitution.  I've played no role in defending my country.  Just what is the source of that pride?

I think we should take a different path.  I think we should turn away from pride.  Pride in one's country eventually leads to an ugly nationalism.   I think we've seen that for some time.

At one point we proclaimed that it was our "Manifest Destiny" to conquer the continent.  Who decided that it was God's will that we should subjugate the native peoples and take the land that was their home?  Was it God's will that we should wrest Texas from Mexico?   When we made the "Louisiana Purchase", weren't we really buying land that France had claimed for its own, but in fact, again, was the home of the native peoples?

Because of the place of my birth and rearing, at another time, I suppose I could have boasted of my role in the South's failure in the Civil War.  But wait, we usually don't boast of failure.