With the unfortunate news of the death of Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame, I can't help but be reminded of the Pete Seeger song that the folk trio helped to popularize. Where Have All the Flowers Gone may have centered on the desire for peace and the working out of differences some forty plus years ago, but it might as well have been written about today's volatile climate.
With a few revisions, and perhaps a new title - Where Have All the Moderates Gone? - the song could focus on the intense polarization of the country. Extremes seem to abound, with scant room left for more independent voices to be heard. Vitriol has replaced rationality, and cult infatuation has supplanted critical analysis. By no means is this polarization new, but it seems to have hit a new high in recent months.
Perhaps we can all put down the hatchets for a few moments and start tending to the garden a little more.
With a few revisions, and perhaps a new title - Where Have All the Moderates Gone? - the song could focus on the intense polarization of the country. Extremes seem to abound, with scant room left for more independent voices to be heard. Vitriol has replaced rationality, and cult infatuation has supplanted critical analysis. By no means is this polarization new, but it seems to have hit a new high in recent months.
Perhaps we can all put down the hatchets for a few moments and start tending to the garden a little more.
Beeg,
ReplyDeleteYes, I also have noticed a distinct, yet familiar polarization among my countrymen, which I am not altogether certain is an unhealthy thing at this uncertain time in the forming of our future!
The working class unites, and stands defiant against the aristocracy which seeks to roll over them roughshod with their schemes and vision and control!
Americans won't have this! Americans will have their say, and any legislation which may be crafted will include the voicings of the working man!
In spite of what the media may imply, it is the common man who is still in ultimate control of the destiny of this nation! This is simply political head-knocking at it's finest!
The moderates are still out here, waiting for the more aggressive elements to bash each other down into some sensible, more receptive body politic, to whom we might wage our own concerns, hopes, beliefs and dreams for a better future.
There is no need for concern over the current reactionary polarization between the people and the government. Defiance is the heritage of the people, we celebrate this great freedom every 4th of July! It is, in fact the solemn duty of the people to stonewall an ambitious administration!
The moderates will re-emerge from their own corners, with their ameliorating influence, to bridge the gaps between the extremists on both sides, once the knotheads have beat each other into an impasse...