Old Rocks
Diamond Member
There never was a 'Leave it to Beaver' America. Until I was 15, we never lived in a town larger than 2500 people, and, often, lived in towns with less than 1000, in Oregon and Washington. I saw just as much perversion and brutality in those towns as I have seen in the cities I have lived in since then. And that period was the late '40's and '50's, supposedly the ideal American era.
However, at the same time, I have seen the civil rights revolution, where this nation finally decided to honor the words in the Declaration of Independence. I have seen things much improve on the reservations, the concentration camps we put our Native Americans in. With MediCare, we no longer tell our senior citizens to just die if they need medical care, we just bankrupt them now.
And, to me the wonder of all, with this device we are communicating on, all the sudden, the world is very small. We all get to talk, however acrimonously, to each other. As others have pointed out, news is a pervert hurting a little girl, not an old gentleman taking hours of his time to mentor the little girl for school. There is much more of the latter than the former, although far too much of the former, still. So the good goes unreported, and the bad is highlighted. Still and all, I see a better world than I was seeing in the early '50's.
However, at the same time, I have seen the civil rights revolution, where this nation finally decided to honor the words in the Declaration of Independence. I have seen things much improve on the reservations, the concentration camps we put our Native Americans in. With MediCare, we no longer tell our senior citizens to just die if they need medical care, we just bankrupt them now.
And, to me the wonder of all, with this device we are communicating on, all the sudden, the world is very small. We all get to talk, however acrimonously, to each other. As others have pointed out, news is a pervert hurting a little girl, not an old gentleman taking hours of his time to mentor the little girl for school. There is much more of the latter than the former, although far too much of the former, still. So the good goes unreported, and the bad is highlighted. Still and all, I see a better world than I was seeing in the early '50's.