No that is not a typo. Allow me to get personal. I am a male, which used to be a standard gender description identifier. And I am over 55, which by definition makes me a boomer instead of an alphabetical generation. Lump me into the late baby-boomer pot. Boomers are not so great. It is only another pejorative, along with whatever else we are called.
All those distorted terms and definitions don’t even bother me anymore.
I live in the east side of America. So within hours, I could be in some of the pivotal areas of the American Revolution. That is the original one. (not the latest revolution) These days that may seem pretty insignificant, if even much remembered. So we do the Fourth of July but other than that the 4th is basically a relic thought of days of old. We honor those events for the effects they had on us, without really honoring their cost and principle. At least we still acknowledge it. There is that regardless the fainting memory.
But a lot has changed. America has flirted on the precipice of one thing or another for years. Catastrophic warnings about pending doom are not uncommon anymore — lots of fodder for late night or backroom conversations. Now something more insidious has happened. Things are being hastily put in place which alters everything about America.
No one can deny it has already changed. Into what is still debatable? (while we can)
Most would be forced to admit it is not for the better. What it all means is of stinging importance. America has been changed, the terms are in limbo. What does it mean?
For instance, say you are rich or poor or in between anywhere? Suppose you sell a business or make a killing on the stock market, hit the lottery, or whatever. Nice as it is personally, any of that would matter little if America is changed. Sure, your individual net worth may change, but America is what it is. Right? But America, as you know it, has changed. Bummer, you say? Changed is not necessarily a good thing. (to be kind and generous)
It is like winning the battle and losing the war.
None of those personal factors have the effect if America is not the same place it was. So those personal factors don’t matter in the same way, or mean as much, anymore. This is to say that if you have something really good happen to you, personally, it just would not be quite as it once would be. It would not have the same significance.
We are witnessing on one hand the hollowing out of America, and also the descent of America. Yet it is a willing decline from within. It would be akin to tearing down the Berlin Wall without the good on the other side of it. Pains with no gain.
I am getting to the part that we now feel in mourning. Grief has given way to deep, sorrowful mourning. It is not easy to accept; yet here we are in uncharted territory. We are at the mercy of the wind, whichever way it is blowing, in the throws of the gales and gusts. Survival indeed is a priority.
Though it is just not personal survival we are concerned about, it is the country’s survival. Without that, the rest of everything is dramatically changed forever because it will not come back soon, if ever. How is that for a downer? Sorry, but it is real. We are witnessing the postmortem view of America, unedited. Something not seen before.
Skip over all the details for the time being, of who did what when. Even that seems to matter little if we are in the place we are in. What good is the blame at this point if we cannot rectify the situation? It is what it is. (how many times I have heard that) What good is personal gain if the country has disintegrated and fallen? Could you even have personal gain? It likely would be short lived anyway with future security being at issue.
Yes, mourning is the correct term for the state we are in. How long it lasts? As long as some memory holds. While you may know relatively what generation you are in, if you fit or not, but what generation is America in? Is it generation D for decline, or is it F for fall? Or does F mean failing? Maybe that factor will then determine our own generation?
The terms don’t even mean what they once did. Then calling it woke is really broke.
And as a Boomer, I remember the old closing caption of the Warner Bros. Cartoons.
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