I don't think the younger generation realizes what we've lost.
One of my fondest childhood memories was spending the entire summer vacation with my family, camped out in a big old Army surplus tent in a state park. Back then you could do that for free, without a reservation.
My little brother and I used to walk down to the lake every day. The lake had a roped off swimming area that wasn't over our heads. They had a life guard on duty every day. Out past the rope there was a raft with a diving board. I taught myself to swim that summer just so I could get out to that raft. New kids would be there for a day or two and then be gone. We had the novelty of meeting new people every day who were just there to have fun. People were more trustworthy back then. At least we all treated them that way, and nothing bad ever came of it.We knew the park well, and could show them the fun places, like the little store that had soft serve ice cream cones for a nickle and sodas for a dime.
We lead short hikes up old deer trails that seemed to dead end, with no adult supervision. There were rattle snakes, but there was also a large brown grasshopper that made a loud rattling sound until you got close to them. It made listening for the rattle of a snake pretty difficult, and the hikes a little more frightening and adventurous. We only saw one snake all summer long, but you never forgot they were out there. It was cool. We were popular. It was young boy heaven.
We ate hotdogs cooked on sticks, and roasted marshmallows. I've never really liked marshmallows, but we were cooking stuff on a real fire with a stick! I took pride in getting them perfectly golden brown, before I had to choke one down, so mom would give me another one to COOK ON A FIRE WITH A FREAKIN STICK! How cool is that?
On our last day there Mom had food to get rid of that wouldn't travel well. My brother and I each got an entire package of hotdogs to cook and eat. We were in hog heaven with seemly an endless supply of hotdogs. After we each eaten three or four, the idea of seemingly endless hotdogs kind of lost it's magic. Mom said if we didn't eat them, we had to throw them away. My brother and I decided to squish them to a pulp between our fingers and throw them away at each other. It was young boy heaven in America.
Around thirty years later I mentioned that fun summer to my Mother. She said she hated it. It was in the early sixties. It turns out we were there because my Father was working on a federally funded hydroelectric dam. America spent our tax dollars creating jobs back then, investing in our future. We all believed things could only get better. It was a temporary job while my Father's union was on strike and the ship yard was closed down. She had to drive for miles to do laundry in a laundromat. She wore herself out taking care of my baby sister and cooking and cleaning for us kids. It was like "The Grapes of Wrath" for her.
Today you need a reservation to camp just about everywhere. There is no lifeguard at the swimming area. It costs money to stay, and you are limited to how long. You must stay on marked trails, and often can't light fires. Young boys are not wild things in the wilderness, they visit like intruders in a wilderness museum. Kids are highly supervised because of pedophiles and mass murderers, and aren't allowed to talk to strangers. Those kind of sick people must have existed back then, but we didn't expect to run into them. We didn't live in fear of them, or even ponder their existence. People trusted each other and were friendly.
There are no federal projects putting people to work, and we don't invest in America. It's pretty clear that things are still getting worse. There are few unions left. They are gone, along with the manufacturing jobs you could work at your whole adult life, with insurance and a retirement fund, and wages good enough for a man to buy his family a home and a decent life, without Mom having to work too. Sure Moms can get jobs if they want them now, but back then they didn't have to if they didn't want to. Now most have to. If a worker goes on strike they have no place to go. No good job to go to. Every fun thing left for us to do costs money, if you can get the time away, or dare to take it if it's offered. People are fighting to hold on to the few jobs not shipped over seas.
This younger generation doesn't realize what we've lost, and I'm ashamed now to tell them. Why didn't we fight harder for organized labor? Why did we fall for trickle down economics? Why did we stop investing in America? What the hell were we thinking? Why did we let the rich slowly buy out and take over the government?
Why did we let them make us so afraid of each other? The wealthy against the middle class. Christians against atheists. Homophobes against homosexuals. Hippies against hardhats. Scotch drinkers against potheads. Whites against Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Jews, Muslims, etc. Men against women. Everyone against the unions, and the Tea Party against all common sense. Sure, they own the Media and they have their top minds working on spin and propaganda, but still, you only have to look around you. Everybody is against terrorists, and everybody against us must be a terrorist or a Nazi or some variation of retarded. What the fuck America?
I'm so sorry we let this happen. I have no defense. We have to wise up and pull our heads out of our collective asses. We need to mind our own business and find some tolerance for the differences between us. Screw the labels and the stereotypes that are really meaningless, and keep us divided, and pointing fingers at each other.
We need to pull together. We need to show the party of the rich that the party is over. We need to hold the party of the rest of us at gun point if we have to, to make them fight like their healthcare and pension and jobs and, even their very lives are on the line. Ours are. Make them do what we elected them to.
Stop "hoping" and start demanding.
One of my fondest childhood memories was spending the entire summer vacation with my family, camped out in a big old Army surplus tent in a state park. Back then you could do that for free, without a reservation.
My little brother and I used to walk down to the lake every day. The lake had a roped off swimming area that wasn't over our heads. They had a life guard on duty every day. Out past the rope there was a raft with a diving board. I taught myself to swim that summer just so I could get out to that raft. New kids would be there for a day or two and then be gone. We had the novelty of meeting new people every day who were just there to have fun. People were more trustworthy back then. At least we all treated them that way, and nothing bad ever came of it.We knew the park well, and could show them the fun places, like the little store that had soft serve ice cream cones for a nickle and sodas for a dime.
We lead short hikes up old deer trails that seemed to dead end, with no adult supervision. There were rattle snakes, but there was also a large brown grasshopper that made a loud rattling sound until you got close to them. It made listening for the rattle of a snake pretty difficult, and the hikes a little more frightening and adventurous. We only saw one snake all summer long, but you never forgot they were out there. It was cool. We were popular. It was young boy heaven.
We ate hotdogs cooked on sticks, and roasted marshmallows. I've never really liked marshmallows, but we were cooking stuff on a real fire with a stick! I took pride in getting them perfectly golden brown, before I had to choke one down, so mom would give me another one to COOK ON A FIRE WITH A FREAKIN STICK! How cool is that?
On our last day there Mom had food to get rid of that wouldn't travel well. My brother and I each got an entire package of hotdogs to cook and eat. We were in hog heaven with seemly an endless supply of hotdogs. After we each eaten three or four, the idea of seemingly endless hotdogs kind of lost it's magic. Mom said if we didn't eat them, we had to throw them away. My brother and I decided to squish them to a pulp between our fingers and throw them away at each other. It was young boy heaven in America.
Around thirty years later I mentioned that fun summer to my Mother. She said she hated it. It was in the early sixties. It turns out we were there because my Father was working on a federally funded hydroelectric dam. America spent our tax dollars creating jobs back then, investing in our future. We all believed things could only get better. It was a temporary job while my Father's union was on strike and the ship yard was closed down. She had to drive for miles to do laundry in a laundromat. She wore herself out taking care of my baby sister and cooking and cleaning for us kids. It was like "The Grapes of Wrath" for her.
Today you need a reservation to camp just about everywhere. There is no lifeguard at the swimming area. It costs money to stay, and you are limited to how long. You must stay on marked trails, and often can't light fires. Young boys are not wild things in the wilderness, they visit like intruders in a wilderness museum. Kids are highly supervised because of pedophiles and mass murderers, and aren't allowed to talk to strangers. Those kind of sick people must have existed back then, but we didn't expect to run into them. We didn't live in fear of them, or even ponder their existence. People trusted each other and were friendly.
There are no federal projects putting people to work, and we don't invest in America. It's pretty clear that things are still getting worse. There are few unions left. They are gone, along with the manufacturing jobs you could work at your whole adult life, with insurance and a retirement fund, and wages good enough for a man to buy his family a home and a decent life, without Mom having to work too. Sure Moms can get jobs if they want them now, but back then they didn't have to if they didn't want to. Now most have to. If a worker goes on strike they have no place to go. No good job to go to. Every fun thing left for us to do costs money, if you can get the time away, or dare to take it if it's offered. People are fighting to hold on to the few jobs not shipped over seas.
This younger generation doesn't realize what we've lost, and I'm ashamed now to tell them. Why didn't we fight harder for organized labor? Why did we fall for trickle down economics? Why did we stop investing in America? What the hell were we thinking? Why did we let the rich slowly buy out and take over the government?
Why did we let them make us so afraid of each other? The wealthy against the middle class. Christians against atheists. Homophobes against homosexuals. Hippies against hardhats. Scotch drinkers against potheads. Whites against Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Jews, Muslims, etc. Men against women. Everyone against the unions, and the Tea Party against all common sense. Sure, they own the Media and they have their top minds working on spin and propaganda, but still, you only have to look around you. Everybody is against terrorists, and everybody against us must be a terrorist or a Nazi or some variation of retarded. What the fuck America?
I'm so sorry we let this happen. I have no defense. We have to wise up and pull our heads out of our collective asses. We need to mind our own business and find some tolerance for the differences between us. Screw the labels and the stereotypes that are really meaningless, and keep us divided, and pointing fingers at each other.
We need to pull together. We need to show the party of the rich that the party is over. We need to hold the party of the rest of us at gun point if we have to, to make them fight like their healthcare and pension and jobs and, even their very lives are on the line. Ours are. Make them do what we elected them to.
Stop "hoping" and start demanding.
