Standing at the edge of.............

Remember what we used to call the “real world’? I’m guessing that most of our October/November generation can recall those times, especially those of us living in the US of A, where we not-so-humbly accept our assumed privileges as proof of Heaven’s endorsement of our efforts.

Yet, we need not dig very deep for hints of how we have abused those opportunities, the ones our people fought so hard to gain.

Am I right in my belief that our extravagant blessings carry with them great responsibility? Should we expect more than we are receiving from our nation, its leaders, and its people when we have been endowed with such wonderful freedoms and expansive lifestyles?

Is it possible that we have failed the legacy we were gifted? You and I can debate the day’s headlines…….and whether we view any given event as evidence of amazing success or colossal failure.

Yet no matter what the occasion, what the “given event” might be…….. extreme division and polarity among the stakeholders is seldom a recipe for unbridled success? Are the greatest leaders of any persuasion the ones who sow discontent and division among the population that will ultimately decide the result they hope to achieve?

Consider our present situation. An endless flood of “funny money” is being thrown in every direction, though it seems to take longer to reach the fringes. Meanwhile, the disruptive elements of corporate greed, competing channels of  communication, and the cult-like direction of an insecure, yet persuasive TV celebrity are taking us places we may not have intended to to go.

Have you ever tuned in to both narratives at the same time…… listening as Rachel Maddow and Sean Hannity tell the same story? You might well conclude they are reporting on different events on different planets.

And the truth of it? Well, I have my opinion and I’ll bet you have yours. Still, our leaders, the ones who claim to represent us carry on……leaving us to judge their results and draw our own conclusions about whom they actually represent.

And where will our nation be when the dust settles? Will we be on the verge of Making America Great Again, or standing at the cliff’s edge, peering down on the crumbled remnant of our Great American Democratic Experiment?

To be sure, it was the virus that triggered our current dilemma. But it was an already chaotic environment, the not-so-fertile soil on which that corona seed landed, and from which it sprouted, that has managed to muddle our national response. 

From the chaos of the present endemic we hear again an old, but applicable slogan. “We are all in this together.” That is so true……be it facing an unfriendly virus or the disintegration of our Democratic dream.

To repeat,  I fear we are standing at the edge of an eventful, possibly deflating future……............…wondering whom, if anyone, will be able to lead us from the societal wasteland that stretches out                    before us.