The Fabric of Democracy

 

The failure to protect the domestic fabric of lives and property, before and in the aftermath of the Gulf Coast catastrophe, has been added to a growing list of national failures, fetishes and fiction.

Since each local municipality and state government are part of the national fabric, the number of failures across our country must be astronomical? I am watching loved ones and friends transform from strong hearted, true blue stars and stripes patriotic Americans, to disillusioned dull eyed, head scratching, head shaking, shell shocked patriotic Americans. And I am not talking about the scary fanatic left or right, I am observing the middle, the center, the diverse. Even if you don't hold the same belief or views, you still have a connection whether by blood or friendship with the ones who love the real meaning of this land. They don't go around shouting and judging others about their position, they are respectfully proud and quietly exercise their civic rights. They are the true heart beat of this land.

If that person is a veteran, and they believe they had a purpose and mission in their tour of duty, it all came down to protecting the country, their home. Their honor and their morals wrapped up in the American ideal to serve and protect. As a pacifist, I make no judgment upon those that have entered the armed forces for the purpose of protecting liberty and democracy. I do have an issue with using our armed forces in campaigns that are distorted for reasons other than protecting the lives and livelihoods of anyone in need, on this earth. Any loss of life, again, any loss of life, should never be dutifully accepted because it is 'war.' If learning from the past ever worked to the advantage of those who know or want democracy and peace, then why is "today" filled with all the tragic recycled human flaws; greed, power and dictatorship? It is plausible that the predatory flaws create the other side of the spectrum in recycled human victims; the passive-aggressives, the oppressed and the abused. The center, the middle of the road American is hanging on by a few threads and there are fewer and fewer everyday.

If one had a hard time with one aspect of our government, there was still enough belief in other areas that it didn't cause overall fear or suspicion. Some people have never trusted the government, but their distrust was their own, for reasons of their own, yet they were always proud to be an American and defended anything they believed to be an insult aimed at the United States. Two weeks ago, for the first time in my life, I awoke with the most awful feeling about what has happened to my country. Never before, not even with Reaganomics or 9/11, did I ever entertain the idea, that we as a country may not get back. That my children and their children may know a worse world than I could have ever imagined. That people much older than me are expressing relief that their lives have been lived. I never have had that thought wash over me so deeply, not until now. I am desperately holding on by the threads that make up the fabric of our nation, hanging on for hope, for future, for now.