Hard Rain....
"And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind". Eugene Cernan. 12/72
Good friends, who know me for fifty years, rarely comment on my Wake and Bake weekly column. Last week they challenged me about last week’s column. They thought the tone was too sanguine and somewhat disingenuous about American life. The whole idea of becoming is learning. The whole idea about learning is about becoming better. The characteristics most suited to learning are openness and conscientiousness. Examine everyone’s opinion and take the time to make sure you get it right. Have the courage to listen, admit an error in judgment and seek an alternative solution.
There is mythology and political propaganda to sort through. What is the American dream today? Is the American dream different in a Red State or Blue State? Is American exceptionalism real or Is America declining the next twenty years? Are we a land of opportunity for all or a land where most humans toil for someone else’s American dream? Will hard work, sacrifice and opportunity allow anyone to affirm their dreams and achieve their goals?
When you look at objective measurements the American dream has fallen out of the top ten worldwide. Life expectancy has not increased significantly over the last fifty years. Japanese people live longer by more than five years. Happiness surveys have Americans listed way below the top ten. Housing is too expensive for eighty percent of available buyers. Median first time home buyer is now forty. Health care costs continue to rise at rates that are unsustainable for most of the population. Those are facts! All of this continues to lead the population down an uncertain future. We are stuck on this road, in a deep fog, unable to see the road ahead, and not knowing when the fog will retreat. This mass feeling has been never been more prominent. And the powers that be, Red and Blue, exploit those fears politically whenever they can.
Remember all the blows the society has suffered the last five years. Covid, March 2020. George Floyd, May 25, 2020. Remember people were forbidden by government to go to church or play in parks but they could march in mass for Mr Floyd. January 6, 2021. After 9/11, no worse day in our lifetime. What a shame on our country! A day that featured a man wearing headdress, a day when American officers were assaulted on the Capital steps and a day when a young woman was shot to death for no good reason.
That was followed with four years of country by committee. Hope Hunter did not have a nameplate. We survived a President who was not physically capable of being President. Some will say we are barely surviving our current unstable President. Stop Putin signs scream about the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Nuclear threats, bombing of civilian buildings and mass bombing of infrastructure did not get Putin threatened with war crimes. He stole Ukrainian children. The ICC charged him with that crime. US and NATO sent guns and money. Ukrainians gave their lives. Putin is still sending innocent Russian to die for nothing four years later.
October 7, 2023. There is a theory about a canary in the coal mine. Throughout history the Jews have been the canary. The blood libels have risen again from the ashes. Marchers chant slogans like the marchers who chanted slogans 80 years ago. Suddenly, the world believes that the values of radical Islam are less dangerous than the values of the Jewish people. That is mass delusion. History has not been kind to the empires and civilizations that fell after demonizing the Jews.
November 4, 2024 and the reelection of President Donald Trump. That means more Jeffrey Epstein and more No Kings protests. Those suburban protestors probably did not donate their additional savings on the SALT tax. This is a President who is most comfortable on a rollercoaster. The first ride may be fun for some but this guy just keeps getting on line. All that energy, confusion and disruption is not good for culture, government and stability. The national media circus continues to throw wood on a burning fire. How much does social media reward, influence and reinforce the delusions. That uncontrolled energy and their own delusions are driving normal people to the edge.
We have had two Presidential assassination attempts. A single ex-military man blew up his Cybertruck in Las Vegas on Jan 1, 2025. His suicide note called on fellow Americans to wake up! Wake up to what? Aliens, Islamists, or Elitists who eat pizza. The previous evening an Islamist terrorist drove his truck into innocent people celebrating New Years Eve in New Orleans. A seemingly normal 28 year old white boy, who enjoyed all the privileges of the American dream, shoots an insurance executive. Did he think that would change the health care system. We are seeing direct political violence that targets individuals and institutions because people are lost in their delusions. How much does social media reward and reinforce the delusions. We are normalizing crazy behavior.
And then the AI doomers narrative took center stage..And then the bombing began…
And the bombing began again.. What does “obliterate” really mean?
That is a long list of stuff that citizens have had to work through. There is not much time for normalcy when the world is spinning madly. The recent moon mission was exceptionally meaningful because it reestablished normalcy. It allowed us to believe that the American dream was alive and well. My neighbor’s kid could be the captain of that tin can. Geez, it looked no bigger than Apollo modules. We could dream big dreams that dedicated teams could accomplish. We can do that in the USA. That is why the world wants to move here. When a rocket can fly to the moon and back, what is taking so long to build one more gosh darn tunnel from Jersey to Manhattan or a rail line from San Fran to LA.
The truth is that the American dream is struggling to get to its feet while the Staute of Liberty’s gaze is obscured by a fog that refuses to recede. May we find hope and dreams for ourselves in the eyes of our four astronauts.
Commander Reid Weisman described our planet as a "lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe”. "It’s a special thing to be a human, and it’s a special thing to be on planet Earth”. Keep these words close to your heart… It will help with the delusions.. It may not be much but it may be the spark for something bigger than we can see today.
Peace to Everyone. We need this Bob Dylan today!!
PS> Hey West Coast, “I am immensely grateful for the beauty of the world and all of the good things in it. None of it, not a thing, has to do with anything related to faith or belief in some higher Supreme Being, which if it exists, is, at best, pathetic and, at worst, exceedingly cruel and sadistic.”
Wake and Bake will get to you shortly…. with love of course…