Mommy and Daddy died . . .
I think the first time it happened in my life was back in 1963. My grandmother "Toots" died. It was the first time I thought about death. A few years later it happened again but much closer to home. My sister died. I was barely a teenager. She'd been sick a lot but the day she died she had actually gotten out of bed on her own. When I came home from school for lunch I overheard her telling Mom that she was dying, to which Mom responded "Nonsense honey, this is the first time you've been up and around for months. You're getting better!". Three hours later, she was gone. As we get older it happens to all of us, more and more. We see it on TV and read it in the papers. After my grandmother, JFK was killed and the nation mourned. After my sister, there was Martin and then Bobbie. We mourned more. Our friends die in accidents, immediate and extended family from disease, too. As we get older we see more family die while others are born. I was able to cut the umbilical cords on my two youngest sons and give them their first baths at birth. Years later I was able to hold the hand of my fiancée and tell I love her as she died from ovarian cancer. Years later I didn't have the same privilege of saying goodbye to my youngest son . . . It seems that the only thing that remains the same . . . is change. We're born. We live. We die. WE are responsible for what happens during the "living" part of life. I remember reading in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test a repetitive passage "either you're ON the bus, or OFF the bus". Life is like that. So here's the thing: somewhere along the line, Mommy and Daddy died too. There's kind of an "ultimate lesson" learned when that happens: one REALLY has only one's self to rely on. You can't go "home" anymore if things don't work out. They're not there to fix it anymore. Politics is like that . . . . . . except that there NEVER really was no Mommy or Daddy. Reality? "If it is to be, it is up to me." Yeah. We WANT our leaders to fix it. But the economy/wars/ social injustice/environment, etc. isn't going to require a simple diaper change. Democracy is dying. AMERICA as we know it is dying. Neither Daddy nor Mommy can fix it, and sometimes I think that our brothers and sisters are part of the problem. We, the people, have to do it. If ANY President, Congressperson or other politician is going to have a HAND in fixing it, WE THE PEOPLE have to give them permission by the sheer number of our voices. So far, we've FAILED. The powers that be have the money, the time and the think tanks to divide and conquer us. They're smart enough to ferment our discontent over the slow speed of change - a slow speed that they control with the lobbyist money and campaign contributions and Citizens United-like PAC's. They control the Main Stream Media through the advertising. They get us pitted against each other over who we support in the leadership. Don't let them. Get over it. Mommy and Daddy died. No President or legislature is going to be able to fix ANYTHING until we gain enough mass. We have to educate each other and not hate each other over ideology. Tea Party members are NOT the enemy. Republican voters are NOT the enemy. Democrats are NOT the enemy. The lack of information and ideology is the enemy. Again, it is the lack of information and education about the economy, the environment, energy, etc. WE THE PEOPLE must be the "rising tide that lifts all boats." If you expect Obama to do it you'll be left in some rather large dirty diapers. It's not his fault; it's OUR expectations. Talk to everyone about the issues. Have pot luck dinners together, coffees, barbeques, beer bashes, whatever . . . just like the teach-ins that helped stop the war in Viet Nam and the consciousness-raising groups that advanced women's rights. The wars must end. The economy must be for the common person. The world needs clean energy independence. We're all in this together.
By: Bob Babcock
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