We can float boats or sink them.
By John Van Dyke
I started with an idea that we can discover who we are today, by learning more about ourselves, where we are, places in our country, and how these things shape us. Also, how we interact with each other. There is no question that we are in a changing America, not the one our parents knew, maybe not even the one we knew five, ten, or twenty years ago. We are at a crossroad, an intersection, that looks a bit like one of those sign posts on top of a mountain, with a dozen signs all pointing in different directions to far away places that seem foreign, interesting, or intriguing to us.
335,000,000 of us.
Some have questioned our place, at home, in the world, in our country. Divisive politics has become like a sporting event with gladiators. We have been divided into spectator groups cheering them on. And, many have not a clue why they are cheering. We’ve been given nicknames to call opponents. Sleepy Joe, Lyin’ Ted, Trumpty Dumpty, Crazy Nancy, and others. A crisis like the Pandemic was given a nickname, Kung Flu, to mock China. Kind of a bully approach to leadership, or maybe just dumbing us down further. But, I don’t think we are dumb. A lot of people have been vulnerable, and confused, by disruption and things that they cannot control. Some have taken advantage of that, and have played on fears and uncertainty. Many people sought solutions in political language that made them feel safer and more secure. Others have been prosperous and riding a wave of growth and success, while not stepping out of their safe and secure echo chambers. Yet, some of the prosperous disruptors, are now being disrupted, and joining the ranks of ordinary Americans.
We are living in a world of fast everything. Fast fashion, fast furniture, fast design, fast architecture, fast entertainment, fast media, fast finance, fast employment, fast information. Quick, convenient, forgettable, and disposable. Getting attention and retention, is the holy grail, of everything today, and making billions of dollars. It’s universal, global, yet it all relies on us. The people, because we are the product, and the consumer, and the voices, when we use them.
It has been said when cracks appear, that is when the light gets in. It seems cracks are appearing at the feet of authoritarian leaders, wanna be’s or pretenders, regimes and businesses. The toxic rhetoric, propaganda and lies aimed at others is leaking back on them. It is happening everywhere, in Russia, Iran, China, Brazil, other places. In our transparent world today, it is hard to hide what is happening. Also closer to home, a few larger than life individuals in our country seem to be imploding, or are about too.
There is an Ancient Chinese saying. “The people are like the sea, they can float the boat, and they can also capsize it.”
It’s all about us.
I have been on a journey discovering who we are in a changing America. No single story, or single person, or single location, or idea defines us. Our lives, our communities and cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. History books will talk about us and this time, long after we are gone. It will be a complicated history of technology, generations, finance, power, politics, media, and humanity.
We are writing this history.
