Where does the time go?
by John Van Dyke
A New Year, an opportunity. Sometime in your life, you look around and say where does the time go. What’s been done is done. Yet you can still make a difference, mend a fence, right a wrong, have a conversation, be engaged, as we mark off another year in a changing America
So many of us, all different people, yet all Americans, and a lot of commonality. I don’t think for a moment that any one of the 132 people I talked with would trade our country for another. I set out to find something, who we are, why we were doing some of the things that I did not understand.
Over the course of six years, our country has changed, as I was trying to understand us. It was as if everything around us was changing, faster than we could keep up with. In the course of this, I changed, not what I believe in, nor the kind of person I am, but my understanding of others, people I knew nothing about.
I now understand how our places shape us. How we were raised, and by whom, influences the people we become. It is normal to have differences, and we all do not see through the same lens. One persons needs may be simple, another more complicated. Perhaps what struck me the most, was the layers of us, as if we are functioning disconnected, moving not all in the same direction. Tectonic plates causing seismic shifts. Clearly a political agenda and narrative was telling us who we are, and media was echoing that. I learned that sowing chaos and distraction, keeps us from really knowing who we are, and what is really happening. I learned that racism has been promoted as our dominant problem by political leaders and media, when the real problem of today is classism. Some are living in cars, old RV’s, anything to stay off the streets. Others are doing okay, and a few are making billions. Without a doubt technology is at the heart of a generation of change, and in the case of social media, the face of it.
We are just beginning to understand what has been happening to us, and discovering who we are in this new America.
What a few of the 132 Americans I talked with, had to say.
Shayna, in Butte Montana called us sheeple. Kristen, in Wichita Kansas doesn’t know what to believe because we are hiding behind this social media wall. Todd, in Alpine Texas thinks we have lost interest in our country. Laura, in Seattle Washington said we have given all our information away. Jill, in Elgin North Dakota doesn’t believe a single think on Facebook. Andrew, in Detroit Michigan said classism, not racism, is our problem today. Sergio, in Harvard Illinois thinks everything is about popularity. Levi, in Lancaster Missouri is living the American Dream. Charissa, in Dover New Hampshire worries every time she puts her kid on the school bus. Sandra, in Gary West Virginia said what you do when no one else is looking, is the most important thing you do. Therese, in Chesterton Indiana said we still have our voice. Rex, in Oxford Mississippi thinks attacking our media is very dangerous. Shaun, in Fredericksburg Texas said people can do bad things. Alvaro, in Austin Texas gets his information from T-shirts. Mimi, in Janesville Wisconsin thinks we don’t appreciate how fortunate we are. Tessa, in Perrysburg Ohio doesn’t want to live in a divided America. Benjamin, in Beloit Wisconsin thinks politicians do what the money wants or they don’t get re-elected. Danny, in Phoenix Arizona said young people are angry. Shirley, in Albuquerque New Mexico feels Americans are afraid. Archis, in Seattle Washington thinks we must learn how to deal with change. Justin, in Atlanta Georgia said we as humans are meant to connect through conversation. Laurent, in Burbank California is happy to be in America.
There is so much to talk about, with each other, in the new year.
Time is passing us by.
