This story is a wonderful story of patriotism, family love, kindness and the real values that The Angry White Mom believes are the values that have made this country great -- values that have paled before the Almighty Dollar. If the story has a moral to it as well, that is totally up to you to decide.
My dear friends Joel and Steph, proud parents of an Iraqi War veteran, went to visit their son and his young family in Georgia a few weeks ago, and when they returned, Stephanie blessed me with this account of their visit to the Atlantic Ocean. Pardon the paraphrasing, because the details don't matter. The important thing is how her son Nathan, still in his twenties after two tours of duty and injury in Iraq, sees how his actions, both military and civilian, fit into this crazy world.
Stephanie related to me how the family -- Nathan, his wife and two young children, treated the old folks to a day at the beach, and because the surf was up, life jackets were in use among many of the beachgoers that day. As is often the case, not everyone wanting a life jacket came prepared with one, and so there seemed to be quite a bit of sharing going on, even among strangers, so that the maximum number of folks who wanted a little security along with their frolic in the ocean surf could have it, and not have their day completely ruined by not being able to get wet. In a quiet moment, watching this, Nathan shared with his mom that to him, that's what America is, or at least should be, and how we should think of our taxes and our entitlements.
This young Army veteran, father, husband, student and son, expressed his belief that some Americans need a life jacket now and then. And when they no longer need it, they throw it back to the next floundering American. The problem seems to be with some Americans who either want to keep their life jackets for themselves long after they finish swimming, and with those who don't bother to pass along a life jacket to a waiting swimmer and simply throw it away. And then there are those who just tear the thing up so no one can claim any benefit.
I am not going to go on and on about how this analogy speaks to so much of what is happening in our country today. Remember studying analogies in high school? You either get it or you don't.
Our politicians either get it or they don't. Clearly, some of our more conservative party leaders just do not get it. They are still convinced that Wall Street and the top 2% income earners need their lifejackets. And the bankers and brokers are hanging on to those lifejackets with all their might, so focused on keeping them that they totally miss the fact they are only ankle deep in water. Meanwhile, the rest of us are barely keeping our heads above the waves.
We have an entire generation wanting to tear down the nation's institutions that have strengthened our country. They want to sell off our infrastructure (check out Right Wing Darling Rick Perry's slick and so far successful assault on Texas's rural population transportation facilities. And a side note here: Ever driven in Oklahoma? They don't take federal highway dollars for the state's portion of the Interstate Highway system -- you know, the interstates established by that ol' liberal/socialist President Dwight D. Eisenhower -- so Oklahoma collects tolls from the travelers along the way to cover maintenance and other expenses. Simply put, the roads suck. They really need a lifejacket, but Oklahomans have torn the damn thing up!) privatize our military (although conservatives would never admit it, take a look at all the money American tax payers spent in Iraq on Halliburton and Blackwater. If someone put a pencil to it, the falsely substantiated Iraq War under the Bush Administration probably demonstrates the largest transfer of public dollars into private hands ever in the history of the world.), and socially engineer our population (this country's health care system already ensures that the poor and complected are the first to die for lack of access to regular and preventive healthcare. Any attempt to correct this inexcusable vacuum is invariably met with a raucous chorus from the right shouting socialism and other nonsense. I always wondered if these brilliant "business owners" ever figured out that healthy workers work harder when they aren't sick and sore? Ya think?)
I think they are afraid. Afraid of the ocean, afraid of the sand, afraid of giving up their life jackets. They are getting old, and other than some of the world's best Rock and Roll, they really did not accomplish much as a generation. The battles they waged, against Hitler, against the Soviet Union, they actually fought from the sidelines cheering on as the generation before them dived headlong into the fray. My parents' generation -- this sell-off, do-nothing, name-calling generation was handed everything they needed to focus on making money, and making our lives better, and now they cannot bring themselves to hand it off to the next guy, because they are afraid. They are afraid of everything, from Communism to Climate Change. Insecurity and the inability to see beyond their bankbook, incompetence and indifference plague my parents' generation, yet these are the very life jackets that they cling to, terrified of the current that can carry them to a greater good. Sad really
And like the old saying goes "Misery Loves Company" -- this generation is determined to spread their fear
among an otherwise hopeful and optimistic populace. Scott Walker, Rand Paul, Eric "America Can't" Cantor -- this group is infected with almost the same fear -- the fear that lifejackets don't work. In the face of historical fact, scientific proof and demonstrable evidence, these guys seriously want to tear up all the lifejackets for everybody just because they deny their effectiveness. Well, they seem to be saying, "They don't save everybody from drowning, so let's just pitch the whole batch." In sharp contrast to that narrow and rather gloomy perspective , most people in my generation and younger -- like Nathan -- still believe that Americans can do better than we have before -- on the environment, in medicine, on education, with the poor. We may not have the answers, and we know we still have to swim to get there. But the goals are still there and the achievements are still possible. Maybe someone will throw a life jacket our way, to make it a little easier.
Just so you know, the Angry White Mom is still treading water.
The Truth hurts. Now go put a bandage on it. Waterproof this time.
