Fortune and Despair

I'm so lucky. I have everything I need. I do not have to work another day in my life. I have a lovely house and good friends. I have worked for campaigns and voted in every election. I donate money to causes. I try to live my life and treat others as I would want to be treated. Yet, I despair. I heard on the radio that after 2008, young people are slipping away from the Democrats, which would be understandable, but toward the Republicans which is stunning. I could understand if it were toward Independents but R's, really? A CNN poll says the Republicans are the major cause of the gridlock, but Democrats need to do more to "compromise" to accomplish solutions. How can you compromise with a rock?

Income redistribution is a dirty word today, but for the last 30 years, the US has been redistributing income from the poor and middle class to the wealthy and no one has complained or acted to reverse it. Now any attempt is bought and sold as communism or socialism. The size of our middle class in the 50's an 60's was the envy of the world. How about now. Good jobs have been outsourced, capital has been invested in financial instruments instead of manufacturing and infrastructure. Our cities are crumbling and now our inner suburbs are too. But the only popular movement seems to be the tea partiers who have anger but a mish mash of solutions. Don't spend any more government money because we really want to have a depression rather than government spending.

I tell myself that I should quit thinking about all this and just sit back and live my life. I'm not likely to be hurt badly by any of the policies of either party so I could just quit caring what happens to other people and I would be so much more contented. I've thought about leaving the country. Going somewhere that fits my social conscience a little better and then perhaps quitting caring wouldn't be so hard. But such a drastic act is hard to take in my twilight years. Starting over in a completely unfamiliar place is daunting, especially all alone. So I sit here, thankful for my fortune and despairing of the state of our country and of civilization in general. The more we evolve, the less improvement there appears to be.