The Weight of Our Generation

“The traditions of all dead generations weigh like a nightmare on the minds of the living.”
Karl Marx


Yesterday I recognized that Trump was occupying too much room in my thinking. I thought I could get benefit from a Thoreau period at the pond. Easier said than done! On my walk, I encountered my son, who was busy with a new ax, chopping up an enormous tree that recently fell. Chopping wood is, of course, a valuable task for a boxer to engage in to increase punching-power in the boxing ring. I made my usual attempt at humor, noting that I could charge young boxers for the opportunity to train here.

Then he asked me – very seriously – what I thought about Trump's threatening North Korea?

Later in the evening, when my daughter arrived home, she said that she had been listening to the news on her drive. She, too, was concerned about Trump's idiotic threats.

I am old enough to have lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis – although like most Americans, I was unaware of just how close we came to war. Thank goodness JFK was president, for surely the two before and most after him would not have resolved it peacefully.

I also either got under my desk, or went into school's hallway, during “civil defense drills.” I was too young to understand that in 1953, the Saturday Evening Post did a feature story on our little community, noting it was “the town we can't do without.” A defense industry that had been opened after WW1 was credited for its essential role in WW2. It also made the village a top-eight target in WW2, and certainly remained a target when I attended school.

Trump would be in his glory if he thought he could create the same level of fear from that bygone era. It's important that we not allow that. Not to say that Americans should be any less concerned with Trump than is the human family around the globe. He is a dangerous fellow: he wants to take health care away from millions of others, simply because he resents President Obama for delivering it.

Recently, when General Kelly became Trump's chief of staff, people hoped Kelly could bring some stability to the White House. Time has indicated that Trump remains spiraling out of control. I think it is as if a social worker was tasked with working with a dysfunctional (fucked-up) family daily. As long as Old Dad continues to be abusive – especially at night, when the social worker wasn't around – and tried to bully and abuse family and neighbors, as well as the entire community, that family is going to remain sick. Dad will continue to remain the source of problems in their neighborhood and community.

Imagine if Dad was the social worker's boss, and it's obvious that Dad simply wants to use him to intimidate others.

Now, imagine that some local police and the prosecutor were investigating Old Dad for criminal activities. As citizens in the neighborhood, we should be doing our best to send Old Dad to jail. We should recognize that as our civic duty, and our duty to the (world) community. And that is especially true if the old shithead starts raising his voice, and threatening anyone and everyone, and insisting that the police and prosecutor stop bugging him. It's good to be aware of how potentially dangerous he absolutely is – thus, the need to restrain him on his way to his cell.

What's taking place between Trump and his clone in North Korea isn't good, obviously. And it's not only Trump that is the problem. I'm reminded of the threats of Iraqi's WMDs – the mushroom clouds and other nonsense – from Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice. There's too much of an effort being made by the media and others in the military-industrial complex to make it look like the Cuban Missile Crisis. Obviously, I'd much prefer that jackass in North Korea not pursue nuclear weapon capabilities. Just like I wish the jackass Trump had no say in the potential use of such weapons.

My son, keeping a very straight face, said, “Sorry, Old Man. But Trump will bring about the end of the world in September. Nothing we can do about it.” Dark humor sometimes helps.