It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

[moof]

how bitter it is now to think that this old phrase is best suited to describe the last half of the 20th century.

An era of opportunity that at last gave almost anyone a chance to grab a brass ring. A time that saw an explosion of creativity in music, film, literature, science, and enlightenment in general. Yes there was
still prejudice and oppression to be stamped out but there appeared to be an undercurrent of conscienceness that at least we were headed in the right direction.

Many nights now as the messages here at DU scroll by there seems to be little to say or do that will not make the situation worse. How do you try to pitch in and help educate others as to the reality of life now without dashing what may be left of their hope. As much as anyone if not more, there is nothing that moof would not give or do within the law to give back the world a civilization that was on track to realizing they belong to the world & not the other way round.
It seems now that the chance to have a true democracy and freedom has been taken away. Not to be negative but when your adversary has all the money, all the power, all the mass media and all the voting machines what can be done.

Seriously after reading threads in the GD & latest breaking news about this or that Democratic canidate it is just like are these people kidding, delusional, uninformed, in denial or are they just doing their best to keep playing the game hoping the house will let them appear to win once and a while.

There is really nothing that can be said or done now that will make any great difference and that is what seems to be the elephant in the living room that no one wants to acknowledge. So go ahead, please, point out the error of fact or logic that says that once a small group of people with almost no conscience and willing to break any law as well as write any new laws that give approval to their actions get the amount of control they now have, they can still be defeated.

[moof]

1. hit the send key too soon by mistake

not much more to say anyway except to ask if anyone else gets

depressed when they hear old songs or see old movies because it really seems like the era of high quality songs & films is over.

A long long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But December made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I remember how I cried
When I read about his paid for five
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
So...

Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

[jafap]

2. that phrase is always taken out of context

If you read the first paragraph of "A Tale of Two Cities" - Dickens was not saying that the French Revolution was "the best of times and/or the worst of times". He was saying that it was always described hyperbolically.

So I am reminded of Skeeter Davis. You may not know the song. "Why does my heart go on beating? Why do these eyes of mine cry? Don't they know, it's the end of the world? It ended when you said good-bye."

If you really want to get depressed, try Derrick Jensen's "Culture of Make believe". At one point he makes the statement that he kinda finds comfort in the fact that the human race is doomed. He says to a friend: 'we are not going to make it, are we?'

Sometimes I cannot tell if we are playing chess on the deck of the titanic, or ruining a tropical cruise by worrying about a hurricane which never comes. According to Lawrence Goodwyn the "Populist Moment" ended with the election of McKinley. Yet life went on. 50,000,000 died in WW II and life went on. So bring on the rain.

[izzie]

3. Read up on some of the social sci. like Mark and Weber.

Just why we think we are so good and right we can stuff it in to the whole world is beyond me. Well we do the same as a great many other countries have done and that has not worked also. Interesting life any how and I think my own grand children will have to re-fight the whole business all over if they have the balls.