"The unexamined life is not worth living" Socrates

- - scatterings of ideas sent to my younger self, a sensitive girl who was fooled into believing she was a boy because of anatomy - -

Sunday 21 October 2018

What is the Worst That Can Happen?

A few days ago, K had the car, so I decided to take advantage of the good weather and walk to the store, only about four kilometers round trip. It really doesn't seem so very long ago that such a walk dressed casually, as myself, would have frightened me. These days, I give it almost no thought, and on this day that was a bit too brave as it turned out. I mentioned good weather. There had been a storm the night before, and it was brilliantly sunny, but a bit breezy as I left the house. By the time I was half-way to my destination, the wind had freshened a lot and it felt good, until I realized that my hair was blowing about. As Grandma used to say, I felt like the wreck of the Hesperus. Reaching the store, looking in the window, I could see that my hair was all over the place. That isn't good when you have only so much of it and usually fix it strategically, shall I say.

I could have abandoned the shopping (it wasn't essential) and gone home. Instead, I pushed the nest on top of my head around a bit with my fingers and did my shopping. Yes, folks looked at me in my dishevelment, but then everyone who came in looked disheveled. As far as I know, the fashion police were not called, and no harm came to me or anyone else as a result. 

Under the heading of the worst that can happen, the New York Times has reported that the Trump administration has draft legislation that will roll back protections for transgendered individuals which the previous administration passed. If passed, the new legislation would define "the sex listed on a person's birth certificate, as originally issued" as their definitive sex "unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence." Now, the legislators might say, "Oh, this definition is only for specific, limited situations." And I say, this is another step along the way to fulfilling an ultra-conservative (religious right) agenda. I feel so awful for all my brothers and sisters (over 1.4 million of them) in that country. I'm lucky; I can just stay away. 

One can only hope, fervently, that these elections in a couple of weeks there put an end to Trump's ability to push legislation through Congress. 

This election is going to have a lot to say about the American people. Do they realize that giving this person control of their country was a mistake that they will put right as quickly as possible, or do they really want to continue along the path that leads to isolation from the rest of the world?

I can walk out my door, as myself, every day, without fear. How can it be that in the 'land of the free', they seem to be intent upon removing that right from a large percentage of their population? 

Nobody should have to live a worst case scenario every day of their life. 

9 comments:

  1. It is staggering that one lunatic is allowed to casually reverse so much hard won progress towards freedom and equality.

    How we can keep creating tyrants after so many examples of horror from history is beyond belief...

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  2. Perhaps the real problem isn't so much Trump, although that's bad enough, it is that he is supported by so many like-minded voters. I think that the line between intelligent democracy and mob rule can be very fine at times.

    "Do they really want to continue along the path that leads to isolation from the rest of the world?" Yes they do! Hubris on a national scale.

    In so many ways Trump reminds me of Herr Hitler and Mussolini. Just watch his face when he makes some outlandish remark and awaits the expected applause.

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    Replies
    1. You have perfectly stated what I had resisted saying, you can almost hear the sound of jackboots in the background when that rubber face comes on the screen...

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    2. Yes, yet again, and here is an article by Robert Zaller https://drexel.edu/coas/faculty-research/faculty-directory/RobertZaller/
      who lays out the parallels in chilling detail. The American people, and then the rest of the world are in great peril. 
      https://www.thetriangle.org/opinion/it-has-happened-here-fascism-in-the-united-states/
      Notice the comments in which Trump supporters, who clearly haven't read the article and know nothing about 20th century history, attempt to smear the article as specious.

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  3. Hi Halle,
    Given there are only 2 weeks before your midterms such an outrageous proposal would seem to be in keeping with the many more improbable lies and fault lines ( identity and race) gathering steam under this current leadership.
    Just keep singing and dancing in the rain, so let your hair down !! .

    Halle - Let the stormy clouds chase, away from that space,
    Come on with the rain, keep a smile on your face
    Just walk down the lane, with a happy refrain
    Just singin', Singin' in the rain
    Dancin' in the rain Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
    Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
    Your happy again!
    Your laughing at clouds. So dark up above
    Your singin' and dancin' in the rain!

    Best wishes

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    Replies
    1. Hi Lindsay,

      I have hopes that the US voters who didn't show up two years ago, who were singing a happy song, figuring their vote didn't matter, might think about the situation, and be a bit more motivated this time. But you know, it is their country and they get what they deserve I suppose. La, la, la...

      The strange thing is, K and I are just fine no matter what. We live in Canada where at the moment it is safe for those who don't conform to a strict definition of normal. If we never visit the USA again, life will go along just fine. If a Trump-like government here changes things, and there is no decent minimum wage, or interest rates go up, K and I will likely have more money in our pockets. So, yes, Singing in the Rain time, except ...

      We worry about others who have no reason to sing a happy song.

      We are seriously considering the option of moving off of this continent however, just in case things get really bad, and Trump and the gang run out of people in their own country to blame for their problems.

      First they came for the ...

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  4. First they came for the ... indeed! I am mobilizing all of the young ones I possibly can ... Ach, I am doing my best. BLUE BLUE BLUE

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