I have to wonder what it felt like in February of 1942? The Imperial Japanese Navy was moving fast and on into the Solomons. It had captured Manila and it did not look good for thousands of United States troops on Bataan. U. S. troops were just arriving in Britain and war was raging in North Africa. Most American men were signing up for the military and women were moving into the factories to keep production going. They worried about civilian infiltrators from the countries we were at war with. Generals were fired, men were lost through mistakes.
I have heard numerous stories from my mother about the rationing to keep the family going. I did not read Tom Brokaw's book The Greatest Generation for I knew what they did. My father was burned badly on the deck of a troop carrier after a Kamikaze attack, coming home from New Guinea. There were controversies over the war but Pearl Harbor had made it very clear that a "war" had begun and needed to be finished. Many commentators wrote about 9/11, that America would never be the same. I had my doubts then and they proved true. The unity lasted a few months and then it was back to business as usual in the political arena.
As a people, we do not 'know' that we are in a war. We may be in a 'mess' but not really a 'war.' This past week we were told that the financial crisis had supplanted terrorism as our main concern. I don't believe that "terrorism" is our main problem. The "American Malaise" is ahead of it. Beyond our 401's for the upper classes, and that "idyllic image" that our ever-present advertising has given the rest, we are a people adrift.
Is there an area of American culture that has not been affected? We are like a large piece of glacier that breaks off and drifts towards warmer waters. The temperature affects the entire mass, just as the culture, through television and the various entertainment industries settles over and molds us. I have mentioned on previous blogs, one area where we can fight back. One post is titled "Pet Project," and describes my hope that some day we can bring only the television stations that we want into our homes. As it is now, we are at their mercy. If we want "Discovery," we get "MTV" with it. I hope to bring this topic of "a la carte cable" up occasionally. Please consider this. They (the television industry) are feeding us as if in a high chair, "open up...aah...now didn't that taste good!". We need to demand that we will order what we want. I'm convinced that given a few short years of choosing from our own menu, that this "malaise" will weaken.
I have heard numerous stories from my mother about the rationing to keep the family going. I did not read Tom Brokaw's book The Greatest Generation for I knew what they did. My father was burned badly on the deck of a troop carrier after a Kamikaze attack, coming home from New Guinea. There were controversies over the war but Pearl Harbor had made it very clear that a "war" had begun and needed to be finished. Many commentators wrote about 9/11, that America would never be the same. I had my doubts then and they proved true. The unity lasted a few months and then it was back to business as usual in the political arena.
As a people, we do not 'know' that we are in a war. We may be in a 'mess' but not really a 'war.' This past week we were told that the financial crisis had supplanted terrorism as our main concern. I don't believe that "terrorism" is our main problem. The "American Malaise" is ahead of it. Beyond our 401's for the upper classes, and that "idyllic image" that our ever-present advertising has given the rest, we are a people adrift.
Is there an area of American culture that has not been affected? We are like a large piece of glacier that breaks off and drifts towards warmer waters. The temperature affects the entire mass, just as the culture, through television and the various entertainment industries settles over and molds us. I have mentioned on previous blogs, one area where we can fight back. One post is titled "Pet Project," and describes my hope that some day we can bring only the television stations that we want into our homes. As it is now, we are at their mercy. If we want "Discovery," we get "MTV" with it. I hope to bring this topic of "a la carte cable" up occasionally. Please consider this. They (the television industry) are feeding us as if in a high chair, "open up...aah...now didn't that taste good!". We need to demand that we will order what we want. I'm convinced that given a few short years of choosing from our own menu, that this "malaise" will weaken.
