Some say they were better off under Trump than Biden, they say that the test “were you better off four years ago?”  favors Trump because of the price of eggs… REALLY??   But do you remember the mismanaged COVID response which lead to more than 1.1 million deaths of Americans?

Do you realize COVID was worse than it needed to be because of Trump?  In fact, with similar cultures and population our death rate per 100,000 population was 2.5x that of Canada?  (Source- John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center)

Do you realize the US economy today has 2.1% Inflation, Wage growth is 4.1% and GDP is 4.95% year over year… easily the strongest economy in the world?

Do you realize how women’s rights have been degraded by Trump’s three Supreme Court picks?   There are 21 states where woman cannot get life-saving reproductive care, due to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.  How many bleed-out deaths of young women are needed to reach you?

Do you realize a much needed conservative bill was put forward to fund dramatic improvements in border security this year and Trump had it killed because it would undermine the wedge issue he needed?

If this is not enough, consider character – A serial liar, convicted felon, a sexual molester, a fraudster and failed businessman (6 bankruptcies) who appeals to white nationalist vs. a successful prosecutor and state attorney general who spent her entire career in service to the people.  Who would you prefer?

And what of the future based on what both are saying…

If you think that autocracies are dangerous and they take freedom from their citizens, then Harris is your only choice.   If you are the preferred candidate by fascists, maybe it is because they can relate to you, and Trump is a fascist (definition: a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual, is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition – The Enemy Within, remember?)

If you think the DOJ should operate independent of the Administration, then Harris is your choice.

If you know that Jan 6. 2021 was an attempt at a violent insurrection with the purpose of keeping Trump in office, your only patriotic choice is Harris.

If you believe a growing opportunity-based economy is better than an Oligarchy then Harris is your choice.  If a Harris’ growth economy is good for America (and the world) then you must know that wide use of tariffs and the costs of detaining and deporting 11 Million people will put our economy in a severe depression.  Your only logical choice is Harris.

What more is there to talk about?  Were you really better 4 years ago??? Will you have a chance of being better in 4 more years???

My calendar told me today that tomorrow is “Indigenous Peoples Day”… so I looked up a definition of Indigenous Peoples.  Of course I know the intention, however,  I found the United Nations has no specific definition, but rather a multi-page paper to describe the apparently undefinable.  I guess, as I see it, they are peoples who descended from peoples who arrived before the peoples who arrived later.  And then view themselves as natives, as we then view ourselves as civil members of the society for which we claim ownership.   Because we defined it as so, and those others coming after us are immigrants which  most of us were at one time, and which are distinguishable, I suppose, from most recent migrants… at least for the purpose of conserving some cultural heritage which we supplanted over the top of some previous peoples and their heritage.

There does seem to be some truth to the notion that the winners of conflict and migration and supplantion write the history, and define thus the place for all of us.  So tomorrow, cheers to the peoples who came before the peoples before us… and their culture which we continue to supplant… I guess they deserve a day!

Maybe those defined as migrants and refugees will get a day sometime in the future?

As Emily Dickinson  said there is “no frigate like a book which could take us away” … A writer writes from their imagination, something from the soul which is ever in motion, and can take a reader to faraway places and different times, and expose us to experiences and truths we might not otherwise fathom… and the words live-on, once they are written.  We can experience these words, and truths a thousand years later, we can understand the wisdom and morality from Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, written a hundred and eighty years ago, or experience the transcendent oneness with Rumi from the thirteenth century…

Oneness 
by Rumi

There are many languages in the world —
but all with one meaning.

Water becomes one
when you break the jars.

The soul will send news to all
possessed of spiritual vision,
when you break
the heart
from words.

The words, the ideas, the poetry never ends as long as someone still finds the truth and beauty of such works.  Author’s can find a form of immortality through such virtuous creations.

But words are not restricted to the domain of truth tellers, they are also the tools of those who would deceive and lie for their own entertainment.  And even worse, are the unvirtuous who would lie and manufacture facts for some devious purpose, or self-aggrandizement.   Sadly, lies can live long healthy lives, as well as, beautiful poetry or virtuous books.  Generally, the authors are and often desire to remain hidden, for they know they are lying.

Conspiracy theories today seem to have a life of their own, they may have been born in satire and humor,  but when promoted by those who know better,  they begin to find favor and instead of taking us smoothly to new places, they create turbulence, and to those willing to believe, they promulgate dangerous beliefs… and worse they leave a legacy which allows the weak to trust no truths, to believe nothing.  Regardless the facts, they will choose to believe the wildest conspiracy theories.

I met someone a couple weeks ago, a young man who thought the moon landing was a fake, that it never happened… I think with all the real stories to be read, for all the truths to be understood, what a waste of intellect, imagination, of soul to believe such nonsense…  This was a conspiracy born in the 1970’s which should have been long-disabused and died, and yet it survives.  I told him I worked in the space business for 40 plus years and I knew Apollo astronauts and I understand what it takes to go to space, and I answered some of his questions and tried to write over a wrong in his heart, but who knows if truth can take root in such salted soil?   He said, well “at least I’m not a flat-Earther” as if this was some level of virtue.
Imagine now, the lost souls who will believe and pass to their children and beyond the stories of immigrants stealing pets to eat them?   Lies may live long lives… words are fragile things, which should be treated with care by responsible truth tellers, and those who would abuse these words should be banished to the hells they seek to create.

I’m continuously amazed, at such a time as ours, with untold riches of information available, millions and millions of worthy books, poetry, history, and legitimate fact-based news we are a society which produces millions of people who will keep the words which should die alive. They will believe, regardless of the truths available, the most outlandish lies, because they want to…  I imagine they would even be willing to believe the  Grimm’s Fairy Tales are really history.