I find the Gary Snyder poem "For the Children" beautiful in its simplicity;
“stay together,
know the flowers
go light”
And hopefulness;
“In the next centuryor the one beyond that,they say,are valleys, pastures,we can meet there in peaceif we make it.” Being simple and hopeful is fine but it’s also good to be grateful for all that we have. Fun fact- Gary Snyder is the basis for the character Japhy Ryder in Jack Kerouac’s novel ”Dharma Bums”. ________
The video below is called "A Grateful Day" with Brother David Steindl-Rast at Gratefulness.org. It’s worth watching imho
If you're interested in some of what's happening in the right-wing YouTube media sphere I highly recommend RM Brown. I think his show is funny and he has some smart takes on controversial topics. Like any humor it's all subjective and I imagine his humor is not everyone's cup of tea but if you have some time to get into the audio drops and history of the show it's pretty fun especially if you are a little high (on life or "whatever trips your trigger" as my Navy DI in boot camp would say about a hundred years ago when I was a recruit).
Watching the weird, but popular, right-wing/grifter stuff - is hard to do.... so much of it seems so idiotic, predatory etc., but I'm afraid in some ways necessary for those wanting to retain a semi-sane society in the good old US of A.
But RM Brown watches it for you and gives lots of funny summaries...so you can keep up with some of the weird shite that is popular with a surprisingly/alarmingly large number of YouTube viewers.
Apple's version of The Velveteen Rabbit will be available Wednesday November 22nd. I love the book. I wrote a little bit about the Skin Horse on this blog almost 20 years ago...my how the time does fly.
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An excerpt from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become, It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
He proved that prediction right with the failed insurrection he fomented on January 6th, 2021.
As a general rule if you attempt to overthrow a government either you are successful and called a liberator or you are unsuccessful and branded a traitor.
Since Trunk and his supporters were unsuccessful in their attempt to overturn a democratic fair election, they are correctly identified as traitors to our country.
Protecting our Democracy has required great sacrifices over time including by the brave men and women who served in the military and gave the ultimate sacrifice, those who lost loved ones and those who supported our American democratic form of government in myriad other ways - teachers, parents, election volunteers, and some political figures - to name a few.
I think on this Veteran's Day it's a good idea to remember all those heroes and also to recognize the threat Trunk and his cultish followers pose to that precious gift.
It's probably a good time to remember also that some people are more easily fooled than others and to show some compassion for the weak-minded until they become an actual threat to what we hold so dear.
There are more people that love our country for what it stands for and what our heroes fought and died for (he wrote hopefully), than those easily fooled by right-wing propaganda intended to make the obscenely rich more rich, the too powerful more powerful and the working class scared, angry, confused and subdued lest they recognize how poorly they have been treated over the last 40 plus years of neoliberal rule by both political parties.
Thanks vets, thanks teachers, thanks parents we owe you more than we could ever hope to repay.
