Everyone has a story. Everyone is supposed to have dreams of better lives and hope for their kids and their children's children. Everyone does not start out in life on an equal playing field and that is reality.
Back in the late 60's, just about every movie and song was extremely thought provoking and maybe it was all the LSD or age of rebellion and discontent. The one thing the 60's had no problem with, was dropping out or facing some realities that we were not going to be the Greatest generation. Some of us were a little late to that reality. Folks like OPOL, Meteor Blades and DaNang 65 were well aware of obstacles ahead but even they, I do not believe saw the mess we have today.
I never in my wildest imagination thought that by June 2015, the month I turn 65 that life would be so very hard and the dream to give inspiration and inheritence to one's children would be just that....a dream. I never saw the thought of police morphing into military geared bullies. I did see hatred expressed from racists and predjudices but never saw it so openly embraced by legislators and power players. We had Wallace, Maddox, Strom Thurmond but they did not make up the gathering of people we have now that call themselves the Tea Party Nation. I never in my wildest thoughts would think a corporation could be deemed as a person. I never thought it would be the norm for big banks and corporations to steal hard working people blind and rob them of their dreams and homes. That is reality. I never ever imagined we would just keep invading and bombing countries after Viet Nam.
We boomers were taught to work hard, save a little, be productive and anyone could succeed. I am sure that was what White boomers were taught although MLK gave much hope for change to the minorties and downtrodden. The Feminist revolution had begun and Helen Reddy's " I am Woman" was a theme song for breaking the glass ceiling. Did we even make a dent?
Folks hid their shameful preying on kids and did not have reality shows like the Duggars whereas they were given air time to defend the unthkinable and then people running for president stand behind them. That is reality.
As I recall, the only time the church got into business outside the realm of their faith on such a large scale was when Elvis Presley hit the scene and all were going to Hell for this new beat and Rock and Roll had to go. Every little church on the corner was not bashing the President and talking politics from the Podium while passing the plate. I never ever thought I would see such judgment coming down from the churches and working it's way into ordinary people's lives by legislation. " C" Street full of evangelical lobbyists trying to push a few thousand Mega Church's agendas on the populace. That is reality.
I think so much of our reality today came riding in during the eighties with an actor named Reagan. He and his rich friends wanted a few to have a slice of American Pie but no one else. I wish someone had stood and told Reagan, " Mr. Reagan Tear down this wall of inequality" but no one did.
I do not recognize the country of American dreams when I face the reality that I will never live to see a country rise like a phoenix to some sort of sanity and has moved backwards and not forward in almost all aspects of progress.. That is reality.
It was not supposed to be this way. At 65 I am supposed to be sitting and sipping coffee and watching sunsets without worrying about the price of gas to get to point A to Point B. The younger generations do not know how hard we all worked for voter protections, equal rights, and social security not mention savings. We should all be enjoying medical care but no, we are actually worse off with all acquiring medical care because of the inequaality gap
At what point did Leaders of a so called civilized country think it was OK to torture people without accountability? At what point did people decide to walk around shooting up neighboorhoods like the Wild West? At what point did people cower down to be oppressed by the trillions of dollars ..our dollars mind you to become servants of the rich. I know people who have incomes of 40,000 annually who still believe they are middle class. These folks generally vote republican.
I am working harder to get out the vote now than I ever thought about in the 70's.
We have to work collectively with a dream of some sort to make things better as we watch Climate Change breaking us into sink holes and strange weather patterns along with Fracking and pollution getting stronger. It is hard to hang on to some sort of dream when Reality is so real.
I never ever saw any of this coming in my golden years. My dreams got hijacked and blindsided. It is a sad day in America, when a citizen cannot visit the Nation's capitol without it costing them the next month's rent..even lowballing food and shelter on said trip. It is sad that the majority of citizens cannot get out and see National Parks and the capitol without going into debt.
I think we need to quit building so many memorials for wars and spend the money on the people trying to exist in peace in America. The recent trip was inspirational and everyone should experience it at least once but it should be less expensive where people can see up close and personal how 1000 dollar suits walk right past a person huddled in a corner begging for food . It is a huge wake up call, IMO. I could not afford that trip but that was another dream I had to citizen lobby for our veterans and of course reality hit me this month for making that trip.
I did not mean to depress on a lovely Sunday morning but I did mean to nudge our younger folks into the realization that retirement years come sooner than one thinks and to never quit working for change because we dropped the ball thinking it was all good for awhile there. Don't stop... ever.. You will live your reality and not your dreams.
For a few, a minorty, folks dreams do become their reality but for far too many today it is still dreams. There but for fortune go you and I.