Manifest Destiny
Practically no one would argue with the proposition that our country is in a sorry state right now.
The arguments would begin, of course, once the topic was broached about WHY the country is in such a sorry state. I imagine two camps, one armed, each with a list of what is going wrong and what should be done about it. Take the two lists, retitle the "what's going wrong" part to say "what should be done about it," and vice-versa, and you could give the two lists to the opposite parties with no problems. On so many topics, we have drawn into two ideologically opposing groups of approximately equal size, in a tooth-and-nail confrontation to rehabilitate our ailing nation.
But in spite of the many ways in which we disagree about what has gone wrong, most members of each of these groups would agree that our country is hurting.
Imagine: two centuries ago, there was such a thing as "manifest destiny."
In those days, the people of our country had a vision of the future, and in that future, our country was to be a grander, more prosperous, happier place. The future was a place where those people WANTED TO BE.
Do you long to be in the future of our country, our world?
I virtually never hear politicians, clergy, scientists, engineers, or regular Joes mouth their longing for the future, nor their vision for the future, nor their hopes for the future. Our manifest destiny has evaporated into a manifest apathy.
Or maybe apathy is too kind of a concept for today's attitude about tomorrow. There is too much anger, fear, and loathing of what our future is likely to be for the word "apathy" to adequately describe our feelings. Maybe manifest dread is more like it.
Oh, sure, people make plans and live in hope. Especially politicians, whose stock in trade is the proposition that if they are elected our cherished hopes will be realized, whereas if their opponents are elected, our hopes will yet again be dashed.
Sadly, each of the opponents in any race is half right.
Our talk of a brighter future, our plans, our hopes and our dreams today feature mainly repairs, corrections, fixes, disasters averted, pain ameliorated, suffering lessened. When did you last hear a leader, any leader in any field, describe a future with not only our current problems solved, but with creative new things, new frontiers, new nourishment for the human spirit, new grace?
I do not excuse or exempt myself.
We have become cynical, sarcastic, and defeatist. As you read this, you are thinking to yourself, "yes, but manifest destiny was a jingoistic, rapacious, racist, exploitative, chauvanistic illusion." Aren't you thinking that? Doesn't G.E.'s "Progress is our most important product" slogan sound cloying and even somewhat horrifying now?
Stop for a moment and try to visualize life in these United States in the year 3000. Granted, it's unlikely that the United States as a political entity will still be around by then, but try to imagine what life will be like for your many-great-grandchildren who may be living right there where you are at this moment, whatever the name of their home may be by that time.
Is it a beautiful, utopian world? Is it not only free of the many physical, social and environmental problems of today, but also free of new ones, and ALSO filled with something new, something beautiful, something uplifting and worthwhile?
If not, why not?
Close your eyes, and visualize that world of the year of 3000, the good world, not the post-apocalyptic one we are being sold over and over again in our imaginations by the beneficiaries of fear and the merchants of dread. What does your world look like?
I can see that world quite easily, although I have rarely seen it portrayed or described. Are we supposed to just make it come about by pure blind luck? Is the "invisible hand" really guiding us there, to a world of grace, prosperity and fulfillment? Or have I revealed too much about my vision?
I beg you to consider this. Imagine that good world. Imagine what it is that makes it good, and how that differs from what we have in our world today.
Then forget whether bringing about that world, bringing about those things that make that world a place worth living in, bringing about a place worth leaving to our cherished children and their cherished children and so-forth ... forget whether those changes fit into the mold of your political affiliations and religious beliefs.
Becasue I think we will have to forget those things to bring that world about. And only by US working together will that world come to be ... it will certainly not happen by itself, and I think you'll agree it will not happen if we continue as we are now.
It is only our destiny if we MAKE it manifest.
Why Witches Love Harness Racing
Sometimes when we're out and around, I get an inspiration for a subject for writing. Sometimes, it is a story idea, sometimes it's a poem (not too much of that recently, unfortunately), but most often, it's an idea for a brief essay like this one right here.
Not being of the current plugged-in generation, I am generally not carrying a computer or i-Phone at these times, so I resort to an old-school solution and borrow a pencil or a pen from Karen and jot down a few words to remind me what the idea was, for when I get home to where my computer is.
What I jot down is sometimes the title, but oftenit's just a few words that will trigger my memory about what it was that I wanted to write about.
The mind wanders; when I get home, things have usually happened between my inspiration and my renewed proximity to my computer, and I forget to even look at my scrap of paper. Therefore, it is often days, weeks or even months later when I finally open my wallet (where I keep the scraps to keep them from being laundered when I abandon them in my pockets and put the clothes in the hamper), and I see the note there and I am reminded to write about whatever it was that I jotted down earlier.
Over-and-above the laundry, this scheme is fraught with troubles.
Part of the problem is that I also use this method to record gift ideas for future birthdays and holidays, as I generally have that "deer in the headlights" reaction when I finally realize that the joyous occassion is rapidly approaching* and I have yet to buy anything. So, if I remember my list of inspirations, I pull it out to see if maybe sometime over the last year I maybe wrote down something to give Karen for her birthday, or to give Morgan for Christmas, or whatever.
I look at the list and I am confronted with the words "Perilous Harmony," for example, and I'm totally bewildered, unable to discern in my dark and creeky memory whether "Perilous Harmony" was an idea for a blog entry or a new perfume.**
Similary, when I sit down to write, and refer to my list for an idea, I will see "Cute Knit Cap," and totally draw a blank about what I had in mind about a cute knit cap that would be interesting to write about.
I'm not stupid, but ... well, maybe I am.
Maybe a longer, more explicit note would be a good idea, huh? Yeah, but when I write these notes, I'm either WITH Karen, so I can't be too obvious writing down some long and explicit note just after we saw a cute knit cap in The Gap. Or maybe I'm driving and listening to something on the radio that inspires some potential future writing, and I scrabble around for a pencil in the glove compartment to write with and the back of a credit-card receipt to write on, and, while trying to avoid hurtling cars in the intersection, I have only seconds to jot down literally a word or two, no matter how obscure.
Another problen with this method is that these notes soon become bedraggled to the point of illegibilty. The paper gets wrinkled, smeared by rubbing against my too-often-used credit cards, sweat-stained (sorry, TMI, I know), or folded and refolded by the vagaries of wallet-bound life. Many such notes have been executed on Post-It-Notes, and in time, the none-too-sticky-anyway adhesive loses its attractiveness, and the note flutters out of my wallet, to be lost to me forever.***
But worst of all is this: I find a fairly recent note in still-legible condition, but I simply have NO IDEA what the hell I was thinking when I wrote it down.
So it is with "Why Witches Love Harness Racing."
This entry appeared on one of my longer and more-productive lists a couple of years ago. For all the memory I have of writing it down, it might as well be a channeling from the beyond. But I suspect that I actually had something in mind, so it's only fair to my former self to give it due consideration. I kept the note for a long time after I had worked off all the other entries, then I actually transcribed "Why Witches Love Harness Racing" to a newer note to give my memory the best possible chance. But, no luck. So, I approach the problem analytically.
A quick check of Google reveals that, incredibly, there is a connection between witches and harness racing. There have been several recent, brilliant harness-racing horses with "witch" in their names: "Son of a Witch," "Witch and Famous," and "Wags to Witches," to mention only three.
But I doubt this is what I had in mind,as it doesn't really explain why witches, or even ONE witch, might LOVE harness racing.
I get a great mental image of a coven gathered at the rail of some toney trotting-horse track, yelling and screaming for their favorite horse-and-jockey (are they still called "jockeys" in harness racing?), with the other patrons giving them wide berth in case they inadvertently cast a spell in their excitement. I sense an episode of a tevee sitcom here, don't you?
So what drew these women here? Why do they love it so? I don't know.
Is it because the little cart in harness racing is called a "sulky," and witches are, well, you know, sulky? Is it because the cart is a sulky and the jockey's clothes are silkie? Is it just the inherently classy atmosphere of harness racing as opposed to plain ol' horse racing? Is it all the flaming accidents that occur between sulkies in these races? (Okay, just kidding about the flames, but there ARE a lot of accidents, and I can see how that might attract witches.) Is it the oddness of harness racing as opposed to plain ol' horse racing? Is it just the grace and pride of the trotters trotting?
A new thought occurs to me. Perhaps I wrote down "Why Witches Love Harness Racing" as a little joke on my future self, just to torment me when I tried, as I am trying now, to figure out what the hell I was thinking.
It's the sort of thing I would do.****
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* Memo for self for future essay: "fast approaching" is a bogus expression, like "eleventh hour."
** Seriously, what IS "Perilous Harmony?"
*** But not to everyone; I sometimes wonder how many husbands I've saved of a Christmas Eve with one of these notes. Or perhaps a desparate feature columnist.
**** If, on the other hand YOU know why witches love harness racing, please drop me a note (but please be less opaque about it, okay?) @: jmyke2000@comcast.net Thanks.
