From the vault, June 12, 2014 (revised):
School shootings. Assaults on minorities. Government troops in the streets. Congressional gridlock. Inflation.
The list of societal woes goes on and on.
How many times, dear reader, do we speak about the “good old days” when life was simpler, people were more civil, and everyone knew their place? How many times have we heard that this country was “going to Hell in a handcar”? Didn’t we all wish we could return to yesteryear and so fall into a pattern of reminiscing about what was “lost”?
It’s a waste of time, I can tell you.
As an historian, I can tell you that there is no such thing as the “good old days.” The whole history of humankind is replete with episodes of brutality, warfare, persecution, torture, natural and unnatural disasters, poverty, famine, and plagues. Each generation had to deal with its particular package of horrors.
Our forefathers (and foremothers!) struggled against tremendous odds just to survive. And yet, inch by dogged inch, they built a better tomorrow for themselves and their progeny. We who live today in comfort owe a great debt to those long-ago people who sacrificed their all so that we could have what was out of their reach.
This is not to say, however, that the struggle is over – far from it. There are still many battles to be fought and won, and we today must contribute our best efforts to create a better tomorrow for our own descendants.
I’d like to reprise a poem – this time in toto – which I commented on 26 years ago in TONIT (that other newspaper in town). It sums up most succinctly where we are and where we are going. It was titled “The Shape of Mythic Lies” and written by Michelle T. Clinton, an African-American poet and, among other notables, an Audrey Lorde Writers Award winner.
“There is a story that we are told.
There is a story that we hear again and again.
And so we hear the story and we believe the story.
“The story is shaped like this:
Once, in a time in the past
there were people
who were like we are
except they were happier than we are now,
they were luckier than we are now,
they were better than we are now.
Once, it is clear that in the past
people were happier, luckier & better
than we are now.
“Something happened to them.
Something bad happened to them
& it’s sometimes their own damned fault
but sometimes it’s not.
“The middle of the story is that
the people lose their luck and their
happiness
through a terrible change.
“And the end of the story is that the people
became us.
“And so we are unhappy & and unlucky
& maybe we’ve done it to ourselves
& yesterday is better than today
& here we are
& don’t be surprised if all this
makes you depressed.
“This is the shape of mythic lies:
exalted people in an exalted past
and a dreadful change
& a horrible now.
“This story believes your best worth is in
yearning for a best time.
This story is a thief.
This story constructs the muscle of your
heart
& takes away the breath of your present.
“I am trying to warn you:
Guard the region of your mind that takes
the shape of stories.
Beware the myth of flawless kings and
glory-full cavemen.
Beware the story that starts in the
garden & finishes in hell.
Beware: Our time is not downhill from
perfection.
“Our time craves you, your feeling, your
action.
You are the one born for the sake of your excellent present.
You are the one radiance in the center of
our precious now.
Let that be your guiding light, now and forever.”
To be continued.
Just a thought.