A series of essays....
....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E Hughes
To make America smart again, you would have to assume that it was smart at sometime in the past.
And, it was....before Washington D.C. became 'the swamp' following the November 8, 2016 election, it had been a semblance of a fair and balanced ecosystem that incorporated all people, faiths, and ideologies within its borders. In a heartbeat, it was being drained of its kindness and left vulnerable and open to greed, fear, and foreign influence!
You would be correct in believing that we've always been vulnerable to all of the above. And, I could now list a litany of opportunities by the USA that many of us believe could and should have been resolved years ago such as the constant struggles with women's rights, racism, gun control, and climate change.
What we are fighting hard for today is to retain our democracy, reinstate check and balances to aid in a more stabilized balance of power, and save our Constitution from collapse by insuring that its general principles remain functioning as our Founding Fathers believed they would in order to protect all of us, not just the few who believe that money is more powerful than kindness and love.
When I see people fighting for our rights such as Representative Adam Schiff who has taken great pains to clarify exactly why the impeachment inquiry is taking place, tears come to my eyes.
Said Schiff, "When the founders provided a mechanism in the Constitution for impeachment, they were worried about what might happen if someone unethical took the highest office in the land and used it for their personal gain and not because of deep care about the big things that should matter."
Schiff concluded by saying, "The president believes he is above the law, beyond accountability. And, in my view, there is nothing more dangerous than an unethical president who believes they are above the law." We are most fortunate to have this gracious man fighting for us and the Constitution of the United States.
Thank you, Rep. Schiff and the many others who are fighting to retain our democracy and make America smart again. We do appreciate all of you!
Yesterday was a much simpler time. I was young, accepting of authority, and embraced life through a child's eyes. Authoritarianism, Humbleness, Consolation, Maturity, and Loyalty all helped to mould, shape, influence, and build my character as an adult.
AS A YOUNG CHILD living with my parents and three brothers, I was young, naive, and authority figures surrounded my everyday life. They wore grown-up clothes which included suits and ties, long black 'habits' that covered everything with the exception of their face and hands, and high-necked dresses adorned with silver chains from which a studious-looking pair of eyeglasses dangled from, often resembling an awkward piece of sculpture resting on their bosom. Authoritarianism
THIS DOESN’T INCLUDE the male authority figure who would preside at daily mass and then hide in a small cupboard as he listened to our sins, offered the forgiveness of God, and sent us out of the cupboard to pray for that forgiveness. I recall being on the playground when this holy man would stride by on his way from the Rectory to the school building. Silence would prevail as we silently prayed he could not recognize our voices, connect them with our faces, and remember what we confessed to him during the week! Humbleness
OUR RESPECT FOR policemen went without saying. They were there to protect us from evil. Although, at such a young age, I really didn't know what that evil consisted of. Those were the days when the family doctor came calling at our house to check my throat and declare I had strep throat.....again, and prescribe bed rest and medication. Consolation
GROWING OLDER, my world greatly expanded and my own thoughts, lifestyle, and habits began to mould and shape my individualism and formulate my ideas as an adolescent and young adult. Maturity
FEAR WAS AN obsolete term for me as I approached adulthood. I may have only applied it to the fact that I feared losing my parents one day....the only authority figures who would naturally have power over my life. Loyalty
I am, significantly, older now. I have lived through so much while making many decisions along with minor/major life changes. I have become book-smart, responsible, commonsensical, often goofy and carefree, with one of my greatest attributes being the ability to listen to what others have to say. Everyone is important and everyone has something they need to tell someone else. But, not everyone has the patience to....listen to them.
Aging and living a full life has taught me how important life's lessons are, whether good, bad, or indifferent.
While I was living out my childhood under the thumb of the authority figures who impacted my everyday life, I, more than likely, was making mental notes about what was going on within my own small world. Did I know or care about who the President of the United States was, what his job or purpose was? Probably not as much as I should have.
I refuse to go backwards into the future!
Basic control over what others may say and do.....is that what this new administration believes will make America great again?
The definitive progress made by mankind in the last several decades that was guided by mutual respect and understanding for one another and Mother Earth is about as far back in time as I choose to go. Most of us have worked way too hard to have all of our long fought battles reversed by people who want to shake-up our government, take back jobs that have been mechanized and are now non-existent, who fail to understand that lies and deception are the new rules and guidelines set-up by the very person they voted for, and take the benefits of a decent life of education, health care, earned rights of Social Security benefits and Medicare back into the dark ages.
If 'The Dumbing-Up of America' serves the handful of enormously rich and greedy characters that desire to deny Americans their basic freedoms, hope will go by the wayside. The once great United States of America will tumble into a heap of rubble that cannot and will not be respected by the rest of the world. This decline has already become evident to many of us.
Is it too late, fellow Americans, to 'Make America Smart Again?' If it isn't, we had better get our act together NOW and do something to renew our hope and faith in a nation that is quickly melting into the hands of foreign powers, unhealthy greed, and the frigid bonds of dictatorship.
I offer strength to Adam Schiff and his committee who is working so hard to correct the wrongs and reintroduce the right approach to our future and well-being.
Author’s Note: Based upon my story published on December 15, 2016, entitled THE TASK OF MAKING AMERICA SMART AGAIN; back when the United States openly and officially lost its status of being Smart....
Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved
