Last year I painted Fractured America to share with my followers on July 4th. At the time, I wrote about worrisome trends plaguing the nation. This weekend, I looked back to see if the fractures I spoke of started to heal.. Unfortunately, what I saw was not good. Political divisions are wider and deeper than ever.
Fractured America. . . Still?
What is America? Is it a dream, a figment of our imagination? What do Americans stand for? Are our values shared? Does society still cherish free speech and applaud investigative reporters?
As a child I sang America the Beautiful and This Land is Your Land with gusto. I honored the words written on the Statue of Liberty welcoming those yearning to be free, believed in democracy and embraced ideals written into the Constitution and Bill of Rights . . .a nd I still do. Though my parents were divided in their political leanings, I was never pushed in either direction. Their differences helped me think through issues of the day and come to my own conclusions. My parents believed in compromise, in working across the isle to make the American experiment succeed. Everyone knew that integrating immigrants from different countries, religions, racial identities, customs and culinary preferences was not an easy task. But we believed it could be done. The idea of a melting pot was strong, and many us strived to make it a reality.
That’s not to say that twentieth century America was perfect… far from it. However, most people espoused the idea of a free press and trusted accounts by investigative reporters. They kept us abreast of the fight for racial equality, Japanese internment camps, and the excesses of war. They taught us about the Mafia and gangs controlling the sex trade, gambling, and the free flow of drugs. We lived through political upheaval caused by men like J. Edgar Hoover and McCarthy, excesses in the labor movement, and growth of the military-industrial complex. Americans dropped nuclear bombs on foreign soil and became afraid the same thing would happen to them. Fear and greed spurred an arms race, built a society based on oil, clearcut forests, polluted waterways, overfished rivers, and built gated mega mansions for the wealthy.
But though we did terrible things to the environment and fellow human beings, a tide of activists realized that what we were doing was unsustainable and began to change the status quo. They supported affordable housing and a safety net through social security, medicaid for the poor, medicare for seniors, workers compensation and unemployment benefits. Isolationism was abandoned as we took our place on the world stage and formed the United Nations. We designed the Marshall plan to help war torn countries become strong in their own right. The United States participated in NATO, formed coalitions to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, and developed treaties around trade and disarmament. Americans applauded the nations who joined together to solve the ozone crisis and build an international space station. We came to the aid of bereft countries decimated by natural disaster and war and helped returning vets purchase property and attend college so that they would prosper. Our citizens cared about ordinary people.
I grew up believing the dream. I thought by working hard, raising good children, living according to the commandments, and accepting personal responsibility for those less fortunate, that my life would have meaning. I trusted that I was one among many improving the world for future generations.
Over the past few years, my beliefs (not my hopes) shattered. The values that built this great nation, my country, went into hiding. My America was suddenly allowing bullies, bigots, white supremacists, narcissists and a power elite to take over center stage. Audience became immune to poverty, mental illness, homelessness, and children separated from parents running from war, violence, and hunger with the hope of providing them with a better life.
This new American willingly ignores scientific evidence about climate crisis and overpopulation. Fourteen of its states passed laws against abortion yet made no plans to pay for the 2.5 million unwanted children likely to be born if abortion becomes legal. There’s little mention of the reenergized the arms race or talk of a president who befriends dictators while alienating our allies. It allowed fascism (corporate socialism) to replace social welfare, and permit companies too big to fail to rule the economy. It permits televangelists who preach miracles and Armageddon to thousands to become obscenely wealthy off the backs of the poor and working class.
This July 4th we are more fractured than ever by partisan politics. And though divisiveness has intensified, a majority of people continue to turn their heads away from the reality of the times. They choose not to investigate what’s going on behind the rhetoric that comes out of Washington. Ignorance is preferred over worry and activism which demands picketing, speaking out and protesting. We no longer live in America the Beautiful. It’s flooding, burning down losing its coastline. This land is no longer my land, nor is it your land. ($80 for an America the Beautiful Pass to National Parks, mega dollars for property taxes and homeowner fees that make difficult for the middle class to own a house. Chinese investors spent $300 billion purchasing property between 2010 and 2015.)
We can not afford to stay apathetic if we want America to stay great. We were given the right to come out of hiding, to share viewpoints and to vote, but if people don’t use that right, it is meaningless. But, we must listen to each other’s concerns, help one another succeed, and be willing to compromise. Fractures have widened and deepened over the past year,increasing the risk that poor and middle class people will fall in.
Following is Martin Neimier’s poem written after WWII.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Because I was not a Jew.
Don’t let this happen here. Speak out!
References:
Martin, J (2015) Making Money Off Miracles: the Gospel of Televangelists. retrieved from https://gawker.com/making-money-off-miracles-the-gospel-of-televangelists-1725330875
Berman, N ( 2016) Dissecting the Multi Billion Dollar Business of Televangelism. Money Inc. retrieved from https://moneyinc.com/dissecting-multi-billion-dollar-business-televangelism/
MacKinnon, A. (2019) What Actually Happens when a Country Bans Abortion. Foreignpolicy.com. retrieved from https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/05/16/what-actually-happens-when-a-country-bans-abortion-romania-alabama/
Reuters (2016) Chinese Investors have spent $300 billion on US property, Study fFnds. retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/16/chinese-investors-have-spent-300-billion-on-us-property-mbs-rosen-study-finds.html
The 2.5 million unwanted children (over ten years) likely to be born if abortion becomes legal came from multiplying our current population (approximately 329 million ) with information out of Romania, a country of nineteen million people that made abortion illegal for a period of ten years.
Art is always for sale. Contact me at Marilynne@eichingerfineart.com
Fractured America, Oil on deep canvas, 24” x 24”/ $425.
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