I really want to know. I want to know where we are as a nation and what we value. I write this piece election morning, not expecting a clear answer to my question by the time you are reading it. Quite frankly, I do not know what to expect and that troubles me greatly. Like many of us who watched the old Superman TV show, I grew up with a general belief in “truth, justice and the American Way,” whatever that really meant. Not to be too trite, it always seemed like society was loosely held together by that admittedly vague and attractive concept.
Today, at 57 and having witnessed a lot I never expected to see in my lifetime, I’m not so sure that the plates underpinning society haven’t shifted in a major way. I can’t be the only one dismayed by the sight of storefronts boarded up to protect against post-election street violence or the construction of non-scalable ramparts in Washington DC. I do realize that society evolves and advances, so this isn’t a nostalgic cry for a return to the good old days. What it is, though, is an expression of a desire for a clear statement, a declaration of what the majority of voting America stands for. Having experienced what an alternative universe looks and feels like, I’m not quite ready to accept that America has changed as much as it has appeared recently.
I really want to know though, and soon.
Tell me, please.
