I was chatting yesterday with a friend and former colleague. He was part of the first shock wave of 12,000 employees laid off in January of last year from the Megalithic Software Company (I was let go in May). We meet once a week to check in, give encouragement and have some laughs.
But I realized as we were talking about the job market that
I feel a greater sense of destabilization than just looking for a job. We’re
seeing concerted, credible attacks on the institutions of government and
democracy and I’m suddenly conscious of how much is riding on this election
cycle, and how tenuous is my conviction that the center will hold. It’s not
just the student demonstrations, or even the police riot responses (although
they’re certainly top of mind); it’s that millions of people would rather solidify
their own immiseration than vote for a candidate with a D after his/her name.
The noseless face-spiting crowd want the whole thing, and they’re
willing to do anything to get it. And our institutions were not shaped to deal
with this level of fuckery.
So—today I’m turning to one of my most stalwart sources of comfort, Sweet Honey in the Rock. Let’s have “We’ll Understand it Bye and Bye”. Bernice Johnson Reagon's voice anchors this like a rock. We all could use that in these times.
©2024 Bas Bleu
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