I watched 2 completely opposite movies today - Vice and RBG. Vice was brilliantly written (especially loved the nod to Shakespeare) and monumentally insightful into how secret acts of despotism in our government's past can lend themselves to the travesty of events that we now face.
RBG was incredibly humbling and, at the same time, empowering. Humbling in that what women now take for granted was fought for by forward-thinking individuals like Ruth Bader Ginsberg less than a lifetime ago. Empowering in that strong-minded leaders like her still exist today, and are still fighting for those same precepts of equality.
The back to back combination of these opposing thought processes got me thinking.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg once said that gender lines "help to keep women, not on a pedestal, but in a cage." To her way of thinking, while the Constitution is the utmost law of the land, it is also there to be interpreted for our country's current situation - not to be enforced according to the social norms of when it was written and ratified.
Conservative or Liberal, no one can argue that what was acceptable in 1776 would be a remotely viable option under current day standards when it comes to issues of equality - so why is it so difficult for some groups to grasp that just as women are not "inferior", the color of someone's skin does not make their life of lesser value?
In the 1920s suffragette Sarah Grimke was quoted as saying, "I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks." I find it amazing that statement is now literally valid 100 years later. Are those who govern this country so blinded by ego that the battles won for justice throughout history are now nullified and void in their minds?
The social injustice that has run rampant just below the surface of our nation's mindset is now being brought to the forefront. To think that we are still beating the same drum for equality that generations before us had to, is a sad statement on the evolutionary capabilities of our nation as a people, and an even more disturbing statement on our government as a whole.
Which is a good segway into disturbing statements on government.
Vice is a movie not a documentary, and Hollywood does like to take liberties with their storytelling, but it's not hard to fathom this storyline having a shred of truth in certain areas. The fact that months worth of emails were "lost" by the Bush Cheney administration during a tumultuous time in our history where something like that should never have happened, and the fact that the only communications that were not "lost" during that time were biased, loose interpretations regarding the lines of executive authority as they apply to the office of the President, are nothing more than a darkly twisted roadmap for future leaders of our nation that have more ego than empathy and common sense. (example: Donald Trump)
America was built on the premise of "freedom from tyranny", yet those Bush-era darkly twisted executive branch interpretations have the potential to shoot us backwards 200 years to right where we started.
Fact: America fought against the tyranny of British rule, in part because that rule was an ocean away and had no concept of what was right and proper for the people that lived here.
Fact: (Fastforward 200+years) Our current government is largely run by egocentric narcissists who have no concept of what it's like to live a regular-person, middle or lower class economic existence, and many who have zero idea of what's actually happening with their constituents because they're too busy lining their pockets with lobbyist kickbacks. (FYI - Isn't this the exact same issue Teddy Roosevelt fought against with Tammany Hall?)
It would seem that we have come full circle.
While another American Revolution is not ideal, putting people in office that actually care about the interests of the vast majority of citizens is a good start. Democracy is a difficult concept - even when you embrace it.
Democracy allows those who think the polar opposite of you to voice their opinions at the top of their lungs at the same time you're voicing yours. Democracy is a concept where the government is "by the people, for the people" - so if someone takes office that does not govern in that manner for the vast majority of citizens, that person should be voted out and no longer hold office.
Democracy is where the laws that govern this nation apply to everyone, regardless of what job, or what government position they hold. If anyone, no matter who they are, breaks a law they should stand trial and be held accountable, regardless of their job title, socioeconomic status, gender, or the color of their skin.
Democracy is, at its core, about equality. Plain and simple. We as a nation need to circle back to that.
Just my 2 cents.
~ The Girl In The Little Black Dress
RBG was incredibly humbling and, at the same time, empowering. Humbling in that what women now take for granted was fought for by forward-thinking individuals like Ruth Bader Ginsberg less than a lifetime ago. Empowering in that strong-minded leaders like her still exist today, and are still fighting for those same precepts of equality.
The back to back combination of these opposing thought processes got me thinking.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg once said that gender lines "help to keep women, not on a pedestal, but in a cage." To her way of thinking, while the Constitution is the utmost law of the land, it is also there to be interpreted for our country's current situation - not to be enforced according to the social norms of when it was written and ratified.
Conservative or Liberal, no one can argue that what was acceptable in 1776 would be a remotely viable option under current day standards when it comes to issues of equality - so why is it so difficult for some groups to grasp that just as women are not "inferior", the color of someone's skin does not make their life of lesser value?
In the 1920s suffragette Sarah Grimke was quoted as saying, "I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks." I find it amazing that statement is now literally valid 100 years later. Are those who govern this country so blinded by ego that the battles won for justice throughout history are now nullified and void in their minds?
The social injustice that has run rampant just below the surface of our nation's mindset is now being brought to the forefront. To think that we are still beating the same drum for equality that generations before us had to, is a sad statement on the evolutionary capabilities of our nation as a people, and an even more disturbing statement on our government as a whole.
Which is a good segway into disturbing statements on government.
Vice is a movie not a documentary, and Hollywood does like to take liberties with their storytelling, but it's not hard to fathom this storyline having a shred of truth in certain areas. The fact that months worth of emails were "lost" by the Bush Cheney administration during a tumultuous time in our history where something like that should never have happened, and the fact that the only communications that were not "lost" during that time were biased, loose interpretations regarding the lines of executive authority as they apply to the office of the President, are nothing more than a darkly twisted roadmap for future leaders of our nation that have more ego than empathy and common sense. (example: Donald Trump)
America was built on the premise of "freedom from tyranny", yet those Bush-era darkly twisted executive branch interpretations have the potential to shoot us backwards 200 years to right where we started.
Fact: America fought against the tyranny of British rule, in part because that rule was an ocean away and had no concept of what was right and proper for the people that lived here.
Fact: (Fastforward 200+years) Our current government is largely run by egocentric narcissists who have no concept of what it's like to live a regular-person, middle or lower class economic existence, and many who have zero idea of what's actually happening with their constituents because they're too busy lining their pockets with lobbyist kickbacks. (FYI - Isn't this the exact same issue Teddy Roosevelt fought against with Tammany Hall?)
It would seem that we have come full circle.
While another American Revolution is not ideal, putting people in office that actually care about the interests of the vast majority of citizens is a good start. Democracy is a difficult concept - even when you embrace it.
Democracy allows those who think the polar opposite of you to voice their opinions at the top of their lungs at the same time you're voicing yours. Democracy is a concept where the government is "by the people, for the people" - so if someone takes office that does not govern in that manner for the vast majority of citizens, that person should be voted out and no longer hold office.
Democracy is where the laws that govern this nation apply to everyone, regardless of what job, or what government position they hold. If anyone, no matter who they are, breaks a law they should stand trial and be held accountable, regardless of their job title, socioeconomic status, gender, or the color of their skin.
Democracy is, at its core, about equality. Plain and simple. We as a nation need to circle back to that.
Just my 2 cents.
~ The Girl In The Little Black Dress
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