We Are Living in the Moment in Between
12 September 2020 (Wall Street International)* — It is hard to know where things began when we are already in the middle of it all. This is especially so as we suffer through today’s difficult, complicated and partially obfuscated time. Perhaps the beginning occurred in 1865 when the American Civil War was officially declared ended, but continued to seethe in less organized ways.
Maybe the declaration by the American government in the 1950’s that Italians, Irish and Jewish people were now suddenly and irrevocably considered to be White is part of it. Perhaps some more seeds were planted during the presidency of Ronald Reagan or carefully cultivated as a backlash to the first presidency of a Black man, Barack Obama.
The causes of and connections to the current multiple crises are only partially visible and inexorably intertwined. We now live in a time in the history of humanity that will be studied for decades and even centuries to come by scholars in various disciplines, provided, of course, that the human species survives and that we continue to think and analyze our own lived experiences. Sadly, even that future is in doubt today.
Today we live suspended in the moment between the complicated beginnings and the as yet unknown endings. Many hopefully look to the November elections to turn the tide.
To a vaccine to allow us to meet each other again. And to a renewed push for racial and social justice to reintroduce ethics and morality into American life. Others fight for inequality and injustice in the name of going back to the beginning instead of ahead to some sort of future.
