My sleep schedule is still shot to hell. I woke up at 5:20 AM and stayed awake for an hour or so. Then I slept again until 10:40. I would like just once to go to sleep at midnight and wake up at 8 AM like I plan. It makes the rest of the day go much smoother.
I went food shopping yesterday at Stop & Shop. When I left my body felt the best it has since surgery. After having to stand on the bus while carrying the groceries on the ride home I had pain in several places from surgery plus arthritis in my back. I’m afraid I’m going to have to play the disabled card a bit longer and ask for a seat when the bus is standing room. I hate doing that. I usually refuse when someone offers me a seat. That’s fine when I’m healthy but I’m not now, and it’s just pride getting in the way of what’s best. I can just see me refusing a seat, the bus stopping suddenly, and ending up on the floor in pain. Literally, pride goeth before a fall. Yeah, I just wanted to make that joke; sue me.
I would very much like to go out tonight and see Andrew Vladeck then Miss Tess at Rockwood Music Hall. My body isn’t keen on the idea and neither is my wallet. I’m playing this very much by ear.
I’m still not up to doing a deep analysis but I want to talk politics. The politician who had the greatest influence on political thought in my lifetime is Ronald Reagan. It was a bad influence, but it was strong. He effectively made liberal into a dirty word. He created a shift in mindset from seeing government as a way of dealing with problems to government being the problem. He had a strong tailwind of racism helping him out. The Democrats turn towards civil rights alienated a big part of the democratic base, the entire south and more people in the north than we’d like to admit.
The anti-government anti-liberal mindset is slowly changing, there are now politicians who aren’t afraid to call themselves liberal, but it’s still an uphill battle. What the left has to do is change the prevailing mindset to one that is pro-government and progressive. It’s not there. There are enough liberals to make it viable in much of the country, but it’s still not accepted in much of it. The Reagan revolution was predicated on creating an enemy, liberals in the open, minorities in the shadows. Many progressives want to reverse the process and succeed by creating enemies. The problem is that it cuts against one of the prime elements of liberalism, that much of what a person is, is a product of his or her environment. Seeing the world as us versus them is a conservative position. How do we blame the problems of the poor on the world they find themselves in while condemning the people of states which set terrible policies? The new abortion laws of Georgia and Alabama are terrible. That doesn’t make the people of Georgia and Alabama terrible We don’t win by crushing them, but by winning them over. If I only knew how we do that.
I do know how to be true to my progressive ideals. I am against policies, not people. I don’t blame all our problems on THEM. I don’t try to win a debate by shouting louder than my opponents but my marshalling facts, reason, and morals. I’m for spreading the truth, even when it hurts my case. I want everyone more informed, not just those that disagree with me, but those that do. If everyone made informed choices our policies would better. That’s what I’d like to do here, inform people. On Facebook today I had to point out that universal health coverage is not the same as single payer. I hate that educated, intelligent people, that care about healthcare policy are not aware that many countries achieve universal coverage without single payer. I also hate that serious baseball fans can think that Bill Buckner was a great player. I want people to know more. I want to know more. In democracy an educated consumer is out best customer. Spend more time spreading facts and less time spreading propaganda, even propaganda you agree with.
Now to go back to spending my time letting my body heal. If you’re lucky I’ll go out tonight and have something to write about. If not maybe I’ll discuss he virtues of sky burial.
Wise Madness 