Someone local was arguing about how horrible society is today, and how Katrina and the aftermath proved that no longer can he believe in the basic goodness of human beings, of their ability to do good and be each others' allies/protection in time of crisis.
Arguments like this -- along with those about gas and politics and others -- infuriate me right now. The problem is not with *people* it is WITH THE SYSTEM! My rage is incoherent, and it's multidirectional. It's that people -- individual and corporate and group -- are trying to do what's right, they are trying to help, and THE SYTSTEM AND ITS LEADERS WILL NOT ALLOW IT. THEY PLAY POWER POLITICS AND CATER TO A MEDIA THAT SERVES UP WHAT OUR MODERN COLISEUM CULTURE DEMANDS, while those of us who live our lives in an ordinary world spend our time fighting the system to get the heroes help, to show their lights to the world, to encourage rather than to tear down the cities and towns that are beloved.
AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGH!
(coherence perhaps later. I am collecting links and letting it marinate.)
