The photo above shows a landline desk phone my parents got some 30 years ago beside a cell phone I got in 2017. One of them died a long, slow, painful death, and the other is still functioning fully and completely. Anyone older than 30 surely can figure out which is which.
I got my first cell phone in October 2001. At the time only about half of all households in the U.S. had at least one cell phone. They were commonly associated with business professionals and the elite. Now it seems everyone and their pets own such a device. Since 2001 I’ve gone through at least 5 cell phones. To put things in perspective, I still have a digital clock/radio my parents bought me in 1978, and it’s been functioning ever since.
My truck is 20 years old. That’s the longest I’ve ever had a vehicle, and I find it somewhat surprising. Products of almost any kind in recent years just don’t seem to last too long. That a cell phone would crash faster than Donald Trump’s economic plans says quite a bit about the companies that build these devices.
No wonder American consumers are cynical!
But I now feel it’s a corporate conspiracy. Large companies now deliberately make products with a finite lifespan; therefore, people have to buy replacements or repair their current items. I guess it’s a scheme devised to keep people financially destitute.
Or maybe it’s just that too much of these things are made overseas where workers don’t really give a shit how they put it together.
Regardless, it’s amazing what consumers have to do now to remain viable members of society.
“Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission. In the beginning, my hope was simply to inspire the children in my home county but here we are today with a worldwide program that gives a book a month to well over 3 million children.”
In a lifetime of observing human nature and studying political ideologies, one thing I’ve discovered the one thing that conservatives seem to hate more than interracial marriage is expanding voting rights. From the founding of the United States, liberal ideology has struggled to grant the right to vote to as many people as possible. After all it’s in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and it’s one of the most sacred elements to any truly democratic society.
Since the 2008 election of Barack Obama, however, a number of states with Republican-majority legislatures have enacted statutes to impact voting rights. In Shelby vs. Holder, for example, the U.S. Supreme Court targeted Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which specifically banned “standard, practice, or procedure” that “results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen … to vote on account of race or color.” Traditionally states in the Southeastern U.S. had prevented non-White citizens from exercising their right to vote. The VRA eliminated the “grandfather” clause (if your grandfather could vote, then you can) and voter tolls (paying to vote), among other restrictions. Not surprisingly many conservative White voters still fighting the U.S. Civil War were horrified at these changes.
The 2013 Shelby decision suspended the demand that states seek federal approval before changing their voting laws. This was a gift to the ghosts of the Confederacy who continually rallied for “states’ rights”. But it’s almost no coincidence that the first two decades of the 21st century have produced some of the most controversial and contentious presidential elections in U.S. history.
Several years ago then-Texas Governor Rick Perry said he wanted all law-abiding gun owners to have the right to carry their firearms to every part of the state. I have to agree, but I also believe any law-abiding citizen should be able to vote in any precinct or district. For example, as a registered voter in my home state of Texas, I should be able to travel to Rhode Island and vote in a presidential election.
Recently a political activist named EJ Carrion was arrested for “tumultuous behavior” at a County Commissioners’ meeting in Fort Worth. He used foul language while discussing the possibility of the reduction of polling places in Tarrant County; the latest move by conservative politicians to hinder voting in the state of Texas. Police arrested him, after he’d failed to use a turn signal upon entering the cul-de-sac where he lives. The warrant had been issued because Carrion had uttered “bullshit” during the meeting. The horror!
It’s obvious Texas Republicans and other right-wing extremists have never heard of Cohen v. California, the 1971 U.S. Supreme Court case that basically ruled foul language is covered by the First Amendment to the Constitution. They always skip to the Second Amendment regarding firearms. Texas residents are besieged every election year with TV ads by conservatives touting they’re “protectors of the Second Amendment”, complete with the requisite photos of them holding a gun.
Regardless, there’s a good chance Republicans will lose control of both Houses of Congress to Democrats after this November’s mid-term elections. I can only hope. But I’m much more concerned about the persistent threats to voting and free speech rights imposed by our current President and his minions in state and local offices. Despots always hate (fear) the vocal power of the masses. It’s the weakest point of their troubles personas. I believe the American masses will exploit that this year.
As this Independence Day weekend comes to a close, I have to say I’m still proud to have been born and raised in this country. Admittedly it’s been difficult to feel that way in recent years. My paternal ancestry in Texas actually extends back to the 1580s, when a branch of the De La Garza clan joined other Spaniards established homes in the southern part of the state. My Indian ancestors, of course, were in this same region millennia ago.
I remember America’s Bicentennial very clearly. I was 12 and became swept up in the excitement of that summer’s festivities. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the U.S. came together as no one expected. The Watergate crisis had left our nation with an incredible distrust in our elected leaders, and we had slinked our way out of the Vietnam conflict the previous year. Along with oil embargoes and energy crises from a few years later and the swine flu scare, it had become tough to feel pride in this country.
But all of that seemed to melt away with the summer heat, as America basked in its own glory. Watching vintage ships off the east coast remains an especially poignant memory. I can never forget that summer and how it made everyone feel.
I just don’t feel that same level of exuberance now. I know I’ve become cynical – something that seems natural with age. But in the half century since the Bicentennial a few things look familiar. We have a Republican president; we’ve come out of some disastrous wars; we’ve had a severe economic downturn and a pandemic that made swine flu look like a brief head cold.
I often wonder how foreigners look at Americans, although I’m not too concerned with what others think. Again – an effect of aging, albeit a positive one.
Despite such anxiety, I’m still glad to be here and be living in this country. I just don’t want to give up on it and for what it stands.
Events in the month of June for writers and readers
Audiobook Appreciation Month
Celibacy Awareness Month
Children’s Awareness Month
National Adopt a Cat Month
National Foster a Pet Month
National Men’s Health Month
National Oceans Month
Rainbow Book Month
June 2 – American Indian Citizenship Day; National Leave the Office Early Day
June 3 – Love Conquers All Day; Global Running Day
June 4 – Audacity to Hope Day; Hug Your Cat Day; National Cheese Day
June 5 – World Environment Day
June 7 – Cancer Survivors Day; World Caring Day
June 8 – Best Friends Day; Race Unity Day; World Ocean Day
June 9 – National No Apologies Period Day; World Sex Day
June 12 – Anne Frank’s Birthday; National Red Rose Day; World Day Against Child Labor
June 14 – Monkey Around Day; National Children’s Day; World Blood Donor Day
June 15 – Nature Photography Day; World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
June 15-21 – Animal Rights Awareness Week (U.S.); Learning Disability Week; Universal Father’s Week
June 16 – International Waterfall Day; World Sea Turtle Day
June 17 – World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
June 18 – National Splurge Day
June 19 – Juneteenth (U.S.); National Watch Day; World Sauntering Day
June 21 – Father’s Day (U.S.)
June 21 – Andean New Year; Indigenous People’s Day (Canada); International Yoga Day; Summer Solstice (Northern Hemisphere); Winter Solstice (Southern Hemisphere); World Giraffe Day; World Humanist Day; World Music Day
Chief Writing Wolf 