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One of my very first memories - or maybe it is my very first concrete memory - is watching the first moon landing in 1969. I was a little more than four years old and it was such a big deal, sitting with the whole family in the family room, staring at the "big" black and white TV. I don't remember actually understanding what was happening, but it was so important. My grandma was there, in the room with us, instead of in her study. Even my big sister, who was too cool for such things, was in the room.
There was such a feeling of wonder and pride, that we - Americans - could do anything.
Of course, we, Americans, could fuck up anything. The Apollo program was scrubbed because Americans got bored with going to the moon (among other things).
But that's kind of not the point of this entry. Fifty + years out from that moment, American exceptionalism is still a strange creature. We fuck up the simple things, like getting our population to wear masks, but we have the technical and medical resources to produce effective vaccines in record time.
On the day that vast swathes of residents in the energy capital of America are without power and water because the political interests thought it more important to put profits ahead of the safety and security of those residents, NASA successfully landed another rover on Mars.
We can do the big stuff, even the important stuff. But we still suck at taking care of othet stuff that matters.
We elect Barack Obama. And then we elect Donald Trump.
But then, we elect Joe Biden.
No wonder I've had a headache most of my adult life.
There was such a feeling of wonder and pride, that we - Americans - could do anything.
Of course, we, Americans, could fuck up anything. The Apollo program was scrubbed because Americans got bored with going to the moon (among other things).
But that's kind of not the point of this entry. Fifty + years out from that moment, American exceptionalism is still a strange creature. We fuck up the simple things, like getting our population to wear masks, but we have the technical and medical resources to produce effective vaccines in record time.
On the day that vast swathes of residents in the energy capital of America are without power and water because the political interests thought it more important to put profits ahead of the safety and security of those residents, NASA successfully landed another rover on Mars.
We can do the big stuff, even the important stuff. But we still suck at taking care of othet stuff that matters.
We elect Barack Obama. And then we elect Donald Trump.
But then, we elect Joe Biden.
No wonder I've had a headache most of my adult life.
