Sunday, October 28, 2018

Those good old days

Another shooting has taken place, this time at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.  I don't see any solution to these ever-increasing acts of violence, but I know I'm fed up.  Not that being "fed up" means a lot, because the killing will go on.  Everyone thinks they have answers, but we never see anything being done.  I have no idea what CAN be done.  This sort of thing makes me long for the fifties.  I want to go back!  

Even as I type those words, though, I realize the fifties weren't perfect.  There was the cold war, the Korean conflict, and I'm sure many other situations equal to problems we face today.  The difference is, I was a kid then.  Kids let adults do the worrying, and my parents didn't seem to worry about much in the political realm.  They claimed to be Republicans, but never voted until they were in their 70's.  I don't remember them talking much about any candidates, and when they did, they never gave a reason why the Republican candidate was better... he just WAS, that's all.  They enjoyed making fun of Margaret Truman's singing when Harry was in office.  No big deal.  

I'm always puzzled at why anyone would choose to hate Jews.  I've pondered this before, and find no answer.  Jesus was a Jew.  Over half the Christian Bible is from and about the Jews.  Jewish people have always taken up the causes of the downtrodden and mistreated.  With a Google search, I found an article from 2015, "Why do people hate Jews and Judaism?".

"True, reasons for anti-Semitism have often been offered. Their obvious error invariably was the inherent contradiction of their explanations. Jews were despised because they were too liberal — and also because they were too conservative. They were too cheap and of course they were also too spendthrift; too passive and too pushy; too charitable and too selfish; too religious and too secular."

Adolph Hitler didn't like the Jews because they had a conscience.  Conscience is a Jewish invention like circumcision. My task is to free men from the dirty and degrading ideas of conscience and morality.”

Surrounding all this slaughter we have politicians on television accusing their opponents of all sorts of vile things that have little to do with their qualifications for the job, and can any of the accusations be proven?  I have no idea!  I've heard the wind blow before, and it's a foul wind that blows in the current political climate.  

Yesterday evening for about two hours, I fled the present by choosing to watch a 1937 movie I'd recorded on Turner Classics:  Captains Courageous.  Ah, the simple flicks of the 30's and 40's, when the ending was always happy in spite of the sad events that might have happened throughout the movie.  Things always turned out all right in the end, just like in the old fairy tales I loved as a child.  You can call them corny, but they sure take my mind off the ever-increasing violence in our country.  

Sincerely, Donna


5 comments:

  1. The "good old days" really weren't that good, according to my parents. But there certainly weren't as many mass shootings back then. I don't know what the answer is either. I can't go around in a state of permanent outrage and fear without becoming bitter and negative. Yet I do feel like I need to honor those who lose their lives in such senseless violence.

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  2. The world did seem like a much better place when I was a child. Realistically, it was always filled with evil and disharmony - but life in general was more simple (uncomplicated) back then.

    Nowadays there are far too many negative influences to nourish the gullible minds of demented people - films, TV, social media. One only has to read the comments on YouTube and Twitter to see how alarmingly crazy and hateful some people are.

    There is speculation - but no tangible proof - that Hitler had some Jewish blood in his ancestry. Whatever the truth is, I think he had an enormous amount of self-hatred and a lot of resentment toward others.
    There is a profound ignorance in people who hate Jews. Most racists know nothing about the people they are hating.

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  3. "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." This is the second amendment.

    Note this: The need for a "militia" was because there was not standing army or police force in that day. So, citizens were on their own to keep the peace. Now, however, we have a police force and a standing army. They should be in charge of keeping the peace. People should only have weapons if they need to hunt for meat...not for sport...for food. Letting just anyone have a hand gun or an assault rifle is just asking for trouble and we have had plenty of that these past few years. I believe there should be limitations on who can own a gun.

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  4. I always watch old movies.... old game shows.... old television series. My Amazon Fire Stick enables me to watch everything like that & I prefer it that way. Some call it "sticking my head in the sand" but that's ok. So be it. I like sand.... and I love the good ole days. Lovingly, Andrea xoxo

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  5. Good book AND movie! I prefer to watch old tv shows and movies. I think the only reason we haven't given up our cable is because of networks like MeTV, Retrotv, and TCM.

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