#1950 Trench Warfare

#1950

Trench Warfare

"The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory" Psalm 97 

It is so easy to look at the hardship-harshness of life- through eyes of disillusionment.  There was a time in our history, even during my lifetime when most information about the world and its condition came by way of the printed page, newspapers.  I still remember when I was a graduate student in Memphis, that there was both a morning and afternoon newspaper.

Maturing as a young man in impoverished Eastern North Carolina almost every family subscribed to the Raleigh news and observer.  A newspaper still printed but one which does not have the influence it had when it was called the "Democrat Bible."  Its editor, Joe Josephus Daniels controlled "solid south Democrat politics in North Carolina".  It was said that most subscribed just to keep up with the obituaries.  For over one hundred years the winner of the Democrat primaries ruled the state.  Republicans were insignificant.  You could not get job involving state money unless you supported the democrat part...school teaching, state highway commission, state hospitals.  You could not drive a public school bus unless you were a voting-supporting democrat.  My family was the only republicans in the township but, according to state law there must be republicans as "poll watchers" at the voting precincts (places where people voted).  My mother and her cousin would alternate this job, as the only republicans every other election.  She received two dollars for that days work.  My own mother, sixth grade education would come home and cry about the corruption she witnessed.  Democrats would go out into the "hinterlands"(down paths-into swamps) to haul to the voting precinct black people who they would not speak to otherwise and mark their ballot for them.  DEMOCRATS WERE SO GENEROUS. If a white supporter of one candidate were allowed to mark a ballot for so long the black citizen would get a candy bar...the white voter would get a tray of barbeque.  Of course the registrar(person in charge of voting) knew ahead of time who they wanted to get elected so it was all a fixed election and there was not a scent-hint of justice in the NC election process. This is the way citizenship was handled in the solid south for most of history, until recently when good sense finally took over and republicans became a voting force.  Now, the solid south is more republican than Democrat.  Now, the nation has become trench warfare in determining political direction.  

Much of the migration of thinking, once controlled by the printed press, is due to the internet. We cannot give any credit to public education, I do believe that students are dumber than ever. With the invent of television, stupid programming from stupid- stymied, caused graduates(most of whom know little about real life)- even more adults have been dumbed-down. But, as with the cessation of window shopping giant stores (Macy's, Sears, JCPenney) not being able to charge ridiculous prices for their merchandise: drowning because of excesses, the public has become smart enough to shop online-internet. 

In the bottomless ocean of technology not the cell phone- not the talking box, but perhaps one great feature of modern living buying with an attitude of bargaining from pictures and descriptions on the computer-online.  Buying from the quietness of home is not exactly new, there was a time when every family received in the mail a Sears and Roebuck catalog.  This huge business operated for many years. At one time.  Before I sold them, I had a collection of 250 old sears catalogs.  You could buy anything from a corset to a cook stove, from a horse collar to a house, but you had no choice in what you paid. You paid the asking price plus shipping.  It is a far different story with the online-internet sales: auction-competition and usually free shipping. 

This writer has been to communist China three times since it has been reopened by the efforts of President Nixon.  All stores in China are like Wal-Mart stores here...just big piles of stuff with no thoughts of presentation.  You will never see a mannequin in a Chinese store. Online, you can order from Wal-Mart and this very sophisticated well-run business model will get your purchase to you almost instantly. Remember, it all started with one man in one store. Now, Wal-Mart stores are at every crossroads.  

Of course money is still money, thievery is still thievery, in my lifetime, social security checks started coming to older people: FICA taken from the checks of working people and then at retirement age being able to get a sustaining check.  These were called "Mothers day checks" because the only time some mothers saw their children was at the first of the month when they knew "momma" had gotten her check and had some money for them to "pervert".  There have been many other changes in the trench warfare of financial survival...checks for illegitimacy, checks for food and housing supplementation. Words which were one time not in our vocabulary, now a part of modern living, vacations-holidays-retirement.  Almost every public advertisement, all political rhetoric, your future, your comfort, and solitude in the future.

Most educators and those who should have a rudimentary knowledge of science never advocate for physical and spiritual survival. You hear little about the warfare of disease never the word cure, only treatment.  The burgeoning "sick-care" industries (big-medicine-big-pharmacy) want all people on many pills.  The mortality rate is still 100% and there is still more hospitals-hospice-nursing home beds filled than ever before.  Most American earned dollars are spent on sickness.

So much of our sickness has come from the same science community that has provided so much comfort and entertainment.  In an effort to provide food as easily as possible (large crops few weeds) our crops were poisoned with "round-up"...a herbicide that kills weeds as well as insects.  Our smart, university educated- highly paid scientists...even our brighter foundation scientist never considered that they were eventually killing us with a cancer producing chemical.  Now, we are all in the trenches in warfare of survival.