I haven't been blogging much. Instead, I've been driving across the U.S.A, putting together my portfolio, playing a bit of music, writing, and mostly, being a nanny. Conrad and I have been having a great time going to parks, pools, and bagel shops. We have also traveled through dragons' lairs, fought in the Revolutionary War, and been a part of some epic sea battles, if only in our imaginations. My best friend in all of Maine is six and that is totally fine with me.
Over the last month of travel and settling in I have had an overwhelming sense of fatigue thanks to my constant mobility. Surrounded by good people, food, and books, however, I can feel my energy returning; behold! Human energy- a renewable resource. I thought I would write a little bit about what has been on my mind the last couple of weeks for the good old blog so here goes!
To say Conrad (the boy I nanny for) is into the Revolutionary War is an understatement. Captain John Paul Jones, George Washington, Benjamen Franklin, Paul Revere, and Thomas Paine are daily, sometimes hourly referenced, in this Bangor home. We also watch Liberty's Kids, a show about the war and the people involved told by 3 kid journalist. As bed time after bed time pass and more and more books are read about the founding of the U.S.A. I have found myself more interested than ever. It has taken me until now to see what and how the U.S. was founded. The number of perspectives are overwhelming. The Native Americans villages that were slaughtered due to some Native Americans aiding the British. The minute men. The academics. The British. The German soldiers (Heshens). The French solderers. The Generals and writers and women. There are so many angles! Like most things, this makes it overwhelming.
One thing that is always emphasised in the literature and movies is the fight for freedom. The way that people were being taxed without being represented. The way that it was farmers, workers that rose up. The way that the Articles of Confederation led to six long years of rebellions after independence. The values that were written into those articles, as well as into the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. When I break down the walls that separate today from the founding of the U.S. I can't help but shutter. Conrad had decided that it would be fun to get George Washington to meet Obama so George Washington could learn how to use a computer. A funny image, but I can't help but think about what George Washington, Thomas Paine, Benjamen Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the thousands of other revolutionaries and fighters would say to our leaders today.
It's uncanny, the parallels between the rights that people fought for then and the ones I fell are threatened now. I read about taxation without representation and I think about how 50% of U.S. citizens believe that we should remove our troops from Afghanistan (Pew Research Center) and yet $159 billion tax dollars went to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (Policy Basics) in 2011. $718 billion was spent on defence, the biggest part of our budget spent in one area. Are we being represented by our government now?
What about freedom of press and speech? The use of the printing press, writings like Thomas Paine's Common Sense, carried our country into existence. Now our media is owned by a handful of wealthy corporations and when independent bloggers or something like Wiki leaks challenges the independent press court cases are endless and acts such as SOPA and NDAA try to get passed.
What about the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness when university drains your pockets and you aren't always able to get a job afterwards? What about being created equal when our institutions, from government to schools to justice systems have discrimination so deeply ingrained in it that those of us who are privileged often don't see it.
I could go on and one. What I mean to say is this: For a long time I have felt ashamed of my country. I haven't always been proud to say in my travels that I am from the good old U.S. of A. I learned about what my country does and has done and it made me ashamed and angry and engaged. Yes, I meant engaged, not enraged, though sometimes it makes me that too.
These emotions haven't gone away but I am realizing that I am, very much, a person with U.S. values. It's just that my country isn't- not anymore. When Conrad jokes about our "founding fathers" discussing computers with the politicians of today I can't help but cringe to think what they WOULD say if they saw the state of this country. I read the cries for rebellion and I hear of injustices that our government is now inflicting on us. I hear the early cries for revolution and I don't see them to be too far off from our cries today.
More thoughts on this to come. Just had to get a rant out- make sure you all know I didn't shrivel up and die or anything. Let me know what you think about this! How different is the U.S. today from the way it was when it was formed? How do we deal with these differences? Which are differences of the times and which are simply violations of our rights?
-g
Over the last month of travel and settling in I have had an overwhelming sense of fatigue thanks to my constant mobility. Surrounded by good people, food, and books, however, I can feel my energy returning; behold! Human energy- a renewable resource. I thought I would write a little bit about what has been on my mind the last couple of weeks for the good old blog so here goes!
One thing that is always emphasised in the literature and movies is the fight for freedom. The way that people were being taxed without being represented. The way that it was farmers, workers that rose up. The way that the Articles of Confederation led to six long years of rebellions after independence. The values that were written into those articles, as well as into the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. When I break down the walls that separate today from the founding of the U.S. I can't help but shutter. Conrad had decided that it would be fun to get George Washington to meet Obama so George Washington could learn how to use a computer. A funny image, but I can't help but think about what George Washington, Thomas Paine, Benjamen Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the thousands of other revolutionaries and fighters would say to our leaders today.
What about freedom of press and speech? The use of the printing press, writings like Thomas Paine's Common Sense, carried our country into existence. Now our media is owned by a handful of wealthy corporations and when independent bloggers or something like Wiki leaks challenges the independent press court cases are endless and acts such as SOPA and NDAA try to get passed.
What about the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness when university drains your pockets and you aren't always able to get a job afterwards? What about being created equal when our institutions, from government to schools to justice systems have discrimination so deeply ingrained in it that those of us who are privileged often don't see it.
I could go on and one. What I mean to say is this: For a long time I have felt ashamed of my country. I haven't always been proud to say in my travels that I am from the good old U.S. of A. I learned about what my country does and has done and it made me ashamed and angry and engaged. Yes, I meant engaged, not enraged, though sometimes it makes me that too.
These emotions haven't gone away but I am realizing that I am, very much, a person with U.S. values. It's just that my country isn't- not anymore. When Conrad jokes about our "founding fathers" discussing computers with the politicians of today I can't help but cringe to think what they WOULD say if they saw the state of this country. I read the cries for rebellion and I hear of injustices that our government is now inflicting on us. I hear the early cries for revolution and I don't see them to be too far off from our cries today.
More thoughts on this to come. Just had to get a rant out- make sure you all know I didn't shrivel up and die or anything. Let me know what you think about this! How different is the U.S. today from the way it was when it was formed? How do we deal with these differences? Which are differences of the times and which are simply violations of our rights?
-g
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