Sam Smith – Every day I
finish my national online newsletter and then turn to life in my small Maine
town. This used to be just a shift in work but increasingly it has become life
in two contrary societies, one an
increasingly collapsing and corrupt nation and the other a vigorous and
enjoyable community.
I look forward to early afternoon
because I feel like I’m retrieving my real life. Yet I am also aware that this
shift is shared with millions of other Americans and hardly ranks as a solution
since tomorrow morning I will be back in hell.
Scholars and journalists are
rightfully confronting the collapse of an America now defined in no small part
by the rich and powerful. The fact that there is another more decent and useful
place gets little attention.
Yet I find myself regularly
involved with decent people, kind groups, and warming spirits. And increasingly
my mind is suggesting that the real conflict is between a good America and a
destructive one. Both involve us.
As I ponder the hidden conflict
that defines us these days, I have come to credit television with deserving
much the blame. Although TV has done
some positive things, like introducing white America to blacks, it has also taken time away from neighbors, communities,
groups and other forces that create positive change.
I go back far enough to have
experienced movements and coalitions of real people helping other real people
even if we were quite different. For
example this white guy worked with black activists in the 1960s and I was a
seventh day agnostic who joined with ministers who had common goals. You don’t
have such experiences just watching a screen in your bedroom.
Donald Trump is a creation of television politics and a clear example
of the dangers involved. We need to go back to seeing, talking and thinking
about life from a community rather than a televised creation. On average, we
are still far better than Donald Trump. We need to win back our real America and
define ourselves and our goals by our community, good groups, religion, local
politics and anything else more valuable
than what we we just saw on Channel 8.
