I Still Despair

 I have had this feeling for a few years, and it is getting stronger.

And indeed, world events combined with activity in the US are making this feeling even stronger.

I am in despair. I despair for the future of the United States as a democratic nation and as a nation of laws under which all are allegedly created, and treated, equally. 

I despair for the future of our planet because of our refusal to take the serious and immediate steps necessary to combat climate change. 

I despair for the future of wildlife as they struggle to survive as their habitat shrinks and as they are slaughtered to satisfy the greed of humans.

I despair for those who live their lives in abject poverty with no hope of escape. I cannot imagine trying to feed a family on a minimum wage income while facing the exorbitant prices of groceries I face each week.

I despair for the place of women in our society as our rights continue to be stripped from us. And it isn't just our legal rights that are at risk. It's something far more pervasive. 

I despair that some states are now banning books the rulers deem to be too dangerous for people to read. Do you know who else banned books deemed unacceptable? The Nazis.

I despair for the future of free elections, untainted by cheating, manipulation and voter suppression. 

I despair that, unable to win national elections, Republicans have decided to set their sights on government at the state and local levels. A prime example happened just today, when the gerrymandered legislature in Tennessee expelled three Democrats who had joined a student protest against gun violence. They overturned the will of the people who had elected these three people to represent them.

I despair for the survival of a country so deeply divided not just over politics, but over a lack of respect for science and truth and compassion and equality and vaccinations and equal rights for women, and over everything necessary for the survival of a nation when there is no longer common ground.

I despair over politicians' willingness to ignore what is best for the nation in favor of their own greediness for power.

I despair that Rethuglican politicians are working hard to disenfranchise communities that traditionally favor Democratic candidates, by closing neighborhood polling places, eliminating drive-up ballot drop-boxes, and taking similar steps that make it more difficult for the poor, for minorities and for the elderly to cast their ballots.

I despair that women still are treated by far too many as second-class citizens. It isn't only the Taliban in Afghanistan who treat women as 'less than.' Control over our bodies has been eroded by no less than the US Supreme Court, not to mention by numerous male-dominated state legislatures. 

We may lack the physical strength of some men, but we should be far removed from the days when brawn was more important than brains. We have the brains, the talent and the abilities of men. We can lead, often in a more compassionate manner, as well as men can. The daughter of a friend of mine has an extremely successful career as an officer in the US Navy. She had command of a ship during the Gulf War. She didn't receive her command because of her muscles. Her ship wasn't painted pink. She earned her position. The next position above hers is rear admiral.

So why do we women, and our male supporters, continually have to fight for equal pay and for equal opportunities? Why do we continue to allow ourselves to be seen as little more than brood mares to soothe male egos? Why do we not rise up in protest until we are given the same rights as men are?

I despair as this country moves ever closer to becoming an oligarchy, where wealth and power and control are in the grasp of only a few old, white men.

I am old, and frankly, I am glad that I won't have to live in a country that has fallen so very far from the ideals on which it was founded.