My previous post alerted my readers to many essays pointing to the possible forthcoming political crises that may result in a one-party fascist rule. Here now are my own feelings about the destruction of the country. Continue reading Feelings about the Future of America
Barton Gellman’s article in the Atlantic, “The Election That Could Break America,” is perhaps the scariest piece I’ve read about the election yet—it was even published early because of its urgency. Fascism is at our doorstep. Continue reading The Election That Could Break America
Peoria Riverfront Park Dan Fogelberg Memorial Site
“To every man the mystery
Sings a different song
He fills his page of history
Dreams his dreams and is gone.”
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about an especially moving song about death by the American musician Dan Fogelberg whose lyrical rhymes often touch on existential themes. I have listened to his entire musical opus and virtually every song he wrote says something profound about life. He is also a master of surprising phrases such as in “sweetest sorrow,” “thundering, velvet hand,” or evocative poetry like “Burning lines in the book of our lives.”
I strongly recommend the following two interactive articles about the great climate migration. Part 1, “The Great Climate Migration,” shows how roughly 20% of the currently populated parts of the world will become virtually uninhabitable in about 50 years. Part 2, “How Climate Migration Will Reshape America,” explores how the climate crisis will increasingly affect migration patterns within the United States. All this raises the question, “where will these climate refugees go?” Continue reading Climate Migration
The short clip above is from the audiobook of the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert’s Life Itself: A Memoir. It is reminiscent of David Hume’s ruminations about his impending death. It is one of the most profound and moving reflections about one’s impending deaths I’ve ever heard.
And it contains stanzas from what I consider the greatest American poem, Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.” Here is the stanza Ebert quotes:
I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.
I’ll always think about Roger when I watch movies. And I’ll finish the poem:
You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.
Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.
For more about Roger Ebert (1942 – 2013) see Life Itself, the wonderful documentary about the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic and social commentator. It has a rotten tomatoes score of 100% among top critics.