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Our era vs. our parents'

I was thinking out loud with a friend (you know who you are) the other day about the weird things we've (meaning my post-WWII so-called "boomer" generation) lived through in our time: assassinations, 9/11, this (COVID-19). Sleepless during the night, I started thinking about my parents' era and how they lived through events of deep social inspiration: the Depression and social movements of the 1930s and '40s, World War II (fight against fascism).* Then I started to think more about it. They had their weird times too: McCarthy period being one. And we had our deeply soul-inspiring things too: the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement being two. Of course their era overlaps with ours. What stands out to me, though, is World War II and everything connected to it. *Oh, I forgot about the Bolshevik Revolution and its ripples through time and space. Let's see if I can make a timeline/chart: soul-inspiring in red, weird in blue Us (adult years): 195
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Four Tops, Neil Young and the Michigan primaries

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The Four Tops have made a video for Joe Biden , and Neil Young has endorsed Bernie Sanders. In my mind, this just about encapsulates the situation. Which one do you think is likely to resonate more in Michigan? Of course, we'll see tonight.
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The Obama phenomenon and can a woman win?

Right now, looking at the buffeting Elizabeth Warren is getting despite her articulateness and style, I'm wondering what it will take to get a woman Democratic nominee, much less a woman president. Yes there was Hillary, but she was a particular case. Thinking about Obama, who broke the race/racist bar for the presidency. One, he was an exceptionally gifted politician with a remarkable background that gave him unusual insight and breadth. Two, the outgoing George W. Bush not only was exceptionally unpopular, but he and his would-be successor McCain did not have the ratcheted-up politico-ideological-religious-financial base that Trump has - not to mention Russian help. But also, let's face it, Obama is a man. Racism is a deeply rooted toxin in our society. In a different way, male supremacy is also deeply rooted and cuts across many lines. I think it's under-estimated. And Hillary's loss to Trump reinforced notions that a woman can't win. Just saying.
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How I feel about Bernie

I get a kick out of Bernie Sanders -- I love his NY accent and down-to-earth style. He's not a phony (to quote Holden Caulfield - " Catcher in the Rye " for those too young to know). And, I agree with a lot of his take on things. We do need a democratic socialism that puts people before profit and so on. But that's not what's at stake here. It's not about what "I" or "you" like or want. If we get outside the left-intellectual bubble, I think what most people (aside from the 30-40% Trump base) want at this point of crisis is a return to normalcy, to democratic and civil norms, respect for laws, human decency, coherence. I don't think most people want a revolution. Even Elizabeth Warren's talk of "deep structural change" - and she's been my favorite candidate up to now - what does that mean? I don't think that's what most people are looking for at this juncture. Right now, I think the majority see a return
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Is it ok to do nothing?

If I put on a cd and sit down and read or do something online, I realize after a while that I haven't heard the music. Meanwhile, I've been going through my accumulation of cds and trying to winnow out the ones I really don't need to have. This involves actually listening to them. Sitting (or lying) on the couch, looking off into space. "Doing nothing." Initial feeling is guilt - I'm not "doing" anything. Lazy. But I hear the music. It has meaning. I googled "doing nothing" and "books about doing nothing" because I thought maybe I'd find some profound writing on it. But instead, there are quite a few articles, such as in the New York Times, that turn "doing nothing" into yet another self-improvement task. I'm not talking about self-improvement. I'm talking about letting myself pay attention - to music, but it could be other things - without visibly "doing" anything. It's a good thing.
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Why?

Well I think thoughts, so I thought I'd try to write some of them down and share. If I just try to keep a notebook (paper, "hard copy") it's self-conscious and awkward. So I'm trying this. My first post is gonna be about "doing nothing." Stay tuned.
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