I agree- also the suspicion of Papists and Jews. In fact, I lived in a restricted area as a child- no Jews allowed- and mother was not allowed to sell our home to a Jewish doctor after my father died. The housing laws were changed- nationwide- maybe in the 60's. Also, there was madness and despair- "Giants in the Earth"-Ole Rolvaag
On Jul 29, 12:36 pm, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > rigsy, if you include blacks and other groups not accepted by 'small > town America' over the centuries, I don't see how 'we' can be seen as > 'gracious'. The Civil War alone would show how schizophrenic 'we' > are...as did Jim Crow, the KKK and other less seemly historical > realities that all too often are ignored by the more 'gentile' among > us. > Many German and Jewish frineds of mine use the term schwartza often > and in a not too friendly way either. > > On Jul 29, 3:53 am, rigsy03 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Yes it does- am thinking of barn raisings, harvesting, sick visits, > > etc. and small town America without over-sentimentalizing them. Often > > there was a common European heritage- Germans, Scandanavians and > > Irish- but just as often there was a polyglot of cultures especially > > when an area became industrialized. Milwaukee is an excellent example > > of the latter. Less harmonious was Chicago and it meat packing and > > steel industries along with its labor and housing riots and slums. > > > On Jul 29, 3:09 am, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > “… I agree that our community, local, regional, national or > > > whatever, used to be far more friendly, given to helping one another, > > > gracious, gentlemanly and gentlewomanly, willing to reconcile and > > > forgive….” – RJ > > > > Jim, while I think I understand your point, I suggest that IF one > > > takes xenophobia (including all forms of racism) into account, ‘our’ > > > history does not support such a Pollyannaish view. > > > > On Jul 28, 10:45 am, retiredjim34 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Slip - a very interesting and timely topic. Thanks for introducing > > > > it. > > > > I agree that our community, local, regional, national or > > > > whatever, used to be far more friendly, given to helping one another, > > > > gracious, gentlemanly and gentlewomanly, willing to reconcile and > > > > forgive. Now extremeism, hatred, and revenge seem to be so prevalent. > > > > I think a large part of this change is due to political gerrymandering > > > > - the drawing of political boundaries to encompass only those of a > > > > particluar party, or viewpoint, or attitude. Thus, to get elected the > > > > candidate had to be extreme, and this extremeism had carried over into > > > > our communal life. There are hardly any moderates any more, whereas > > > > when political boundaries used to be drawn without regard to -isms, > > > > moderates got elected and were our leaders. The Supreme Court had an > > > > opportunity to strike down political gerrymandering a few years ago > > > > but did not. So we are stuck in a society now filled with extremeists. > > > > Anyway, that's my two cents. Jim > > > > > On Jul 26, 3:22 pm, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Are we losing the ability to reconcile in the world? Have we slipped > > > > > so far from the understanding of brotherhood, of forgiveness that we > > > > > have simply become a world of hatred and revenge. We are literally > > > > > mortified by the specter of terrorism that is plaguing the world. The > > > > > mindset of terrorism is anchored in the inability to allow forgiveness > > > > > to override anger and instead caters to hatred, anger and violence > > > > > towards those deemed the wrongdoers without regard for the harm > > > > > imposed upon the innocent bystanders. > > > > > Aside from that our culture seems entrenched in the business of > > > > > revenge, we rather employ legal means to inflict suffering upon those > > > > > who we think have done us wrong before we would sit down directly and > > > > > discuss the problems. Politics seems to be leaning more toward > > > > > instilling anger and fears among us which leads to a polarization of > > > > > society while most media seem devoted to divisive and anger driven > > > > > reporting with a general attitude of who is to blame. > > > > > Can we ever stop sending messages attached to missiles, bombs and > > > > > bullets? Our attempts to establish peaceful means of resolution have > > > > > failed miserably because there is never a general consensus on any > > > > > issue. We sanction and punish to no end in order to force change but > > > > > to no avail. People are at war in every quadrant of the planet while > > > > > new agitations are festering in the background waiting to emerge as > > > > > full scale skirmishes.- Hide quoted text - > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. 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