The decency of Americans needs nurturing

Hello Joe,

In your essay "Thank Heaven for 7-Eleven", you wrote: "These are not stupid people. They are simply Americans. And because we are friends, we moved on to another topic. This is the sort of strange national disconnect that has so many folks like myself silently screaming inside our heads."

Well, today I guess I'm dealing with the "hologram", as you put it. Rolling Thunder is doing their thing on the mall today and I'm thinking about going to see them even though I know the commute will be a disaster. The bikers are a strange and complicated bunch politically. The scariest gig for our band was in Southern Maryland at a biker bar that the bandleader didn't know was a REAL biker bar.

About three years ago at a bar I sometimes sing at, a crazy eyed biker leaned toward me to complain about the many patrons at the bar who at that time who supported the Iraq war, waving the flag, love it or leave it stuff. He said through gritted teeth, "I fought in Vietnam. I AM the fucking flag."

When Alice was in Wonderland and things got really weird, she was able to leave. When Dorothy got out of crazy Oz, she was happy to be back in boring Kansas. Even Eva (i think that's her name) the little innocent girl in Uncle Tom's Cabin gets out by dying a beautiful little death. And when Shirley Temple danced with Bill Robinson, she safely escaped from her "reality" -- what a mixed message that sent!!

In our tabloids today you STILL see JonBenet Ramsey's little face -- as if our culture can't get enough of the innocent little girl in the evil world. (Yet the six-year-old black girl in Florida who had a tantrum and was handcuffed and taken to jail is not white enough to elicit much sympathy in the press.) With the female "non"-combatants in Iraq -- Jessica Lynch comes to mind -- the media cries out there must be a great story to tell. Yet the holographic image of a butt-kicking white woman in Iraq faded when those pesky news reporters told the real story.

The twisted indie movie Little Miss Sunshine made a delicious statement about American society when they showed an aged, usually debauched Alan Arkin tucking his granddaughter into bed. His gentle face, when telling her she was beautiful (even though she was pudgy and plain) was the face all of us want to imagine or remember our grandfather would have made tucking us in. Looking at us with love and pride, and again that decency of the elders caring for and supporting those younger than themselves who haven't yet seen the world.

Under it all, there is decency in almost everyone. That the holographic image of fake America is everywhere is true, but I think there is that decency underneath that just needs nuturing somehow. And in proportion to the decency, internet porn and football games seem silly though a necessary part of life, but not such a big a deal after all.

I didn't mean to ramble, but in that bar with that Vet, "I AM the fucking flag" wasn't spin. It was a statement of reality that, good or ill, that war was fought and he had the bloodstains to prove it. He knows he's not a hero, just a guy who did what he had to do. And I wasn't anybody special to tell it to, I just happened to not fit in at that bar so he probably felt comfortable telling me he didn't go along with that crowd.

Again, sorry to ramble. Thanks for the interesting stuff you write.

Lisa

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Lisa,

What a wonderful letter! Obviously you've managed to poke a pinhole in the hologram and peek out. But I feel I should warn you of this: The bigger the hole, the more horrific the view gets. I almost never recommend books to people, but you might want to read Derrick Jensen's two volume book, "Endgame." And if you do so, would you please write back to me your thoughts on what you read. I am terribly interested to know what younger people with such insight as yours think of his basic ground zero truth.

In art and labor,

Joe