Yesterday I went for a short drive to Geneva as is my habit to do some reading, sitting on the ground under a maple tree in front of the old court house.  Gazing at the great old Civil War memorial statue that dominates the view from the courthouse, — the mood came over me to rename my blog.  The Civil War was arguably the most intense, most wrenching, greatest tragedy our nation has ever experienced.  More were killed, per capita of the population than in later wars, and the conflict was on our own soil.  The South was burned, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, infrastructure destroyed. Yes, the horrific institution of slavery was ended, and the Union saved. However racism has persisted, and is now more virulent than ever, being used as a tool to consolidate power by the present administration.  People of color are rendered second class citizens, shamelessly, by the exercise of white power in all kinds of ways.

There is too much to go into in a “short” blog post.  Besides many fine books have been written that are easily available.  Are we (white people) not disposed to study ‘to death’, to talk interminably about structural injustice, — in order to sustain our denial, the illusion that we care?  Let’s appoint another commission to study the problem.  What do I “know” about living as a brown or black person?  I’ll never know and much reading is irrelevant as long as nothing in my life changes.

So I thought about another blog title: Behind the Guns.  Upper middle class, and certainly members of the 1% class of uber-wealthy Whites, enjoy the freedom and the privilege they do, because formal and informal vectors of power support and protect their affluence and privilege.  What do you think?  Do you think the phrase is snappy, a suitable hook for a series of posts about life in America from the viewpoint of a senior white guy?

Situated on both sides of the magisterial statue of the three Union infantrymen in battlefield pose, are two naval guns reclaimed from WWI era ships.  These are manually operated 4.7 inch guns.  As a gun owner I learned long ago that it is never safe to be on the muzzle side of a weapon.  If you happen to be in front of a gun, you’d best pray to the gods of luck.  It is always better to be behind a gun.  The fact of the matter is that we male whites, have always been in power, positioned behind the guns.

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Time for a tune.  Today I’m listening to Lawyers, Guns, and Money by Warren Zevon.  Zevon, an incredible lyric-smith and rocker, passed in 2003.  Born in Chicago he was two years older than I.  This tune a sardonic social commentary, is iconic of Zevon.  The lyric line speaks of desperation born of betrayal.  Betrayal and desperation, cause and effect, have always been closely related.  Everyone knows the feeling.  The main character in the lyric deserves our pity because he just didn’t know “she was with the Russians too.”

The same cannot be said for ourselves.  We went into this mess with “eyes wide open.”  We knew he was with the Russians.  We cannot plead being “the innocent bystander,” “down on our luck.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1BxGded604

Lawyers, Guns And Money

By Warren Zevon

Well, I went home with the waitress
The way I always do
How was I to know
She was with the Russians, too

I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this

I’m the innocent bystander
Somehow I got stuck
Between the rock and the hard place
And I’m down on my luck
And I’m down on my luck
And I’m down on my luck

Now I’m hiding in Honduras
I’m a desperate man
Send lawyers, guns and money
The shit has hit the fan