We return home

from Minnesota today.  Our visit with family was a satisfying relief from the restriction on travel which has prevented contact and face to face conversation for the past year and a half.  It is a delight to witness children playing and growing, maturing in interests, and capabilities.  I was intellectually stimulated by long conversations with my brother in law, who is concluding a career as an instructor, mentor to youth in the Minnesota correctional system.  Our different angles of view were productive, and provocative.  I will take those conversations with me in my return home to Illinois.

The New York Times summary of the morning, reveals that things continue in the trajectory of the past few days and months with no major interruption.  The once-in-a-decade census shows increasing diversity in all counties of the country, while the overall growth rate of the population slows.  State legislatures will hustle to control the redistricting and Republicans will do their best to drive gerrymandering in order to tighten and increase the party hold upon power.  Unnaturally new-comer immigrants and youth who are of color will find it more difficult to vote in future elections.

The corona virus delta variant continues to drive hospitalizations, and deaths in the red states, the areas which have resisted reception of life saving vaccines.  “The government is not going to tell me what to do,” could be his/her last words.  Sadly the innocent will also die, especially children.  The fall school term is to begin for all students.  Mask up and pray…

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These words paraphrased from Cornel West offer a succinct description of our condition as a people.

Free Market economics as dogma:

1. Free, unfettered markets
are a fetish, or an idol.

2. Powerful corporations are delegated magical powers of salvation
which yields obscene levels of wealth inequality,
intensified class hostility and hatred.

3 Activities of buying and selling,
consuming and taking,
promoting and advertising
are made a premium…

4. Community, compassion,
and improvement of general quality of life
are devalued.

Cornel West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, political activist, social critic, and public intellectual.  West draws from from multiple traditions, including Christianity, the Black church, Marxism, neopragmatism, and transcendentalism.  – wikipedia