I will be looking at 2017, my 69th year, with new eyes. Literally, thanks to laser surgery. But what to see now that the scales have fallen? The crumbling of our American democracy? The end of our American century? Overdue certainly. I used to joke that when I started out as an editorial writer I thought I could save the world. Now I’m just hoping that the really bad stuff won’t happen until after I’m dead. Let the kids sort it out.
I’m not a cynic….ok, so I am a cynic. But there are only two logical explanations for the chain of events that have brought us to the very eve of a Donald Trump presidency. 1. Widespread ignorance. 2. A culture of venality. Which raises an interesting if uncomfortable question indeed. Is it better to say that one lives in the United States of Ignorance? Or the Venal States of America? A Hobson’s choice any way you cut it.
In my lifetime, Apartheid fell, men stepped on the moon and the Iron Curtain came down. All things seemed possible. Ours was the generation that would change everything. “We can change the world, rearrange the world.”
Turns out we did. And with horrible consequences. I fear for my country in 2017. For my children.
Not all is gloom and doom. I live on a shining city on a hill, or on a creek in any event. I’m optimistic that Gville will find its own path in the coming year. Against all odds perhaps.
And what of me? Bike Florida is behind me. I’m still writing for The Sun, although for how long is anybody’s guess. I must find new outlets for my cynicism, surely. Hence resurrecting this long-dormant blog site. 
Let the Gator growl in 2017!
Skip to content
