In the first Canto of the Divine Comedy Dante Aligheri tells us he is 35 years old because he is "In the middle of life's journey." Life's journey is three score and ten years, seventy years, which I will reach and pass in ten days.
Dante never reached three score and ten. He died in 1321 in exile from his beloved Florence at the age of 56. The belief that 70 years is the lifespan of a human being is a quote from the Book of Psalms, 90:10
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Seventy is a major life milestone, so it has me thinking about what I will do with the next decade.
The previous seven years have been "the best of times and the worst of times" of my life. Living has been wonderful. My family is healthy, I have been healthy except for a few smashed bones, but the major illusions of life got crushed since 2015.
It seems crazy in retrospect, but I really, really believed America was getting better. All of my life from 1964 (The Civil Rights Act) to 2015 (Gay Marriage) more people got more rights and more freedom than ever before. The Jim Crow South became illegal in 1964. By the 1970s women had many more rights, including the the right to choose their own health care options.
In 2004 George W. Bush won re-election with a dirty, Karl-Rove-run campaign against gay rights. By 2015, gay marriage was legal across America. I not only believed more people would get more rights, but I thought the racist rednecks would die out. A Black man was elected President in 2008!
But in 2016, it was clear that the gains of women, Blacks, gay people and other minorities were fragile. The rednecks I thought were going to fade away were cheering their flaccid hero at hate-filled rallies across America. The hater-in-chief promptly put neo-Nazis in the White House. Every action by Trump from then to now is to reverse freedom and end democracy. His fake Christian base loves and supports him and will give up all of their freedom for the white "Christian" nationalist nation he wants to rule as king.
Which leads me to my goals for the future.
- Preserve democracy in the US and abroad--in Ukraine and Taiwan particularly as the front lines of democracy in Europe and Asia.
- To support candidates and protesters here and abroad who want to preserve democracy and fight tyranny.
- To do what I can to keep Israel from falling into illiberal democracy or outright religious tyranny.
- To fight for women's rights and gay rights and minority rights alongside those who are attacked Republicans who want to reverse all rights--except for themselves.
- To enjoy the wonderful life I have that allows me to see friends in America and around the world and support what they are doing.
