Waiting for Spring in America
The sun hangs longer in the sky. Sunrise to sunset, the time of sunlight now dominates the pie graph in my ‘daylight’ app on my iPhone. We Alaskans feel the undeniable stirrings of light and life. After the long darkness that tests our psyche at the depths of winter, most of us welcome the forces of the spring solstice.
Tell me, then, why I am feeling so depressed; so uninspired? Here is a hint: politics.
By most measures, we Alaskans are among the most fortunate human beings alive…ever. We live in the wealthiest state (per capita) in the wealthiest nation on earth. Our taxes are low and our economy is healthy and looking up. We have (on aggregate) the prospect for a long life and we live at the intersection between technology and biology that promises decent health and a reasonably pain-free existence. We are interconnected and interdependent and the world is largely changing for the better.
Tell me, then, why we are complaining? Why are we so fearful and angry about our lives and prospects? Here is a hint: politics.
Living in the United States in 2012, to use a politically incorrect phrase, is like living in an asylum being run by the inmates. The ‘crazy making’ being generated by the slow-slog of the Republican primary is an embarrassment to our country. Remember, that interconnected and interdependent world I mentioned above is watching our democracy in action. The media lens that magnifies the tentacles of racism, religious extremism, xenophobia, and misogyny slithering in the shadows of this high-stakes political year, exposes the weakness of our national character.
That weakness in character is a fundamental insecurity wrought by a nation of immigrants. While we can boast of our accomplishments as a nation, there is a persistent dark side of our national character.
Our Colonial Heroes of national myth, for example, were not only stalwarts, but a goodly number of them were a bunch of scalawags, scofflaws, and interlopers. These ‘bad actors’ stole from the Indians and jeopardized the treaties negotiated by the Crown with the Indian Nations. They forced the Crown to pay for English troops and German mercenaries to garrison the colonies and protect the Indians from them. The history of the English settlements is studded with tribal conflicts, including the war of the Pequot against the Connecticut settlers in 1637; the uprising of the Wampanoag and Narragansett against the New England colonies in 1675–76, known as King Philip’s War; the wars with the Yamasee on the South Carolina frontier; and Pontiac’s Rebellion in the Northwest Territory in 1763. After Great Britain’s victory in the French and Indian War, the Crown tried to maintain peace with the Iroquois whose reserves were invaded by colonial settlers. The only outrage expressed by colonialists was that the Crown would make such an agreement without consulting them. The Colonialists saw the principle purpose of their militias was to defend their purloined settlements against angry Indians.
Once the American Republic was established, the jingoism of American nationalism (nowadays called ‘American Exceptionalism’), lead to international and domestic conflict. John Q. Adams established the policy of ‘Continentialism’ which viewed America’s destiny as controlling all of the North American Continent. Various policies lead to the creation of Northern and Southern boundaries of our nation and the establishment of the ‘Monroe Doctrine” that declared the continent closed to colonial exploration and claims by other countries. “Manifest Destiny” was a doctrine of mid-19th Century Democrats, which was also called the “Anglo-Saxon” doctrine, which envisioned a White, Anglo-Saxon Nation. The Whigs and, later, Republican Party battled this essentially racist notion which they also saw as inviting endless wars of attrition against Native Americans and other established colonial interests like England, France and Spain.
This White Nationalism laid the seeds for the rise of the ‘Know Nothing’ movement of the 1850s that was an anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant movement. Anglo-Saxon, American-born males controlled this movement, and spread conspiracy theories about the largely Catholic immigrants from Ireland, calling them ‘minions of the Vatican’. They feared that the Vatican was planting a Papal army on the continent with the goal of terrorism and the conquest of America.
As laughable as such conspiracies sound, they were widespread and received significant popular support. After the Civil War and with the rise of the urban America and continuation of western expansion, Nativist movements enjoyed a renaissance. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was popular in the West where enclaves of Chinese workers were established in major railroad settlements and U.S. Labor Unions saw immigrants as a threat to their members’ hard fought interests. The “Immigration Restriction League” of the 1890s targeted mostly the ‘undesirables’ from Southern and Central Europe. In the early 20th Century, the American Citizenry turned against German-Americans. As with all phases of these nationalistic movements, the anti-German hysteria had no basis in reason or reality. After intense lobbying by the Nativists, the congress passed the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 followed by the Immigration Act of 1924. The targets for these acts were immigrants from Italy and Poland.
Today, obviously, the long tradition of Nativism and unreasoned hysteria is alive and well and playing its part to generate negativity and nausea in the politics of our day. While the target is Latin-American immigration, it appears to spring from the same weakness in the American character that is compelled to question the legitimacy and nationality of our country’s first Black president.
So while I celebrate the coming of spring after the long Alaskan winter, a dark chill continues to suffuse our political landscape. When, I wonder, will spring ever arrive in America?
What you woln’t learn from and American textbook: From 1763, it was the policy of the British government to not allow white settlement west of the crest of the Appalachians. Where I am from in Florida, during the British period (Florida did not revolt), the west bank of the St. Johns River was Indian Country.
Thank you, Mr Lauesen.
This is a kinder, gentler but much more effective way of looking at the dis-ease I feel than I do.
On dark days I want to walk away from it all. I have many dark days.
This latest go round with pushing for “religious liberties” has sent me back to stories about our beginnings and things we should not forget whilst blathering on about religion without balance amongst our other civil and political rights.
“United States
See also: Freedom of Religion in the United States
Most of the early colonies were generally not tolerant of dissident forms of worship, with Maryland being the only exception. For example, Roger Williams found it necessary to found a new colony in Rhode Island to escape persecution in the theocratically dominated colony of Massachusetts. The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were the most active of the New England persecutors of Quakers, and the persecuting spirit was shared by the Plymouth Colony and the colonies along the Connecticut river.[29] In 1660, one of the most notable victims of the religious intolerance was English Quaker Mary Dyer who was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts for repeatedly defying a Puritan law banning Quakers from the colony.[29] As one of the four executed Quakers known as the Boston martyrs, the hanging of Dyer on the Boston gallows marked the beginning of the end of the Puritan theocracy and New England independence from English rule, and in 1661 King Charles II explicitly forbade Massachusetts from executing anyone for professing Quakerism.[30]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion
We do ourselves no favors remembering only outlines and heros of our past and present. Should we expand the notion of season to this narrow march of our polity, we would see that the harvest of ideas we feed ourselves on all the long dark winter is poor fare and leaves us exhausted and weak in this time of spring and the beginnings of a year to gather again.
I think it is in the full remembrance, full feasting, on what and why and how we got here and what and who it has cost us which will give us the strength and sinew to meet our work as a community.
Some days I stay in the Democratic party merely to stand as a sentinel against the ghost of Andrew Jackson.
Some days I stay to celebrate the many souls who carried us away from that nasty disgusting worldview.
Somedays I stay to argue agianst centrism.
Some days I stay to celebrate the casting off of the Southern Democrat racist underbelly this party relied on for too long.
Some days, like today, I just rest and think about it all.
Wonderful writing, Alaska Pi. I recall that I was going to research something for you, b/t/w…I dropped the ball. I apologize.
I want my Mommie!
Yikes–My Mommie is not help. She thinks Santorum is cute, and Romney is a good business man.
Can’t type—that should be: My Mommie is no help!
As spring arrives, the dog deposits in my yard are not the only thing that doesn’t smell right. I can’t get over the hypocrisy of the religious right and more specifically, the “no on prop 5 crowd.”
They harp over and over how they don’t want to accept a life style contrary to their views, while at the same time enjoying those very same protections. Do they honestly believe that everyone agrees with their view of the world.
I have never once had a person knock on my door, ask me to divorce my spouse, and become a homosexual with them. On the converse, I have had dozens and dozens of crusaders knock on my door to preach whatever religion they were selling, and urge me to join their flock.
The no on five commercials don’t even make sense on the most basic level of logic. They state that Anchorage is already tolerant, so vote no on 5. The mere fact that they are supporting a no vote demonstrates that Anchorage is not tolerant.
Jim Minnery tried to demonstrate some dizzying logic on the evening news tonight saying he felt nobody should put someone down based on their sexuality. He is indeed a category five idiot. That is exactly what he wants to legitimize.
I hope for the best with the upcoming election, but have learned to expect the worst.
It does seem that we are bombarded by assaults to reason, decency, common sense, and compassion for our fellow man. And yet the crocuses bloom, and we have this wonderful place to learn that there are still decent, caring, intelligent people around….
Lovemydogs – Superb rant. Well done.
To all other mudflatters, this is the kind of thing that should be copied and pasted
into comments on other blogs.Pass it on, it will go viral.
” When, I wonder, will spring ever arrive in America?”
After the coming winter. We are now only entering the fall. The autumn of a short pragmatic phase in the slow struggle to both overcome our evolutionary heritage and at the same time implement our new awareness to our collective benefit.
In the long and amazing history of life on earth we are exceptional beyond any comparison for the extent to which we have expressed an extended phenotype upon our environment. But in a very true sense we are behaving as if a street sweeper had been appointed to be operational manager of a nuclear power plant. We have handed over decision power to a bunch of people who are so attached to their delusions that they will strike the match to set the world on fire
The winter will be the low ebb, when humanity is forced by the inexorable and absolutely uncaring reality of the universe to rebel against outrageous fortune, or succumb.
One of the enormously powerful insights of science is that we simply do not know all that much.
Yes we know more than we did a century ago, but we have only pricked the surface of a huge and amazing expanse of potential knowledge.
Those who advocate disdain for reason and knowledge are handing out paper cups of poison.
This weekend, I’m going to just take a break from watching the crazy political crap, focus on my yard , household chores and maybe take the wife to dinner at the Wharf..(even 2nd class citizens need a little pampering ! 🙂 ) I’ve just about converted my Aunt to the Dark Side of the Democratic party by holdiing up the craziness of the republican primaries,… I need a quiet time sanity break ( except for Sunday am Meet the Press- Rachel’s suppose to be on!)
Hahahaha…excellent plan, Ben.
There is hope in that lovely photo. It really helps to get outside for a few hours and soak up some rays, see what birds are returning to the north, and make the dog real happy too.
Slipstream beat me to the Vernal Equinox bit, so this editor will just have to raise her voice and correct your spelling. The past tense of lead (pronounced leed) is led. The pronunciation is the same as lead, the element (Pb), and spellcheck won’t correct you, so I shall.
One more addition to the very brief history lesson. The Chinese were imported in droves not only to work on railroad building, but also in the mines. No wives allowed, of course. The colonial legacy of this nation is a force to be reckoned with in what passes for the Republican party these days. I hope they get over it, before all the conflict rips the country apart (and I know there’s a lot of Democratic complicity; many of them are corporatists as well).
Again…thank you for your excellent editing…
Correction: you should have written “spring equinox” instead of “spring solstice.”
Equinox, or “equal night” happens twice a year, about March 20 and September 20. At equinox the night is about 12 hours and the day is about 12 hours. The apparent position of sunrise and sunset on the horizon is changing each day, and the lengths of day and night are changing rapidly. Spring begins with the March equinox.
Solstice, or “sun standing still” comes twice a year, about June 20 and December 20. At solstices the position of sunrise and sunset on the horizon appears not to change, and we do not lose or gain much daylight.
Right you are, slipstream…right you are…
May I also suggest: “Lies My Teacher Told Me.” by James Loewen. We buy it for all of the Social Studies student teachers who do their practicum at our school.
Honestly, just had the “we are soo depressed because of living in the USA that is now being guided by anti-woman, anti-education, anti-union, anti-healthcare legislation.” We both convinced ourselves that we were becoming old farts, and things weren’t all that depressing. Discussion took place right before logging on to Mudflats. Not sure if I am happier or sadder that AKM is thinking on the same wavelength.
Thanks, I will get a copy of that book also. It is indeed discouraging to realize that critical thinking is no longer a virtue, but outrageous distortion of history by such as Barton is parroted by unthinking Fox pundits and politicians. Very sad.
I am of the feeling that Spring is the time to get out and start marching! We box ourselves up in front of the computer and get angry and blue while others are Occupying and getting their heads smashed in for the effort. It is high time that we let these #astards know exactly how we feel. The women of this country and any men who have the guts to join us must let our voices ring out loud and clear before (not after) the jerks try to pass heinous laws that take away our rights. And while we are at it we can have a little something to say about people coming together instead of allowing the powers that be to tear us apart. Yes, there is an ugly, slimy thing that has come to the surface with the new politics but we can choose to pull the covers over our heads and burrow into the sorrow of it or we can try to meet it head on. AKM, in the last thread you left a date and place, Is that for a women’s march? I am ready to hit the streets screaming that I have had enough! These RWNJ need to have the pants scared off of them when they hear us ROAR.
Well at least I know I am not alone in feeling so ‘blue’ when it comes to our nation lately!! I have been lucky enough to live in a number of places in this country and others. I still feel we are darn lucky and special but I am not so naive to think we are ‘better’!
It would sure be good if we could all look a little more inward on how we view others and policies and use more empathy before we speak or act out.
Thanks for the history lessons. Hopefully I will remember to share it and help others learn too!
Spot on, UgaVic!
Don’t forget the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. Wasn’t THAT a proud moment in American history?!
And, of course, we wouldn’t want to leave out all those wonderful years of segregation.
For a country that proclaims such pride in being a ‘melting pot’, we sure do treat poorly anyone who isn’t a white male of western European heritage (excluding Ireland and Italy, of course!).
Thanks, Leenie…you are right.
Excellent article. What a superficial history our schools have taught for years. I recommend Alan Taylor’s American Colonies, The Settling of North America. It is a compelling read and presents a more realistic history of the diverse threads of early American history.
GREAT RECOMMENDATION. I had access to an 1823 Edition of the History of the United States and (of Course) Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History of the United States’
I was able to buy a used copy of the 1823 book (purported to be in reasonable condition) through Amazon. I am curious about the viewpoint at that time. I will get a copy of Howard Zinn’s work locally. I am newly interested in history and not particularly knowledgable. Thanks for the information.
Great historical summary. We can’t ignore, however, the related threads of women as second class citizens, and the role of conservative Churches- all are real threats to our representative democracy. And then there are the Robber Barons…
The Robber Barons were important part of marginalizing Native Americans to acquire land for their railroads and gold in complicity with Horace Greeley and the Military Establishment “Fatal Environment” Skolnick. Also, they needed to dehumanize the immigrant workforce so they could maximize their profits and break the unions.
Thank you for posting, Jeanne…