#the entire male fighting population of a people dead holding a pass while their women become slaves

[marietheran]

I'm not posting this on my fandom blog for obvious reasons, but if people would just stop clogging the Silm tag with politics right now —!

[melindarowens]

Virgil: On This Memorial Day, Breitbart Readers Remember and Look to the Future

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I. Memorializing the Greatest Generation

Memorial Day is the day in which we remember, with solemn gratitude, all those who gave their lives in military service to our country.  Elsewhere here at Breitbart News, others have recollected the fallen; as Abraham Lincoln said in eulogizing those who died at Gettysburg in 1863, “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”

Interestingly, Memorial Day was once known as Decoration Day.  After all, it was, and is, the virtuous custom to decorate the graves of the war-dead.  And in the name “Decoration Day,” we see something important for the sake of our civic life: the ability of each patriot to offer appropriate honors in his or her own way.  That is, with flowers, cards, notes, or perhaps a bit of memorabilia.

Today, such personalized displays of devotion are particularly common at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall in Washington, DC.  Why?  Most likely, because that war is relatively recent; plenty of people alive now still feel a close connection to Vietnam-era warriors.

Yet the passing of the years has meant that other American wars are rapidly receding from our personal memory.  For instance, we might point to World War II.  During that conflict, from 1941 to 1945, the population of the US was about 133 million.  And yet in 2010, less than 5.5 million Americans were over the age of 85; that is, born in 1925 or earlier.  Which is to say, the number of Americans today who could have had any adult participation in the war is small—and rapidly getting smaller, as old age takes its toll.

Yes, it’s painful to think that all the heroism of that era is no longer with us, at least not in a personal way.   To be sure, there are many museum displays, history books, movies, and TV shows about World War II.  And yet still, there’s nothing like the power of a personal reminiscence, as anyone who has ever sat at the knee of a revered elder knows full well.  It will indeed, be a sad moment when the last voice from that era is stilled.  So the least that each of can do is help to make sure that every one of those vital voices is archived in some form.

Moreover, perhaps on this Memorial Day we can recall more of the voices from World War II, reaching beyond the ranks of the heroes who died in uniform.  That is, for the sake of the enlarging the historical record, we can recollect some of the memories about those who served, too, on the homefront, namely, in war production.  If their personal risk and sacrifices were less than those who fought in battle, their contributions were nonetheless enormous: As Virgil has argued many times, America’s greatest comparative edge in World War II was its industrial production.

For instance, in a March 17 piece, “Donald Trump, Rosie the Riveter, and the Revival of American Economic Nationalism,” Virgil took note of President Trump’s speech, two days earlier, recalling the B-24 plant at Willow Run, Michigan.  That was the plant that built 9,000 bombers that we used to flatten enemy targets.

The B-24 assembly line, 1943, Willow Run Plant. (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

A B-24 flying over a burning oil refinery at Ploesti, Rumania, during Operation Tidal Wave, August 1, 1943. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

And that piece brought forth an outpouring of WW2 memories from Breitbart readers, many of them recording what they had heard, over the years, from fathers, mothers, and other loved ones who lived, worked, and fought in that era.  Virgil sifted through all the comments, more than 1800 of them; these left him inspired, informed, amused, and, okay, sometimes bemused.

For starters, Virgil enjoyed the comments specifically about a key theme of the article, which was war production in World War II; these postings were often from descendants of workers and veterans.  Let’s take a look:

Reader “MadMen” said simply, “It makes me really miss my grandparents who both worked in those factories.”  Meanwhile, reader “NHnative” reported that one family’s inheritance from WW2 includes, to this day, a devotion to sewing:

My grandmother was sewing parachutes . . . She moved on to sewing the uniforms.  She’s still sewing daily at age 91 on her 1953 Singer. . . .  All the girls in my family are accomplished seamstresses and it all started with those parachutes.

Reader “Last Ride” recalled a father who is, shall we say, particularly close to the B-24 Liberators made at Willow Run, Michigan, and other parts of the country:

My dad started his career in the USAF as a B-24 pilot just as they were being retired from service, and ended his career as a B-52 pilot.  He loves the B-24 and moved to Ohio to be near the USAF Wright-Patterson museum to be able to visit one of the last ones around. He told my mom she should feel lucky that the plane could not say “I do” or she would have been replaced, I believe him.

B-24 Liberator bombers of the U.S. 8th Air Force flying towards their targets in occupied Europe on Aug. 12, 1943. (AP Photo)

Meanwhile, the legendary Rosie the Riveter received much attention.  Reader “Feet2Fire” reminded fellow commenters that there’s plenty to learn about Rosie from the website Diaryofarosie.

Women Riveting a B-24, 1944, Willow Run Plant (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

Yet reader “53Skylark” raised a point of personal privilege—or, more precisely, Pittsburgh privilege—when he asserted:

The iconic Rosie the Riveter was based on a woman riveter employed by Westinghouse in Pittsburgh.  In the original iconic picture she is wearing a Westinghouse employee badge.  She did NOT originate at Willow Run.  And, all of the steel for the planes, ships, tanks, bullets, etc. was made in Pittsburgh. The former steel capital of the world.

To which reader “Jonsen” replied:

Rosie became a symbol of more than one woman, though.  She was a symbol for all women working at home to help the cause.

(As Virgil noted, while the actual Rosie the Riveter worked at Willow Run, the larger story of “Rosie” is complicated: The immortal “We Can Do It!” image does, indeed, come from Pittsburgh.  Yet the great artist Norman Rockwell, too, added his own image of Rosie–and his model was from Vermont.)

Norman Rockwell, Rosie the Riveter, Saturday Evening Post

Indeed, Rosie was more than just an individual; she was, and is, an archetype.  Reader “TexanForever” recalled:

My mom was a “Rosie the riveter” at the North American plant in Grand Prairie, Texas.  While I was in grade school in Dallas she was riveting together P-51’s.  Being by nature very modest, she hated wearing slacks, but she did it for the war effort.

Or as reader “Sam Houston” put it:

This hits home to me as my Father and Uncle were WWII Vets. My Step Mom was a Rosie the Riveter on the B-24 Liberator, tail section, at Consolidated Air Force Plant #4 at Carswell Army Airfield in Fort Worth, Texas.  She left the dairy farm in Yantis (East Texas) for the War Effort. . . .  I am so proud of her and our Greatest Generation!

The actual Rosies, of course, are mostly departed by now, which makes commenters wish all the more to savor their memory.  As reader “william couch” recalled, “In the early ’70’s, I worked with 2 Rosies.  It was @ the plant in Rosecrans, CA.”  And reader “Gary Eaker” offered a strong summary lesson:

Great image.  Rosie the Riveter.  Americans joining together to do what needs to be done to PROTECT AMERICA. We must join together.

Of course, Rosie will always live on in spirit.  Indeed, as reader “Vypurr” explained, she holds up well: “Rosie had more Moxie and balls than any liberal crybaby Beta male today.”

Yes, the Rosies had spunk; reader “backhome1999” recalled this anecdote of female feistiness:

My Mom was one of those women.  The story she tells, she was responsible for 1/2 of the airplane to connect everything to the pilot’s area, and she would finish in a few days while her male counterpart doing the same job on the other 1/2 of the airplane took up to 2 weeks finishing his side.  She asked for a raise . . . she finally made as much as a man during that time, which was unheard of.  But she did her job in 1/2 the time (and they knew it).

Other commenters compared and contrasted two very different women named Rosie, often adding observations about how things have changed, for the worse, since the 40s.  One such was reader “Cindy”:

Now instead of Rosie the Riveter, we have the likes of Rosie O’Donnell and Amy Schumer making more for doing worse than nothing than most of us make in a lifetime.  Long before the celebs showed their true colors, America made the yuge mistake of placing people who don’t contribute to our society in a meaningful way on a high pedestal so kids would dream of becoming THAT.

And speaking of popular culture, reader “chicodon” added:

Every young person should see this.  Glenn Miller was the hottest musical act on the scene for young people in 1942.  The entire country was patriotic, including Hollywood.  It’s from before my time but it was America. . . . Can you picture ANY act today doing this?  Rooting for the military?

Glenn Miller (1904 – 1944) in military uniform. (Photo by D. Hess/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Indeed, the lyrics to the Glenn Miller song “chicodon” links to, “People Like You And Me,” are stirring:

Say, get a load o’ those guys, High in the skies, Wingin’ to victory; Up and at ’em in the fight for People like you and me!

Hey, get a load o’ those gobs, Doin’ their jobs, Keepin’ the sea lanes free; Just to make the future bright for People like you and me!

“Gobs,” we might note, was affectionate slang for “seamen.”  At the same time, in that song, the vital work on the homefront was also not forgotten:

We’ll have to roll up our sleeves, Tighten our belts, But through the dark we’ll see The lady with the liberty light for People like you and you and you, And people like me, People like you and me!

Miller, we might recall, joined the US Army during WW2 at the peak of his career—and at age 38.  He died on December 15, 1944, when his airplane crashed into the English Channel; he had been preparing the next leg of his famed orchestra’s morale-boosting tour for the troops.

Of course, Miller’s sacrifice was common; many celebrities joined the armed services, and many more pitched in—and more than a few died.

For his part, reader “Euclid” took note of the visual elements of Virgil’s article, for which the author can claim no credit:

LOOK AT THOSE PHOTOS! Black and white American men and women all working together in harmony. . . .  Look at us now!  The most divided ever among race, gender, class, age, etc!

Men assembling the cockpit of a B-24, 1942, Willow Run Bomber Plant (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

Yes, everyone found a way to pitch in back then; as Trump likes to say, the blood of patriots is all the same color.

Without a doubt, we were mostly inspired by patriotism back then, and yet for some, the production effort was personal.  Here’s how reader “Katherine” recalled the war work of her grandfather; please note the family-values kicker at the end:

My grandfather was a tool and die maker for Ford, and was asked to be a foreman at the Pratt and Whitney plant in Highland Park, Michigan, which built the engines for the B-24. He didn’t want to be a foreman, but he did it because one of his three sons who were in the service was a B-24 bomber pilot, and he wanted to be sure his son had good engines to fly.

B-24 Liberator Bombers in Flight, 1943 (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

So it’s little wonder that even today, many remember the good work that was done.  For instance, reader “Havegunwilltravel” wrote:

My father was a B-24 pilot in WW 2.  He flew from England over Germany and he often told me that it was his airplane that brought him back every time. The B-24 was hard to fly, no pressurization but she was tough not like what we have today, “MADE IN CHINA” crap.  I would like to thank all the people who worked at Willow Run who took pride in their work and built one of the greatest airplanes in the world.

Another commenter, reader “Jake Manchester,” added:

I love stories about America’s exceptionalism.  Imagine building one B-24 every hour.  Now that, my friends, is American exceptionalism.

Yet in those days, as reader “sally forth” recalled, just about everyone was exceptional:

It wasn’t just Rosie, it was everyday citizens with victory gardens, & scrap metal drives.  Those that sold war bonds & those that bought war bonds.  It was rationing of food & gas.  Farmers & entire families produced more food. Every PATRIOTIC American was somehow involved to win the big one & bring the boys home.

And yes, Virgil will say it again, a great commander-in-chief led us to victory.  As reader “backhome1999” remembers:

My Mom worked in a factory building planes for the WWII effort, and the photo of FDR reminds me of her story about FDR driving through the plant one day on her way into work and waved at her.  She helped build B-17’s, Douglas plant, Long Beach, Calif.

Virgil recognizes that not every Breitbart commenter, including reader “Crazycatkid,” is a fan of Franklin D. Roosevelt.  And yet we all might recall that his fellow Americans thought so highly of FDR that they elected him to the White House four times; indeed, each of his presidential victories was a landslide.  Moreover, the fact that his image has been on the US dime for the last 70 years tells us something about his enduring popularity; even two Republicans, Nancy and Ronald Reagan, revered him.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on board an American warship, circa 1935. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images

Yet in addition to the warm glow of nostalgia from those days, there’s also the chill pang of loss. Reader “Texan Forever” wrote:

We were a nation united. . . .During this period my favorite cousin, T.J. Morrow, was a left waist gunner on a B-24.  In 1943 while over Germany he was killed instantly by flak.  The crippled bomber managed to limp to Belgium where the remaining crew bailed out. T.J.’s body went down with the plane and was buried by a Belgian farmer.  His remains were later brought back to America.

Indeed, we never forget those who gave all.  And if personal memories are now flickering out, well, the rest of us will have to step up our game and keep the remembrance going.   As reader “HandsomeRogue” added, “It’s our American history. It’s a legacy our Parents/Grand-Parents lived and we have—largely—failed to share.”

Those who hear the call to remember our history should, of course, visit grave sites and battlefields.  Yet in addition, there are other ways to gain perspective.  As reader “WTP1776” noted, “Every year they fly the WWII planes right over my house . . . I love hearing the dishes shake in the cupboard . . . they look so swell.”

In fact, learning about the winged marvels that brought victory in WW2 can be fun, as well as informative.  As another reader posted:

If you EVER have the opportunity to ride in a WWII warbird and have the money, do it.  It’s an experience of a lifetime.  Not just for the flight experience itself, but for at least getting a hint first hand what those young kids crewing them must have gone through in combat conditions.

II. The Task Ahead

The point of Virgil’s article was not only to take note of President Trump’s celebration of Rosie and the Greatest Generation, but also to observe that the outlines of an American manufacturing revival—which is to say, a revival of American greatness, including military greatness—can now be seen.  And plenty of readers see it, too: Virgil lost track of the number of “MAGAs” scattered through the comments.

Yet some Michiganders had a more immediate reaction.  For instance, one Michigan reader wrote, “I have seen President Trump mention us in Michigan more (in a good way) in the past 3 months, than my entire life (since 1960).”

Yet at the same time, there are lessons for all Americans to learn.  For example, one reader connected the success of the national effort during WW2 to earlier American team efforts:

This is truly the American way.  It has always been our way.  It is only a short distance in time and space from the barn-raising in farm country to the factory at Willow Run.  From that barn-raising to Willow Run to today we are Americans who work and succeed together.

As reader “Vypurr” observed, “Nationalism is what kept America alive in WWII.”  And  reader “Tiger Kitten” turned that point into a larger sentiment:

Nationalism is a good thing, it keeps cultures intact, countries strong, and morale high, whereas globalism does nothing but destroy cultures.  Without borders you not only have no country, you have no culture, either.

Meanwhile, reader “FLGibsonJr” added valuable historical perspective, linking Trump’s ideas on trade today with the American tradition—as described by Virgil—of Alexander Hamilton and Henry Clay:

America was famous around the world for its Protectionism.  In fact it was Protectionist Tariffs that paid for essentially our entire government including all of our military.  Furthermore, it was Bismarck who looked at the American System of high tariffs and the British System . . . of free trade and chose the American System of high tariffs and then went about building one of the great economic powers in the world.

“FLGibsonJr” continued by urging a fellow commenter not to be seduced by “globalist corporate propaganda.” The free-trade policies stemming from such propaganda, he added, might enrich companies, but they will be “devastating for countries like the United States.”

Meanwhile, reader “American Worker’s Warrior” put the matter in even starker terms:

We couldn’t win a war like WW2 today, not after the uniparty’s NAFTA decimated our industrial base, and now we have to rely on China and Asia to make the microchips for all our smart missiles and tech.

Others added similarly-minded policy prescriptions, connecting past to present. One such was reader “newsies2”:

The Willow Run Bomber Plant was as example of what our great Country was capable of doing, when the need arose.  This plant went up in the space of less than a year, and was capable of producing an airplane that helped win the war.  One has to admit that it was a great success.  In my thinking, the article, as it mentioned, is about SELF-SUFFICIENCY!  . . .  Trump is talking about our People working together to be strong and self sufficient once more.

Today, some are already doing their part.  For instance, reader “JRG” has a personalized trade policy:

During WW2 my mom worked in a factory making piston rings while my dad was in the Pacific doing what Marines do.  I go out of my way to purchase products that are made in the USA even though I know it will cost me more.

Still, many commenters made the point that automation will change the factory of the future and factory employment in the future.  And this is undoubtedly true.  Indeed, some, such as reader “greg,” went out of their way to make the point, sharply, at Virgil’s expense:

This article is ridiculous.   It would have you believe that there is some chance that there will be manufacturing jobs coming back to the US.

To which reader “Jonsen” riposted, “It’s about the can do spirit.”  “Jonsen” added, quoting Virgil, “before WWII ‘we had the resources in place.’”  And those at-the-ready resources, as Virgil noted, included a quality workforce.

As reader “Kris Johnson” wrote of those we’re-all-in-this-together days:

Tears fill my eyes at the thought of the America of my grandfather. . . .To imagine a time when management was proud to provide good people with good jobs.  Good American companies built excellent American products that worked and lasted beyond expectation.

Indeed, as reader “AngelHorseMomMD223” pointed out, even today, labor is still important:

If automation was THE issue in regards to employment, they’d be importing machines, not highly skilled H1B visa workers or unskilled laborers.

Indeed, the issue of trade came up often in the comments.  For instance, reader “MechMan” wrote, “We must be careful not to become anti-free trade.  Free trade is a good thing.” To which reader “Mbekos” responded, “There is no free trade, none. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Germany, all of them had non-tariff ways to win the trade war with US.” And reader “GSR” added, “Free trade can benefit a company, but too much of it can destroy a nation.”

Meanwhile, reader “GahD of Socialism,” the name notwithstanding, made a powerful point about capitalism: “When a country has a manufacturing-based economy, it thrives.”

Yet at the same time, reader “Franco” added a point that was widely understood in the 40s, and less widely understood today: “Can’t have a manufacturing sector without strong consumption and demand.” That is, people need the money in their pockets to buy the things that are being made; too much concentration of wealth at the top means too little demand for products—and so the economy stalls.

Thus reader “Tyler’s” point on the distribution of wealth, then vs. now, deserves to be taken seriously: “During those years CEO and leadership pay was 80 times the median worker. Now it’s 900 times the median worker.”

In addition, reader “Gregory Brittain” added another good point about the value of widespread prosperity:

In addition to the economic effects, the social effects of good jobs are at least as important.  Good jobs leads to more marriage, two-parent families, more children, more stable communities, less crime and more social harmony as a bigger piece of pie is available to all who work for it.

Another reader took note of a line from Virgil’s article, describing corporate culture back then: “A well-paid employee was loyal to a company, and the company, in turn, was loyal to the employee.”  Then the reader added a crucial observation about all-too-common corporate practices today:

THIS is what has fallen by the wayside with the infection of the globalist mindset.  Billionaires see themselves as countries unto themselves, and have no loyalties to anyone or anything else.

For his part, reader “Lew Ross” was even more blunt:

I wish there was some way to prosecute politicians who purposely hurt American wages [by] assisting globalists in cheap labor and higher profits abroad and south of the border.  For almost two decades average household earnings have been stagnant for the working-to-lower-middle-class, and nobody has paid any price for betraying the nation.

Not surprisingly, President Trump figured in many of the comments.  Reader “Stella S” posted, “I listened to that speech.  It was heartfelt from an American President to American workers.”  Or as reader “NYPATRIOT” declared, “Make America Great Again, and the manufacturing powerhouse of the world!” And reader “Buckeye Ken” wrote:

President Trump bringing the globalists to heel is a good thing.  Lord knows that he is not opposed to anyone making money, but the overall good of the nation must be considered first.

To be sure, Trump had critics, too, among the commenters.  One such was reader “Stever Collette,” who jibed: “ALL of Dishonest Donald’s products are made overseas.  His hotels and clubs continue to use foreign workers on temp visas.”

Okay, in American everyone can have his or her own opinion, and more than a few of those opinions seem to end up in the Breitbart comments section.

And reader “ConfidentSpaceman” put all these diverse options into a useful context, saying of this site,“It has become the modern equivalent of the public square.”

And so maybe that’s a good place to stop.  WW2 was fought, in part, for freedom, and so those who fought—on the battlefront and on the homefront—would be gratified to know that freedom is still a cherished value.

Finally, Virgil is grateful to the following readers for their nice comments: “aha!,” “Alexa,” “AngelHorseMomMD223,” “Brick Wilson,” “DesertSun59,” “DJTWILLWIN,” “HandsomeRogue,” “Jake Manchester,” “larry king,” “Lizzy,” “MadMen,” “Marianne,” “NHnative,” “NK210,” “Sam Houston,” “Texan Forever,” and “Tiger184.”

And thanks to all the other commenters, too, even those who were not so nice; Virgil learns from all of them.

And more to the point, thanks to those who shared their personal histories, the overall canon of American history has thus been enriched.

Listen to Breitbart’s Rebecca Mansour discuss this article on Breitbart News Daily on SiriusXM:

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[everettwilkinson]

Virgil: On This Memorial Day, Breitbart Readers Remember and Look to the Future

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I. Memorializing the Greatest Generation

Memorial Day is the day in which we remember, with solemn gratitude, all those who gave their lives in military service to our country.  Elsewhere here at Breitbart News, others have recollected the fallen; as Abraham Lincoln said in eulogizing those who died at Gettysburg in 1863, “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”

Interestingly, Memorial Day was once known as Decoration Day.  After all, it was, and is, the virtuous custom to decorate the graves of the war-dead.  And in the name “Decoration Day,” we see something important for the sake of our civic life: the ability of each patriot to offer appropriate honors in his or her own way.  That is, with flowers, cards, notes, or perhaps a bit of memorabilia.

Today, such personalized displays of devotion are particularly common at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall in Washington, DC.  Why?  Most likely, because that war is relatively recent; plenty of people alive now still feel a close connection to Vietnam-era warriors.

Yet the passing of the years has meant that other American wars are rapidly receding from our personal memory.  For instance, we might point to World War II.  During that conflict, from 1941 to 1945, the population of the US was about 133 million.  And yet in 2010, less than 5.5 million Americans were over the age of 85; that is, born in 1925 or earlier.  Which is to say, the number of Americans today who could have had any adult participation in the war is small—and rapidly getting smaller, as old age takes its toll.

Yes, it’s painful to think that all the heroism of that era is no longer with us, at least not in a personal way.   To be sure, there are many museum displays, history books, movies, and TV shows about World War II.  And yet still, there’s nothing like the power of a personal reminiscence, as anyone who has ever sat at the knee of a revered elder knows full well.  It will indeed, be a sad moment when the last voice from that era is stilled.  So the least that each of can do is help to make sure that every one of those vital voices is archived in some form.

Moreover, perhaps on this Memorial Day we can recall more of the voices from World War II, reaching beyond the ranks of the heroes who died in uniform.  That is, for the sake of the enlarging the historical record, we can recollect some of the memories about those who served, too, on the homefront, namely, in war production.  If their personal risk and sacrifices were less than those who fought in battle, their contributions were nonetheless enormous: As Virgil has argued many times, America’s greatest comparative edge in World War II was its industrial production.

For instance, in a March 17 piece, “Donald Trump, Rosie the Riveter, and the Revival of American Economic Nationalism,” Virgil took note of President Trump’s speech, two days earlier, recalling the B-24 plant at Willow Run, Michigan.  That was the plant that built 9,000 bombers that we used to flatten enemy targets.

The B-24 assembly line, 1943, Willow Run Plant. (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

A B-24 flying over a burning oil refinery at Ploesti, Rumania, during Operation Tidal Wave, August 1, 1943. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

And that piece brought forth an outpouring of WW2 memories from Breitbart readers, many of them recording what they had heard, over the years, from fathers, mothers, and other loved ones who lived, worked, and fought in that era.  Virgil sifted through all the comments, more than 1800 of them; these left him inspired, informed, amused, and, okay, sometimes bemused.

For starters, Virgil enjoyed the comments specifically about a key theme of the article, which was war production in World War II; these postings were often from descendants of workers and veterans.  Let’s take a look:

Reader “MadMen” said simply, “It makes me really miss my grandparents who both worked in those factories.”  Meanwhile, reader “NHnative” reported that one family’s inheritance from WW2 includes, to this day, a devotion to sewing:

My grandmother was sewing parachutes . . . She moved on to sewing the uniforms.  She’s still sewing daily at age 91 on her 1953 Singer. . . .  All the girls in my family are accomplished seamstresses and it all started with those parachutes.

Reader “Last Ride” recalled a father who is, shall we say, particularly close to the B-24 Liberators made at Willow Run, Michigan, and other parts of the country:

My dad started his career in the USAF as a B-24 pilot just as they were being retired from service, and ended his career as a B-52 pilot.  He loves the B-24 and moved to Ohio to be near the USAF Wright-Patterson museum to be able to visit one of the last ones around. He told my mom she should feel lucky that the plane could not say “I do” or she would have been replaced, I believe him.

B-24 Liberator bombers of the U.S. 8th Air Force flying towards their targets in occupied Europe on Aug. 12, 1943. (AP Photo)

Meanwhile, the legendary Rosie the Riveter received much attention.  Reader “Feet2Fire” reminded fellow commenters that there’s plenty to learn about Rosie from the website Diaryofarosie.

Women Riveting a B-24, 1944, Willow Run Plant (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

Yet reader “53Skylark” raised a point of personal privilege—or, more precisely, Pittsburgh privilege—when he asserted:

The iconic Rosie the Riveter was based on a woman riveter employed by Westinghouse in Pittsburgh.  In the original iconic picture she is wearing a Westinghouse employee badge.  She did NOT originate at Willow Run.  And, all of the steel for the planes, ships, tanks, bullets, etc. was made in Pittsburgh. The former steel capital of the world.

To which reader “Jonsen” replied:

Rosie became a symbol of more than one woman, though.  She was a symbol for all women working at home to help the cause.

(As Virgil noted, while the actual Rosie the Riveter worked at Willow Run, the larger story of “Rosie” is complicated: The immortal “We Can Do It!” image does, indeed, come from Pittsburgh.  Yet the great artist Norman Rockwell, too, added his own image of Rosie–and his model was from Vermont.)

Norman Rockwell, Rosie the Riveter, Saturday Evening Post

Indeed, Rosie was more than just an individual; she was, and is, an archetype.  Reader “TexanForever” recalled:

My mom was a “Rosie the riveter” at the North American plant in Grand Prairie, Texas.  While I was in grade school in Dallas she was riveting together P-51’s.  Being by nature very modest, she hated wearing slacks, but she did it for the war effort.

Or as reader “Sam Houston” put it:

This hits home to me as my Father and Uncle were WWII Vets. My Step Mom was a Rosie the Riveter on the B-24 Liberator, tail section, at Consolidated Air Force Plant #4 at Carswell Army Airfield in Fort Worth, Texas.  She left the dairy farm in Yantis (East Texas) for the War Effort. . . .  I am so proud of her and our Greatest Generation!

The actual Rosies, of course, are mostly departed by now, which makes commenters wish all the more to savor their memory.  As reader “william couch” recalled, “In the early ’70’s, I worked with 2 Rosies.  It was @ the plant in Rosecrans, CA.”  And reader “Gary Eaker” offered a strong summary lesson:

Great image.  Rosie the Riveter.  Americans joining together to do what needs to be done to PROTECT AMERICA. We must join together.

Of course, Rosie will always live on in spirit.  Indeed, as reader “Vypurr” explained, she holds up well: “Rosie had more Moxie and balls than any liberal crybaby Beta male today.”

Yes, the Rosies had spunk; reader “backhome1999” recalled this anecdote of female feistiness:

My Mom was one of those women.  The story she tells, she was responsible for 1/2 of the airplane to connect everything to the pilot’s area, and she would finish in a few days while her male counterpart doing the same job on the other 1/2 of the airplane took up to 2 weeks finishing his side.  She asked for a raise . . . she finally made as much as a man during that time, which was unheard of.  But she did her job in 1/2 the time (and they knew it).

Other commenters compared and contrasted two very different women named Rosie, often adding observations about how things have changed, for the worse, since the 40s.  One such was reader “Cindy”:

Now instead of Rosie the Riveter, we have the likes of Rosie O’Donnell and Amy Schumer making more for doing worse than nothing than most of us make in a lifetime.  Long before the celebs showed their true colors, America made the yuge mistake of placing people who don’t contribute to our society in a meaningful way on a high pedestal so kids would dream of becoming THAT.

And speaking of popular culture, reader “chicodon” added:

Every young person should see this.  Glenn Miller was the hottest musical act on the scene for young people in 1942.  The entire country was patriotic, including Hollywood.  It’s from before my time but it was America. . . . Can you picture ANY act today doing this?  Rooting for the military?

Glenn Miller (1904 – 1944) in military uniform. (Photo by D. Hess/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Indeed, the lyrics to the Glenn Miller song “chicodon” links to, “People Like You And Me,” are stirring:

Say, get a load o’ those guys, High in the skies, Wingin’ to victory; Up and at ’em in the fight for People like you and me!

Hey, get a load o’ those gobs, Doin’ their jobs, Keepin’ the sea lanes free; Just to make the future bright for People like you and me!

“Gobs,” we might note, was affectionate slang for “seamen.”  At the same time, in that song, the vital work on the homefront was also not forgotten:

We’ll have to roll up our sleeves, Tighten our belts, But through the dark we’ll see The lady with the liberty light for People like you and you and you, And people like me, People like you and me!

Miller, we might recall, joined the US Army during WW2 at the peak of his career—and at age 38.  He died on December 15, 1944, when his airplane crashed into the English Channel; he had been preparing the next leg of his famed orchestra’s morale-boosting tour for the troops.

Of course, Miller’s sacrifice was common; many celebrities joined the armed services, and many more pitched in—and more than a few died.

For his part, reader “Euclid” took note of the visual elements of Virgil’s article, for which the author can claim no credit:

LOOK AT THOSE PHOTOS! Black and white American men and women all working together in harmony. . . .  Look at us now!  The most divided ever among race, gender, class, age, etc!

Men assembling the cockpit of a B-24, 1942, Willow Run Bomber Plant (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

Yes, everyone found a way to pitch in back then; as Trump likes to say, the blood of patriots is all the same color.

Without a doubt, we were mostly inspired by patriotism back then, and yet for some, the production effort was personal.  Here’s how reader “Katherine” recalled the war work of her grandfather; please note the family-values kicker at the end:

My grandfather was a tool and die maker for Ford, and was asked to be a foreman at the Pratt and Whitney plant in Highland Park, Michigan, which built the engines for the B-24. He didn’t want to be a foreman, but he did it because one of his three sons who were in the service was a B-24 bomber pilot, and he wanted to be sure his son had good engines to fly.

B-24 Liberator Bombers in Flight, 1943 (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

So it’s little wonder that even today, many remember the good work that was done.  For instance, reader “Havegunwilltravel” wrote:

My father was a B-24 pilot in WW 2.  He flew from England over Germany and he often told me that it was his airplane that brought him back every time. The B-24 was hard to fly, no pressurization but she was tough not like what we have today, “MADE IN CHINA” crap.  I would like to thank all the people who worked at Willow Run who took pride in their work and built one of the greatest airplanes in the world.

Another commenter, reader “Jake Manchester,” added:

I love stories about America’s exceptionalism.  Imagine building one B-24 every hour.  Now that, my friends, is American exceptionalism.

Yet in those days, as reader “sally forth” recalled, just about everyone was exceptional:

It wasn’t just Rosie, it was everyday citizens with victory gardens, & scrap metal drives.  Those that sold war bonds & those that bought war bonds.  It was rationing of food & gas.  Farmers & entire families produced more food. Every PATRIOTIC American was somehow involved to win the big one & bring the boys home.

And yes, Virgil will say it again, a great commander-in-chief led us to victory.  As reader “backhome1999” remembers:

My Mom worked in a factory building planes for the WWII effort, and the photo of FDR reminds me of her story about FDR driving through the plant one day on her way into work and waved at her.  She helped build B-17’s, Douglas plant, Long Beach, Calif.

Virgil recognizes that not every Breitbart commenter, including reader “Crazycatkid,” is a fan of Franklin D. Roosevelt.  And yet we all might recall that his fellow Americans thought so highly of FDR that they elected him to the White House four times; indeed, each of his presidential victories was a landslide.  Moreover, the fact that his image has been on the US dime for the last 70 years tells us something about his enduring popularity; even two Republicans, Nancy and Ronald Reagan, revered him.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on board an American warship, circa 1935. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images

Yet in addition to the warm glow of nostalgia from those days, there’s also the chill pang of loss. Reader “Texan Forever” wrote:

We were a nation united. . . .During this period my favorite cousin, T.J. Morrow, was a left waist gunner on a B-24.  In 1943 while over Germany he was killed instantly by flak.  The crippled bomber managed to limp to Belgium where the remaining crew bailed out. T.J.’s body went down with the plane and was buried by a Belgian farmer.  His remains were later brought back to America.

Indeed, we never forget those who gave all.  And if personal memories are now flickering out, well, the rest of us will have to step up our game and keep the remembrance going.   As reader “HandsomeRogue” added, “It’s our American history. It’s a legacy our Parents/Grand-Parents lived and we have—largely—failed to share.”

Those who hear the call to remember our history should, of course, visit grave sites and battlefields.  Yet in addition, there are other ways to gain perspective.  As reader “WTP1776” noted, “Every year they fly the WWII planes right over my house . . . I love hearing the dishes shake in the cupboard . . . they look so swell.”

In fact, learning about the winged marvels that brought victory in WW2 can be fun, as well as informative.  As another reader posted:

If you EVER have the opportunity to ride in a WWII warbird and have the money, do it.  It’s an experience of a lifetime.  Not just for the flight experience itself, but for at least getting a hint first hand what those young kids crewing them must have gone through in combat conditions.

II. The Task Ahead

The point of Virgil’s article was not only to take note of President Trump’s celebration of Rosie and the Greatest Generation, but also to observe that the outlines of an American manufacturing revival—which is to say, a revival of American greatness, including military greatness—can now be seen.  And plenty of readers see it, too: Virgil lost track of the number of “MAGAs” scattered through the comments.

Yet some Michiganders had a more immediate reaction.  For instance, one Michigan reader wrote, “I have seen President Trump mention us in Michigan more (in a good way) in the past 3 months, than my entire life (since 1960).”

Yet at the same time, there are lessons for all Americans to learn.  For example, one reader connected the success of the national effort during WW2 to earlier American team efforts:

This is truly the American way.  It has always been our way.  It is only a short distance in time and space from the barn-raising in farm country to the factory at Willow Run.  From that barn-raising to Willow Run to today we are Americans who work and succeed together.

As reader “Vypurr” observed, “Nationalism is what kept America alive in WWII.”  And  reader “Tiger Kitten” turned that point into a larger sentiment:

Nationalism is a good thing, it keeps cultures intact, countries strong, and morale high, whereas globalism does nothing but destroy cultures.  Without borders you not only have no country, you have no culture, either.

Meanwhile, reader “FLGibsonJr” added valuable historical perspective, linking Trump’s ideas on trade today with the American tradition—as described by Virgil—of Alexander Hamilton and Henry Clay:

America was famous around the world for its Protectionism.  In fact it was Protectionist Tariffs that paid for essentially our entire government including all of our military.  Furthermore, it was Bismarck who looked at the American System of high tariffs and the British System . . . of free trade and chose the American System of high tariffs and then went about building one of the great economic powers in the world.

“FLGibsonJr” continued by urging a fellow commenter not to be seduced by “globalist corporate propaganda.” The free-trade policies stemming from such propaganda, he added, might enrich companies, but they will be “devastating for countries like the United States.”

Meanwhile, reader “American Worker’s Warrior” put the matter in even starker terms:

We couldn’t win a war like WW2 today, not after the uniparty’s NAFTA decimated our industrial base, and now we have to rely on China and Asia to make the microchips for all our smart missiles and tech.

Others added similarly-minded policy prescriptions, connecting past to present. One such was reader “newsies2”:

The Willow Run Bomber Plant was as example of what our great Country was capable of doing, when the need arose.  This plant went up in the space of less than a year, and was capable of producing an airplane that helped win the war.  One has to admit that it was a great success.  In my thinking, the article, as it mentioned, is about SELF-SUFFICIENCY!  . . .  Trump is talking about our People working together to be strong and self sufficient once more.

Today, some are already doing their part.  For instance, reader “JRG” has a personalized trade policy:

During WW2 my mom worked in a factory making piston rings while my dad was in the Pacific doing what Marines do.  I go out of my way to purchase products that are made in the USA even though I know it will cost me more.

Still, many commenters made the point that automation will change the factory of the future and factory employment in the future.  And this is undoubtedly true.  Indeed, some, such as reader “greg,” went out of their way to make the point, sharply, at Virgil’s expense:

This article is ridiculous.   It would have you believe that there is some chance that there will be manufacturing jobs coming back to the US.

To which reader “Jonsen” riposted, “It’s about the can do spirit.”  “Jonsen” added, quoting Virgil, “before WWII ‘we had the resources in place.’”  And those at-the-ready resources, as Virgil noted, included a quality workforce.

As reader “Kris Johnson” wrote of those we’re-all-in-this-together days:

Tears fill my eyes at the thought of the America of my grandfather. . . .To imagine a time when management was proud to provide good people with good jobs.  Good American companies built excellent American products that worked and lasted beyond expectation.

Indeed, as reader “AngelHorseMomMD223” pointed out, even today, labor is still important:

If automation was THE issue in regards to employment, they’d be importing machines, not highly skilled H1B visa workers or unskilled laborers.

Indeed, the issue of trade came up often in the comments.  For instance, reader “MechMan” wrote, “We must be careful not to become anti-free trade.  Free trade is a good thing.” To which reader “Mbekos” responded, “There is no free trade, none. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Germany, all of them had non-tariff ways to win the trade war with US.” And reader “GSR” added, “Free trade can benefit a company, but too much of it can destroy a nation.”

Meanwhile, reader “GahD of Socialism,” the name notwithstanding, made a powerful point about capitalism: “When a country has a manufacturing-based economy, it thrives.”

Yet at the same time, reader “Franco” added a point that was widely understood in the 40s, and less widely understood today: “Can’t have a manufacturing sector without strong consumption and demand.” That is, people need the money in their pockets to buy the things that are being made; too much concentration of wealth at the top means too little demand for products—and so the economy stalls.

Thus reader “Tyler’s” point on the distribution of wealth, then vs. now, deserves to be taken seriously: “During those years CEO and leadership pay was 80 times the median worker. Now it’s 900 times the median worker.”

In addition, reader “Gregory Brittain” added another good point about the value of widespread prosperity:

In addition to the economic effects, the social effects of good jobs are at least as important.  Good jobs leads to more marriage, two-parent families, more children, more stable communities, less crime and more social harmony as a bigger piece of pie is available to all who work for it.

Another reader took note of a line from Virgil’s article, describing corporate culture back then: “A well-paid employee was loyal to a company, and the company, in turn, was loyal to the employee.”  Then the reader added a crucial observation about all-too-common corporate practices today:

THIS is what has fallen by the wayside with the infection of the globalist mindset.  Billionaires see themselves as countries unto themselves, and have no loyalties to anyone or anything else.

For his part, reader “Lew Ross” was even more blunt:

I wish there was some way to prosecute politicians who purposely hurt American wages [by] assisting globalists in cheap labor and higher profits abroad and south of the border.  For almost two decades average household earnings have been stagnant for the working-to-lower-middle-class, and nobody has paid any price for betraying the nation.

Not surprisingly, President Trump figured in many of the comments.  Reader “Stella S” posted, “I listened to that speech.  It was heartfelt from an American President to American workers.”  Or as reader “NYPATRIOT” declared, “Make America Great Again, and the manufacturing powerhouse of the world!” And reader “Buckeye Ken” wrote:

President Trump bringing the globalists to heel is a good thing.  Lord knows that he is not opposed to anyone making money, but the overall good of the nation must be considered first.

To be sure, Trump had critics, too, among the commenters.  One such was reader “Stever Collette,” who jibed: “ALL of Dishonest Donald’s products are made overseas.  His hotels and clubs continue to use foreign workers on temp visas.”

Okay, in American everyone can have his or her own opinion, and more than a few of those opinions seem to end up in the Breitbart comments section.

And reader “ConfidentSpaceman” put all these diverse options into a useful context, saying of this site,“It has become the modern equivalent of the public square.”

And so maybe that’s a good place to stop.  WW2 was fought, in part, for freedom, and so those who fought—on the battlefront and on the homefront—would be gratified to know that freedom is still a cherished value.

Finally, Virgil is grateful to the following readers for their nice comments: “aha!,” “Alexa,” “AngelHorseMomMD223,” “Brick Wilson,” “DesertSun59,” “DJTWILLWIN,” “HandsomeRogue,” “Jake Manchester,” “larry king,” “Lizzy,” “MadMen,” “Marianne,” “NHnative,” “NK210,” “Sam Houston,” “Texan Forever,” and “Tiger184.”

And thanks to all the other commenters, too, even those who were not so nice; Virgil learns from all of them.

And more to the point, thanks to those who shared their personal histories, the overall canon of American history has thus been enriched.

Listen to Breitbart’s Rebecca Mansour discuss this article on Breitbart News Daily on SiriusXM:

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from CapitalistHQ.com http://capitalisthq.com/virgil-on-this-memorial-day-breitbart-readers-remember-and-look-to-the-future/

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PSYCHOLOGICAL & SPIRITUAL THERAPY: Post-election imperative to become vessels of peace and communication

In our new weekly Psychological & Spiritual Therapy column, therapist Jack Surguy is offering professional advice to The Mindful Word readers for all those questions and problems you have wanted to discuss with someone qualified and caring. If you would like Jack to assist you in any areas of your life and relationships, fill out this form. He will respond to your questions through this column, normally published every Tuesday.   On November 30, I received the following question, and I thought I'd like to add to this and provide more information, since we just witnessed further acts of violence and mass arrests in the United States. The question was from Delphine in NZ and the response titled, “Fearlessness will aid you when dialoguing with others being driven by fear”:  

QUESTION

How do I navigate in the craziness that's going on around the world since the U.S. election? I watch the social media and have friends on both “sides,” I have friends who are being hurt—or perceive the smallest possibility of being hurt—and no matter what I say (I refuse to take sides) I'm attacked. I watch how they treat their friends, and if anyone tries to show the slightest bit of understanding for the opposite view, there's a mini-war declared. It's ridiculous. If I remain neutral, I'm told I'm clueless and attacked for that. If I try to show understanding to both sides, I'm called a traitor to one or the other. I tell them to be calm and try to put themselves in each other’s shoes; I'm told I don’t know what I'm talking about. There's so much fear going on right now, I can see absolutely no solution. I find myself withdrawing more and more. I'm struggling to come to terms with the energy that the constant fear and loathing—yes, loathing—and intolerance is causing around the world. It feels to me as if it's in the air I breathe. I suppose it is. I do meditate, I'm a naturally positive person. Nothing usually gets me down, but what's going on in the world now is making me withdraw more and more from contact with others. It feels as if anything that even looks like happiness or joy isn't acceptable anymore. And I wonder if it ever will be? What do I do?  

ADDITIONAL RESPONSE

It appears that race relations have unfortunately declined within the U.S. over the last few years. This is very disheartening, especially in light of the fact the U.S. had twice elected Barack Obama as President of the United States. I can still recall the speech that former President Obama delivered during the 2008 election. His words on race and racism inspired me and gave me great hope that perhaps, under this person's leadership, the racial divide could finally be truly addressed. The following are excerpts from that speech: "This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this presidential campaign—to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for president at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together, unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction—toward a better future for our children and our grandchildren." "But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America—to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality." "Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist between the African-American community and the larger American community today can be traced directly to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow." "Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race and racism continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or the beauty shop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician's own failings." "That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity within the African-American community in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful. And to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races." SIMILAR ANGER WITHIN THE WHITE COMMUNITY A similar anger as mentioned above exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they've been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience—as far as they're concerned, no one handed them anything. They built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pensions dumped after a lifetime of labour. They're anxious about their futures, and they feel their dreams slipping away. In an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity has come to be seen as a zero-sum game, in which "your" dreams come at "my" expense. So when these people are told to bus their children to a school across town, when they hear an African-American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed, or when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighbourhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time. Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they've helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers on unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or even reverse racism. WE'RE FURTHER AWAY FROM THE IDEAL THAN IN 2008 During this past election year, accusations of racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and Islamophobia were hurled as political hand grenades on an almost daily basis. References to Hitler and Nazis became more and more frequent. This past election wasn't an election focused on policies; it was one focused on identity politics and group divisions. If people supported one candidate over another they were accused of not being American, of being ignorant or uneducated, or worse, of being morally defective. What many found very insulting was that even after electing Barack Obama for two consecutive terms, the nation was called racist and it was alleged that white supremacists and sexist individuals had come out to vote because of their hatred. Those statements just don't reflect reality and only cause further division and animosity within our communities. MTV even put out a video telling "white guys" what they needed to do better in the coming year. "White guys" were also told that just because they have minority friends, that doesn't mean they're not racist. This ad basically declared that white males, who make up roughly 36 percent of the nation's population, or around 223 million individuals, are racists and need to "do better." Again, this type of politics and rhetoric isn't going to bring any healing or reconciliation. In fact, according to a controversial psychologist and professor at the University of Toronto, Jordan Peterson, things are probably going to get worse before they get better. I truly hope this isn't the case. However, you could make the case that our government and media are pushing the nation towards a civil war of races. Paul Schrader, an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic who wrote or co-wrote the films Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Bringing Out the Dead said the following words: I have spent the last five days meditating on Trump's election. Upon consideration, I believe this is a call to violence. I felt the call to violence in the '60s and I feel it now again. This attack on liberty and tolerance will not be solved by appeasement. Obama tried that for eight years. We should finance those who support violence resistance. We should be willing to take arms. Like Old John Brown, I am willing to battle with my children. Alt-right nut jobs swagger violence. It's time to actualize that violence. Like my Civil War Michigan predecessors, I choose to stand with the black, the brown and the oppressed. A protester stated on CNN, "If we don't fight, who is going to fight for us? People had to die for your freedom where we're at today. We can't just do rallies, we have to fight back." Said Lily, the same Latina woman from Los Angeles, "There will be casualties on both sides. There will be, because people have to die to make a change in this world." Jesse Benn, a journalist for the Huffington Post, wrote an article in June of 2016 entitled, "Sorry Liberals, a Violent Response to Trump Is as Logical as Any." In this article the author stated, Violent resistance matters. Riots can lead to major change.... And when those who hold that privilege dismiss the potential validity or logic of violent resistance, it's effectively an effort to dictate the rules under which oppressed peoples respond to existential threats, and to silence forms of resistance disagreeable to privileged sensibilities. Even more disturbing was the undercover video of Scott Foval, the National Field Director of Americans United for Change, when he described the practice known as "bird-dogging." This is, essentially, when one party sends people into the opponent's rally with the intention of inciting violence to discredit the opposition. Except for one instance above, these quotes come from people considered among the social elite, or in positions of power and prestige. The goal here, however, isn't to say that one group is innocent and the other is the offender. The goal here is to point out that people who are known, are respected, and have a voice in the media are calling for violence against fellow Americans—this should cause us all great concern. A HEALTHY AMOUNT OF SKEPTICISM But what are we ordinary citizens supposed to do? More specifically, what are we, as practitioners of mindfulness, to do to help correct the course this nation is heading onto? Mindfulness is about being in touch with the present moment, here and now, and isn't about escaping reality. Mindfulness isn't about sitting on a pillow and experiencing bliss and feelings of peace. Mindfulness is about seeing and experiencing reality as it is, and doing our best to limit the obscuration within us that distorts and twists reality. While I support standing against tyranny and oppression, all I can see at this time is that all this rhetoric is turning Americans, including those who I know are good people, into enemies. We're not clearly seeing each other. Instead, I believe that often, we're projecting our own fear and hatred onto the "others." This isn't to say that awful, despicable things don't occur, but I don't believe these events represent the majority of Americans. The Founding Fathers of America were rather intelligent men. One piece of wisdom I take from them is to have a healthy amount of skepticism when it comes to believing everything reported to me by the government and by the media as well. Thomas Jefferson stated in a letter to Joseph C. Cabell, The way to have good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many.... What has destroyed liberty and the rights of man in every government which has ever existed under the sun? The generalizing and concentrating all cares and power into one body, no matter whether of the autocrats of Russia or France, or of the aristocrats of a Venetian senate. VESSELS OF PEACE AND COMMUNICATION In other words, it doesn't matter who's in charge, the Republicans or the Democrats; a person should always question what's being reported as truth. If I maintain some skepticism in the back of my mind, then I'm unable to fully convince myself that those on the other side are enemies worthy of violence. Through mindfulness, we can become vessels of peace and communication. Understand that this mindfulness practice may not entail you specifically dealing with issues of intolerance or anger within yourself, but will perhaps influence how you'll respond if others project their own anger and intolerance onto you. We're standing at a crossroads today in America. We need those who are well-grounded in the present moment, who are able to see reality quite clearly, and who can refrain from projecting their feelings onto others to lead us into the future—mindfully into the future. Read more about American politics in U.S. ELECTION: Bringing awareness into our political winter of disconnect» Jack Surguy has an MA in both Theological Studies and Counseling Psychology, and is currently completing his doctorate in Clinical Psychology. He has spent years studying and practicing mindfulness meditation and finding ways to effectively implement the teachings and practices into his therapeutic intervention philosophy. His main area of practice focuses on the effects of trauma and childhood maltreatment on overall psychological/emotional and spiritual functioning. He currently works in a facility that specializes in treating traumatized adolescents and families. image via Pixabay Click to Post