I’m not sure if anyone even pays attention to these letters, but I do. It’s interesting to see how people in my community are feeling.
To date, I am bewildered, appalled, amazed and many other adjectives that we, the American public, would embrace and follow the likes of Donald J. Trump. As a young woman, I remember the mere hint of impropriety would be enough to squelch an individual’s political career, e.g. Gary Hart and Donna Rice. If you don’t know who they are, do an internet search for Gary Hart. Just like that, Gary was gone, never to be heard of again. His entire political career on the national stage went up in smoke — poof!
Today is quite different. It appears the more notoriety, the more we glom on to the infamous. It seems we are creatures of extremes, desiring our icons to be more than mortal or the most debased.
For me, it feels like the day of ethical and honest behavior has come to an end not only in our government, but also in our dealings with each other. We are so busy getting ours, we’ve forgotten that we are actually dealing with ourselves. It appears that we labor under a great misperception that we are separate from the government. No, we are the government. We are “we, the people,” with the responsibilities that go along with it.
It truly saddens me that we, the American people, have gotten to this place, fighting amongst ourselves, which is what the owners of our country want us to do. Through fighting and bickering, we will remain separated, forgetting that we are all in this together. If you don’t make it, I won’t make it. My heart breaks when I see where we have gotten to — greedy, suspicious, jealous, paranoid, corrupt, frightened, and fearful. Symptomatic of these characteristics is the recent shooting of a young man when he knocked on the wrong door in an effort to pick up his siblings.
You are probably thinking that I have a solution for what is happening in our country. I don’t. This letter reflects one person’s opinion, one person’s reality of all that we have collectively manifested. If I seek change and you seek change, all I can tell you is that it’s an inside job. The only experience we can control is our own behavior.
— Judie Wolfe
Anchorage
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