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My teeth hurt, but what else is new?
I watched Death Race 2050 last night. It was entertaining, but what was once ridiculous satire of the excess of American corporatization and mindless consumerism is now just a dismal reflection of reality. I did enjoy Frankenstein mowing down the parents and school principal instead of the disabled children they'd offered up to his speeding wheels in an effort to "boost test scores." It did my gimpy heart good, and I couldn't help but think that at least a few of those crippled children probably would've tested circles around their witless yet "more valuable" able counterparts. God knows I did in my school days.
I'm reading No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War 2. It's excellent, but it's crushing to read of the constant political exigencies and moral sacrifices made in the name of the war effort. Curtailing workers' rights in favor of big business? No problem. Telling black folks now's not the time to beat the equality drum because it might upset mighty whitey? Of course. Turning away Jewish refugees to appease the anti-Semites and rabid xenophobes who see fifth columnists everywhere? It's the American way. It obviously worked; we're not all licking the boots of our Nazi overlords, and people like me still exist, much to the disgruntlement of too many, but I will never be comfortable with the ease and alacrity with which Americans are willing to throw each other under the bus in the name of the greater good.
I watched Death Race 2050 last night. It was entertaining, but what was once ridiculous satire of the excess of American corporatization and mindless consumerism is now just a dismal reflection of reality. I did enjoy Frankenstein mowing down the parents and school principal instead of the disabled children they'd offered up to his speeding wheels in an effort to "boost test scores." It did my gimpy heart good, and I couldn't help but think that at least a few of those crippled children probably would've tested circles around their witless yet "more valuable" able counterparts. God knows I did in my school days.
I'm reading No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War 2. It's excellent, but it's crushing to read of the constant political exigencies and moral sacrifices made in the name of the war effort. Curtailing workers' rights in favor of big business? No problem. Telling black folks now's not the time to beat the equality drum because it might upset mighty whitey? Of course. Turning away Jewish refugees to appease the anti-Semites and rabid xenophobes who see fifth columnists everywhere? It's the American way. It obviously worked; we're not all licking the boots of our Nazi overlords, and people like me still exist, much to the disgruntlement of too many, but I will never be comfortable with the ease and alacrity with which Americans are willing to throw each other under the bus in the name of the greater good.
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