thependulumswings

To us, 100 years seems like a long, long time ago.  To historians, it is just the wink of an eyelash.  So, the proper perspective is always key.  And we need plenty of the proper perspective right now.

Our decade of the 20s in the 21st century is off to quite the rocky start.  A century ago, it was quite the opposite.

The Roaring Twenties refers to the decade of the 1920s in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the United States and Europe, particularly in major cities. In France they were having so much fun they called it the crazy years.   Jazz blossomed, the flapper redefined the modern look for British and American women, and art deco peaked. In the wake of the military mobilization of World War I and the Spanish flu, President Warren G. Harding “brought back normalcy” to the United States.

This period saw the large-scale development and use of automobiles, planes, telephones, films, radio, and electrical appliances in the lives of millions in the Western world.

Nations saw rapid industrial and economic growth, accelerated consumer demand, and introduced significant new trends in lifestyle and culture.  Cities rooted for their home teams and filled the new palatial cinemas and gigantic sports stadiums.

And, in many major democratic states, women won the right to vote.  Democratic states then v now were very different, but a win is a win.  We’re still arguing about the right to vote, but we digress.

Well, where are we now?  Where we are is in some stage of the process to bring back normalcy.  “What stage,” you ask?  “We have no clue,” we answer.

It sure doesn’t feel like we are in some stage of getting back to normal though, does it?  It does feel like we are in limbo.  Limbo as in, “how low can you go?”

We’re about to find out.

Spanish flu then, covid-19 now.

Economic prosperity returned back then.  We were on our way up prior to covid, but now we face supply chain issues and runaway inflation.

Our government in the last 14 months turned quickly, insistent upon meddling in capitalism.  What do you need?  Whatever it is, it’s free!  Except nothing is free, it just creates dependency (isn’t that the end game for some?) and debt.

And, there is the most important one.  There was WWI then, and hopefully not WWIII now.

Maybe this Warren G. Harding gentleman doesn’t get enough credit in our history books?  And, if Joe Biden wants any he better start looking out for America, not his fringe left.

Do you want solutions?  Yesterday our esteemed Transportation Secretary Peter Buttigieg had one.  He suggested that if America wanted a quick fix to higher gas prices they should go out and buy an electric vehicle.  Oh, yes he did say that.

Meanwhile, we are buying about 500k barrels of Russian oil per day while sending billions of dollars to Ukraine to fight the Russians.  It sounds like we haven’t yet hit the bottom of the barrel yet after all.

Real solutions are on the horizon, or even closer.  Start drilling.

This brings us to one word-leadership.  America needs leadership right now in the worst way before we get to the worst way.  But we don’t have it.

Biden, Harris, Pelosi, Buttigieg, Schumer, Rubio, Graham, McConnell(times 2), Swalwell, Romney, Cheney, Bernie, and The Squad all need to go.  There are others, plenty of others.

And, one named Donald Trump needs to not come back.  Make that two.  Her name is Hillary.

We need that new blood now, and we need a lot of it.

Midterms are exactly eight months away today.  That makes the 2024 election(s) 32 months out.  In some ways that seems like forever.

History teaches us that it’s way less than a wink.  It just doesn’t feel that way.

The pendulum always swings. Sometimes it just has to reach the bottom to get to the other side.