Part of me wants to say kiss off; efff you…how dare you say it’s my fault. Where’s your fault in this? Why didn’t you write this piece sooner?
This is an interesting piece.
It’s all our fault. You doesn’t have a name. It’s everyone. If you didn’t do anything, it’s your fault. If you did something, it’s your fault because you didn’t do enough. If you thought you had worked your ass off it’s your fault because you thought you were effective.
And if you voted for Donald Trump, or didn’t vote for Hillary because you didn’t want to vote for her so uou didn’t vote at all it’s your fault. You can’t do over Trump. Or Mitch McConnell.
So yeah, it’s your fault. And my fault. It’s OUR fault. You are not blameless.
I was younger than my son is now (he's 12), when my mom explained to me what back-alley abortions were and what they could mean, what happens when a woman is so desperate she unwinds a wire hanger, cleans it as best she can and uses it to perform an abortion on herself. It was so impactful that I can remember the shirt I was wearing and where in my house I was sitting when she told me about it in her calm, matter of fact way. She wasn't trying to scare me, just explain why it was so important that this fundamental part of health care remain legal and available to all women and girls. As I grew up, I gained a full and adult understanding of the matter, and I continued to fight for reproductive rights. But you are right that none of us have done enough. I could hear the truth about abortion back when I was 10, my son is ready to hear it now at 12. There is a rally in support of reproductive rights this Saturday 5/7 on the Village Green in Skokie 11am-12, and another one downtown at Federal Plaza, Saturday 5/7 at noon.
May 3, 2022·edited May 3, 2022Liked by Irv Leavitt
I'm so choked with rage I'm unable to move. I'm trying not to be defensive in the face of what you wrote, because you're right. We - and by "we" I largely mean white cishet middle-and upper-class women - didn't do enough. I threw money to reproductive health care efforts on the ground and in Washington - but not enough. I wrote postcards to potential voters - that wasn't enough. And worst of all, I ignored the fact that reproductive health, even at the height of Roe v. Wade's strength, wasn't there for black and brown women or trans folk.
Now I have to do what I can, and I have to look forward to a fight, while women & others w/uteruses die because of five or six fuckers on the SCOTUS.
Guilty as charged. I write a blog post, hoping my voice will help, but it's too little and always too late. The fact is that we Boomers saw this coming a long time ago and we refused to acknowledge the looming disasters because they weren't immediately in our faces or didn't feel personal.
For those whining, "I tried" I can only offer that it will serve you well to get over your defensiveness, because it helps nothing.
I'm not by nature partisan, but the past 40 years have made me a non-Republican, as that party ran headlong into autocracy mania. Even so-called traditional Republicans have ducked and run from what is actually conservative, leaving the Democrats the only ones to vote for if we still want a democracy.
I get that keeping our democracy is far too ethereal to be motivating to most Americans, since we prefer myopia over expending the effort to be aware of anything not in our immediate lives. But here's the real deal: Keeping our democracy is the only way to preserve what we call our American values. "On that everything depends," said Yoda.
So, if we aren't doing everything we can to preserve our democracy (like voting against the authoritarians - the dictator lovers - who promoted killing Roe), then Leavitt is right and it's our fault.
Hard to imagine that we protested against the Viet Nam war in huge numbers, yet when it's not our asses being sent to fight we don't seem able to lift a finger. We Boomers are a most peculiar generation.
You give me more credit than I deserve. Our choices are limited. Our power is limited. We do what we can. We carry on through the bad stuff. Be strong and of good courage.
Part of me wants to say kiss off; efff you…how dare you say it’s my fault. Where’s your fault in this? Why didn’t you write this piece sooner?
This is an interesting piece.
It’s all our fault. You doesn’t have a name. It’s everyone. If you didn’t do anything, it’s your fault. If you did something, it’s your fault because you didn’t do enough. If you thought you had worked your ass off it’s your fault because you thought you were effective.
And if you voted for Donald Trump, or didn’t vote for Hillary because you didn’t want to vote for her so uou didn’t vote at all it’s your fault. You can’t do over Trump. Or Mitch McConnell.
So yeah, it’s your fault. And my fault. It’s OUR fault. You are not blameless.
I was younger than my son is now (he's 12), when my mom explained to me what back-alley abortions were and what they could mean, what happens when a woman is so desperate she unwinds a wire hanger, cleans it as best she can and uses it to perform an abortion on herself. It was so impactful that I can remember the shirt I was wearing and where in my house I was sitting when she told me about it in her calm, matter of fact way. She wasn't trying to scare me, just explain why it was so important that this fundamental part of health care remain legal and available to all women and girls. As I grew up, I gained a full and adult understanding of the matter, and I continued to fight for reproductive rights. But you are right that none of us have done enough. I could hear the truth about abortion back when I was 10, my son is ready to hear it now at 12. There is a rally in support of reproductive rights this Saturday 5/7 on the Village Green in Skokie 11am-12, and another one downtown at Federal Plaza, Saturday 5/7 at noon.
Outstanding ... spot on. Worthy of a repost.
The truth hurts. Grim but dead on accurate.
I'm so choked with rage I'm unable to move. I'm trying not to be defensive in the face of what you wrote, because you're right. We - and by "we" I largely mean white cishet middle-and upper-class women - didn't do enough. I threw money to reproductive health care efforts on the ground and in Washington - but not enough. I wrote postcards to potential voters - that wasn't enough. And worst of all, I ignored the fact that reproductive health, even at the height of Roe v. Wade's strength, wasn't there for black and brown women or trans folk.
Now I have to do what I can, and I have to look forward to a fight, while women & others w/uteruses die because of five or six fuckers on the SCOTUS.
Guilty as charged. I write a blog post, hoping my voice will help, but it's too little and always too late. The fact is that we Boomers saw this coming a long time ago and we refused to acknowledge the looming disasters because they weren't immediately in our faces or didn't feel personal.
For those whining, "I tried" I can only offer that it will serve you well to get over your defensiveness, because it helps nothing.
I'm not by nature partisan, but the past 40 years have made me a non-Republican, as that party ran headlong into autocracy mania. Even so-called traditional Republicans have ducked and run from what is actually conservative, leaving the Democrats the only ones to vote for if we still want a democracy.
I get that keeping our democracy is far too ethereal to be motivating to most Americans, since we prefer myopia over expending the effort to be aware of anything not in our immediate lives. But here's the real deal: Keeping our democracy is the only way to preserve what we call our American values. "On that everything depends," said Yoda.
So, if we aren't doing everything we can to preserve our democracy (like voting against the authoritarians - the dictator lovers - who promoted killing Roe), then Leavitt is right and it's our fault.
Hard to imagine that we protested against the Viet Nam war in huge numbers, yet when it's not our asses being sent to fight we don't seem able to lift a finger. We Boomers are a most peculiar generation.
What MJM said is so true. I am even more scared for my granddaughters and grandsons.
You give me more credit than I deserve. Our choices are limited. Our power is limited. We do what we can. We carry on through the bad stuff. Be strong and of good courage.