Tangled Up In Green

I've been trying to figure out what to write about. There's so much:  Identity Politics, the Green New Deal, the soda tax in Philadelphia (which now has been expanded to include any drink bought in a store or restaurant.) Not only is the money going to Pre-K, libraries and museums, but the tax will keep everyone's weight down and save their teeth.

As Billy Joel said “I can't take it anymore!” (“We didn't Start the Fire”) I've been there and maybe even done that forty-some years ago. Every so often a report would be issued about the dangers of artificial sweeteners, an inconvenience, to say the least, to those of us who depended on Tab to keep away from the Reese's or anything else good to eat. When a new report came out, I would hoard whatever was available.

I never heard of identity politics (Of course, I didn't get around much.), but the personal was political and one's politics had to be correct. That meant not telling ethnic jokes or stereotyping. Of course, you could tell jokes about your own ethnic or religious group and be offended if a non-member did. Since my ancestry is Scottish, German, and English, I didn't have a lot of material. (How many cheap jokes are there?) And Groundskeeper Willie didn't come around until the 80's, when getting offended wasn't in fashion.

There were movements that could be part of the Green New Deal and various ways to participate. You could try to get your town to require recycling or disapprove of other people's cars. There was even talk of overpopulation, with books and articles about the joys of being “childfree”, which always included warnings about overpopulation and often made remarks about “selfishness”. So along with feeling guilty about losing patience with your kids, you could feel guilty about having them.

I don't think I knew any registered Socialists, but there was a feeling that liberals (as I identified myself) didn't get it. I felt guilty and, even worse, stupid, and wondered if I was a hypocrite.

I didn't know of any Socialist superstars, but we certainly have them now! I think of them as The Socialist Sweeties, because I want to sigh, “Oh, sweetie” when I hear their ideas. Sometimes, I want to yell, “What the f**k are you talking about?” and “For God's sake, stop frightening the kids!” (I'm sure the kids aren't the only ones frightened, but I don't want to look like a wimp.)

How should Christians feel about the Green New Deal? I'm not a theologian, so I can get away with saying, “You got me there.” Yes, this is a cop-out, but aren't most people who are not desperately poor copping out?

Perhaps all we can do is to try to do the best we can and “Keep on keeping on.” (Bob Dylan, “Tangled up in Blue")