An Allegory?
Yesterday, a terrific storm devastated almost all the structures I had built
for the garden I've tended for years.* The 50 mph winds tossed around the
latticework and the shelter for the "Meditation Station" like they
were paper.
The only things escaping the ferocious wind were the birdhouse and the red acrylic rock heart. Even the celebrated "Faerie Portal" was demolished.
For San Francisco, the storm was so unusual as to be freakish: trees were down and flood advisories were posted in an indefinite way.
I picked through the wreckage in the rain, looking at each piece as if a part of my soul had been torn from me: how could this have happened? The garden was an homage to fantasy and nature and certainly no target for divine retribution.**
In a strange way, the storm, the devastation seemed like an allegory to me: the election and the transition led up to the devastation of America. And that part of my country's soul - Democracy - had been torn out by a disaster of epic proportions. It's heart, the very acceptance and diversity enshrined in The Statue of Liberty is left, but exceptionally vulnerable to subsequent storms.***
Blame ...
It's easy (and quite frankly enjoyable in a way) to blame Donald Trump for the devastation to America, but let's not kid ourselves: we all made the Trump election happen. Complacency and jokes about Trump's hair, followed by disdain and confusion about all other candidates on both sides led to Trump's nomination.
Then the chaos caused by fear and panic set in. Nastiness was the rue of thumb and the one who played the game the best could win that huge section of disenfranchised voters. Trump's campaign was a smoke screen of crude remarks, impossible bravado, platitudes, outlandish promises and denials. The media and America had never seen anything like it. The neo-nazis, white supremacists and "anyone but Hillary" groups had acquired a voice!
And decided not to listen to any other voice.
Reason Twisted Into Knots
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