As I watched CNN last night, I was reminded of a speech Ronald Reagan once gave. Here’s a little excerpt:
In my life’s journey over these past eight decades, I have seen the human race through a period of unparalleled tumult and triumph. I have seen the birth of communism and the death of communism. I have witnessed the bloody futility of two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf. I have seen Germany united, divided and united again. I have seen television grow from a parlor novelty to become the most powerful vehicle of communication in history. As a boy I saw streets filled with model-Ts; as a man I have met men who walked on the moon.
In the rush of daily life, we don’t often stand back and think about what a remarkable time we live in. We have seen so much in such a short span of time and while I’ve never seen model-Ts in the street except during a parade, I have seen a lot of the things Ronnie mentions here: man walking on the moon, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of communist Russia, and as of late, the remarkable creation of a smartphone that is virtually a handheld computer, opening the door to limitless information and entertainment.
I guess I sometimes get caught up in the minutiae of my own life and the media that bombards us with bad and sad news 24/7. I lose sight of the fact that I am lucky enough to live in such remarkable times.
Oh, sure, there’s the 1%, the inequality of income, the rising cost of living, the squeezing of the middle class and even the Great Recession.
All of it can be considered remarkable in its own right, so much so that I was having a difficult time thinking what is the most amazing thing I have witnessed in my lifetime.
Until yesterday, I thought it was seeing man land and walk on the moon. I am blessed to be old enough to have seen it on live television as it happened, not some video in a history class or a passage in a book. I shared that experience with the world.
I also shared the death of a president, callously shot down in his prime, followed by the tragic loss of his brother to another assassin. I saw the shuttle explode horrifically, sharing the news with coworkers at Associated Grocers who thought I was making a joke.
It was a show on CNN, The Sixties, though, that crystalized what the most remarkable thing I have seen happen: Equality.
Of course, we’re not there yet. Women still don’t make the same money as men, we still have racism and we are still battling the right of one human being to marry another. But watching that special, which focused on the civil rights movement, I am reminded that this country has experienced things that would have destroyed any other country, and yet we are still here.
The show focused on the south. There are still places where a black man or woman knows that they shouldn’t go. As one of my southern friends once said, “The only thing that changed was we took the signs down.”
Even so, to watch the hell that broke out on the voting rights march that took place in Selma Alabama, you realize that we have made some amazing progress. During that march, from Selma to Montgomery, the white sheriff used his own private police army on horseback to charge into the crowd along with state troopers armed with cattle prods and sticks wrapped in barbed wire, all because a segment of Americans wanted the right to vote.
This was a pivotal event. Up until that point, white Americans didn’t really know what was going on. The Civil Rights Rights Act of 1964 was already law and most Americans thought that was that. It wasn’t until ABC broke in with live coverage of the melee that the average American discovered that we were not a United States, but a divided country, one divided by the color of one’s skin.
As I said, the battle continues. But to see where we’ve come from to where we are now, it is indeed an amazing time. Sure, I like to get caught up in the moment and bitch about my food bill, or the guy who is lumbering along in the fast lane of the freeway. But really, think about the times we are living in. Think about all that has changed since we were born. The DVR. Digital cameras. Color TV. Hell, TV that’s not live. The microwave. A computer that fits comfortably on your lap. The jet airliner. Disposable diapers. iTunes.
As I consider these times, though, I can’t help but think that equality is the biggest thing that is happening in my time. I see it in Seattle now. As one of the first states to legalize gay marriage, I see couples who have been together longer than most heterosexual couples, finally get to have the legal protection they deserve. They can make decisions about the other’s medical care, have rights to their benefits, gain access to the hospital to see their loved one without having to get the family’s permission, and everyone has the right to vote in our country, whether they choose to exercise that right or not.
I still hope that in my lifetime, we can continue to make progress. Women still make only 77¢ for every dollar a man makes. That really needs to change in our country, if for no other reason than most of the women I know work far harder than any man in the same position. I know, as I have had the pleasure to work with, and for, some women who could work circles around me and everyone else with a faucet between their legs.
As I said, remarkable times. I hope you’ll slow down a bit, take a breath and watch the world pass by you for just a moment. Think about where we’ve come from and how far we have gone. It may just blow your mind.
In the Emerald City, marveling at my world on this day,
– Robb