Notes from the State of Mow

I love mowing the lawn because it puts my mind in a wonderfully free state. There is something about the straight path of the mower, the sound of the motor, the even pace, and the feeling of forward-moving accomplishment that allows my various random trains of thought to follow some kind of logical course. Today's mow was exceptionally rich.

I was thinking about time, and how we passively divide units of time into decades and centuries, and accept that those bundles of time are useful. I accept that the year is a useful unit, because of the earth's rotation around the sun, and I'm totally fine with the divisions that we employ within the year: months, days, hours, seconds, etc. And I believe strongly in the divisions of musical time into units. I'm also a big fan of measuring speed like miles per hour and beats per minute. But the significance of a decade, a century, or a millenium doesn't seem to work as well for me when describing periods of time longer than a year.

I started thinking about this in relation to the idea that the twentieth century could, by and large, be called the "American Century." But in my mind (which is different from your mind, obviously) the rise of America as a country of significant cultural and intellectual weight began in the 1860s (yes, I have to use the decade thing) with the idea of the end of slavery. Proclaming slavery as a bad thing at that time, when so much of the wealth of the country happened as a result of one human being owning another (or one human being owning many other human beings), caused a movement towards a different kind of economy, and pointed towards a different kind of world.

It seems to me that the "American Century" started in the 1860s and came to a kind of Apex during the early 2020s. And it also seems to me that a small but mighty collective of anti-intellectual forces are doing their very best to turn the country into what it was during the middle of the 19th century, where power was held only by white men with money.

From 2013 until a few days ago the world had a Pope who made a remarkable impact on our world-wide culture. His walk-the-walk message of peace, decency, honesty, devotion, and so much more has shown people of all religious faiths, including those who do not follow any religious faith or teaching, what it means to use power in a way that helps humanity. I hope with all my heart that the next Pope will continue in the same spirit as Pope Francis.

The public figure that, in my mind, contrasts the most with Pope Francis is the current American president. This president is not an original thinker. He follows "playbooks" created by failed dictators like Nero, Hitler, and Musolini, as well as Stalin, whose legacy prevails in Putin. It almost seems that he is using his first one hundred days in office to give the appearance of destroying everything that helped make the "American Century" (i.e. around 160 years) meaningful.

He is also trying his hardest to do as much as possible to inject the world outside of America with his personal poison. America is a young country, and its pre-2025 standing in the world came about because of immigrants who, for a multitude of reasons, were able to live safe and productive lives here. Considering what this president and what has become of his political party have already done to kneecap immigration, education, science, health, cultural institutions, commerce, innovation, reproductive rights, environmental protections, human rights, and so much more, I believe that civilization's next "chapters" will flourish under governments elsewhere.

When I was young I often felt more aligned with European culture(s) and ways of thinking than what I perceived as American ways of thinking. When I lived in Austria I even felt a sense of pride when people thought I came from an English-speaking place other than America. But I still carried an American passport, and enjoyed the rights I had as an American citizen. Over time I did learn to embrace the uniqueness of the American experience, and learned to celebrate many wonderful aspects of American culture. 

I felt genuine pride when I heard Barack Obama and other great Americans political figures speak, and, until the election of this current president, looked forward to a great future for America. I still believe in a future for humanity. And I know that art, music, science, and intellectual life will find a way to flourish, as long as we are able, as a species, not to destroy ourselves and our planet.