Monday was May 9, and that was the day many experts warned us to expect something dramatic or horrible or escalating... or something from Putin and his thugs. Nothing of note happened.
Elon Musk announced yesterday that once he is the sole owner of Twitter, Donald Trump will be welcomed back. Experts predict the end of the Republic and present all sorts of worst-case scenarios. When those things don't happen, no one will spend much time going back and reassessing those expert opinions. If they do happen, there will be more immediate concerns.
More experts proclaim the end of any ethical or moral authority for the Supreme Court after the politicized leak of an early draft of the abortion ruling. They may be right, but how would we measure the total decrease other than in poll takers quick responses to survey questions? And some experts predict a backlash that might help more progressive politicians while others predict that the backlash won't happen.
The pandemic will come roaring back this fall, according to several health experts, and other experts support learning to live with the ongoing virus issues. Perhaps both arguments will end up being true.
Stubborn inflation, particularly in gasoline prices, means Democrats are doomed in this fall's midterm elections. Much of this is due to people demanding Biden "fix" everything that bothers them, whether he possess that power or not. Some is due to a sort of "road rage" that some of our neighbors feel toward Democrats... merely because of their political party.
The thoroughly political and radical Supreme Court majority will continue to uphold the uniquely American "minority rule" traditions, where the Electoral College grants incredible power to obscure politicians from places like the Dakotas and Wyoming while states where the vast majority of Americans live are not fully represented.
Donald Trump is the kingmaker of the Republican Party, or he is not. It depends on the state and on the candidate, evidently. Experts are eager to chime in, of course.
Books about the Trump years continue to land regularly, sparking temporary outrage and lead to... nothing.
Evangelical churches are in crisis, with some people looking for something a bit more "Christian" while others look for even wackier, more rabid pastors to feed their anger and fears. On the other hand, fewer and fewer go to church regularly. And even fewer bother to join the association or give money.
"Forewarned is forearmed," as the old saying goes, so I understand our tendency to speculate about the future and find ways to prepare ourselves for whatever may come. But how many times do our so-called experts provide any meaningful help for society, much less convince large numbers of people to act in "better" ways?
If you live on your phone and spend hours each day in your chosen "bubble," how could you NOT be depressed, angry and pessimistic? No institution is doing well by people. No one can be trusted. The world is a giant conspiracy designed to harm us, for mysterious reasons.
How could high school students not be angry, on some level, at least, and feel uncertain about what the future holds for them?
Congratulations to educators, particularly media advisers, for simply hanging in there and doing their best with a "bad hand."
I often wonder if we might all benefit from just keeping our nose to the grindstone, so to speak, doing our little bit each day to make our classrooms, communities, and world a tiny bit better.
Do we really have much choice?
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