Irreversible

My mother was not yet one and my father not yet two years old when the Second World War officially started in Europe. Growing up, I often wondered how the pervasive fear that my grandparents must have felt shaped my parents’ upbringing and subsequent behavior toward me. There was a mystery that I could not solve, however – and still can’t. Why was it that, under similar socio-political circumstances, people of the same background and raised within miles of each other could value behaviors that were at the opposite ends of the human behavioral spectrum?

After nearly four decades of living in the USA, I feel like I haven’t even left the France of my childhood. The difference between sitting down at the paternal side of the table and sitting down at the maternal side of the table is as vast as sitting down at the MAGA side of the table and sitting down at everything else that is not MAGA side of the table. As a child, I had no choice but to be split in two along with the table. Divorce court orders.

When might makes right and lies don’t matter…That’s not my way of life, not in France, not in the USA. What do I do about it?

Hoping that I may convince a few undecided voters before the 2024 elections in the USA, I wrote two political essays.

From “A Bad Case of Betrayal Trauma,” fellow author François Bereaud (francoisbereaud.com), highlights that 

Like with drunks, there’s no point in arguing. Economic uncertainty can bring out the worst in people regardless of where in the world you live. As fascists know too well, reason is no match for frustration. 

 “So well stated. And so rough to read … after,” posts Bereaud.

From “American Women’s Rights v. The End,” to be published in the Nelligan Review, I highlight the following:

Make no mistake about it: MAGA supporters want the God of the Old Testament to enthrone their King Trump, the Chosen One who will unleash the wrath of God on all his opponents. 

May the real God help us all!