Weird times now and then; If cats ruled the universe

 Half a century ago, from 1967-1972 and beyond, the USA and elsewhere confronted political violence from both the right and the left. At the time, in the USA, the left was more prominent with its calls for social justice especially civil rights, anti-Vietnam activism and economic justice. On the right, though somewhat more subdued were white supremacism including neo-Nazi organizations and the KKK. There were bombings, assassinations and a violent police and state sponsored response to small and large scale protests of the left at places such as Kent State University, Jackson State University, the demonstrations around the Pentagon and at the Democratic Presidential convention in Chicago. In Washington DC tens of thousands of people were tear gassed, beaten, arrested and illegally corralled into RFK Stadium to quell what the government saw as an insurrection.

On the right there was a small but active Neo-Nazi party and the KKK was reviving in reaction to the Civil Rights movement. In 1968-69 Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy and Fred Hampton were assassinated. The riots in slum neighborhoods of large and mid-sized cities around the US were televised and demonized the rioters rather than looking at the conditions that made the riots all but inevitable. 

In a phrase. things were tense.

They are tense again. This time there are a lot more guns around on both sides, and it looks scary for almost all the same reasons: economic inequality, racism, conspiracy paranoia, contempt for the opposition, resentment and a feeling of being treated unfairly and not getting ones desserts. Mix in a wannabe tyrant like Trump whose own sense of entitlement and resentment are off the scale, and people who see him as a messiah-like figure, we can be in trouble.

But I am an optimist. As we survived the troubled 1970s I think we'll pull through the troubling 2020s. I believe enough people don't want a civil war, don't want violent unrest that they will actively work to suppress the extremists. 

It's very weird times, but thinking about it, I think all times are weird, just that some are weirder than others.

As for photos, who wants to see pictures of cats, and the cats I share my home with in particular? I do!

Most of these are new, a couple were pulled from the archives. Enjoy.

If cats ruled the universe there'd be fewer rodents, more hairballs and a lot more purring going around.

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