Go Back to School

In school, my favorite subject was Social Studies.  Most people thought it was English given my writing ability and tendency to devour books, but no-the thing I hated most in school was “required” reading.  Blech. 

So really, it was Social.  I loved learning about other cultures, and ways of life, and the history of it all.  I enjoyed geography, learning where all the countries fit, and I liked learning about traditions and languages and food and literature and art and…well, I liked to learn.  Social Studies provided all these things to me, though a thin little textbook from about 1^st until 8^th grade. 

High school was different; more focused.  The first two years were spent on Global Studies and Geography, the third on United States History, and the fourth on a boring little combo of Economics and Government.  We also had Psychology and Sociology as Social Studies electives, both of which I took.  Then in college I took two more semesters of US History, and two more semesters of Psychology.  I intended to be a History teacher, but several things happened at once, the two most prominent being a teensy-weensy mental breakdown and the fact that I was BORED at college.  My high school was a wee bit more advanced than public schools, and everything I learned my freshman year of college, I had learned before.  I recycled papers, even.  It was dull.  Anyway…this is the extent of my social studies.

Now, my favorite class was US History.  I was good at it, in the way I was in school, where I grasped the material easily and then slacked off like an idiot because of it.  So, I managed a B, but I could have swung an A if I really tried (and also hadn’t been diagnosed with diabetes that year.)  I particularly enjoyed the American Revolution.  There was something about the people rising up and declaring their freedom from tyranny that enthralled me.  I enjoyed historical fiction, too, so I read a few things set during the mid-late 1700s.  A lot of the knowledge I acquired over the years has left me now, but the impression remains.  Such is also true of Government, a class I slept though.  I had trouble learning the basic of US Government from the get-go.  I remember an afternoon spent trying to figure out  the separation of powers.  ‘Twas the first inkling that history was an interest not a passion for me, because I just couldn’t wrap my head around the mechanics of it all.  I loved the story part.

Why am I telling you this?

Because I’m pretty sure…correct me if I’m wrong, of course, but I’m PRETTY SURE…that no one told me what to do in the event of a coup.  None of this knowledge prepared me for when I turned on the TV yesterday afternoon and left it on until I fell asleep.

I tweeted this morning that I have to blog today, but all I’ve got right now is a string of profanities, and that is mostly accurate.  My thoughts are so discombobulated, I feel so frazzled, and I do not know what the hell is going on.

I could repeat something you’ve probably already heard, like if the TERRORISTS (call them what they are) were black or brown they would be dead, which tracks.  Or that the same people that told me to suck it up and accept the loss in 2016 AND that kneeling was an inappropriate protest AND that we should respect law enforcement are now wearing big ‘ol signs that say “hypocrite” on their backs. 

Now, if I know one thing about history it is this: it is doomed to repeat, unless you learn from it.  My question to these people is such:  what the hell did you learn in school?  I assume y’all slept through Government and History classes, because for some reason you don’t seem to have basic knowledge of how all this works.  You know, I save everything, so it’s entirely possibly I still have my history notes somewhere.  I will happily scan and email them to whomever needs a refresher course.

::bangs head on keyboard::

I feel like I am drowning in hatred and ignorance lately, and I’m sick of it.  Listen, I am not ok with what happened yesterday.  If you are, if you were rooting for that, then you are not the patriot you claim to be. 

Patriotism is love of country, and I love my country.  I don’t always agree with my government, but that is not my country.  The land I live on is.  The people I know are.  The society we’ve built since the American Revolution is my country, not Donald Goddamn Trump.  What happened yesterday is called domestic terrorism, and If you don’t know the difference, you need to go back to school.

Advertisement