The Least I Can Do

“And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.” (George Orwell, 1984)

How can I continue making my blog meaningful to readers in idle times when I am not traveling? Feeling threatened by the rant filled theatrics of “Donald Trumpland” these days, it seems logical now to divert my mind from such political negativity. Thus turning to the rich, “multicultural stew” of my home base in South Florida, I have intensified my self involvement in this diverse community in several ways.

1. ATTEND LOCAL PROTEST RALLIES FOR POLITICAL CHANGE

This past weekend, my wife and I sat patiently in the summer heat and humidity of South Florida to witness a spirited rally of over 300 people gather along the entrance steps to the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale to condemn inhumane treatment of immigrant refugees along our borders. An impressive list of state/local government speakers would fire up this captivated crowd of many ages, races, and nationality with calls to actively resist the horrors of separating immigrant children from their families. Amidst this Woodstock-like atmosphere, protest signs were readily available and shared throughout the crowd as the stoic presence of local police guarded the rally’s perimeter.

2. OBTAIN TRUTHS FROM LOCAL RESEARCH RESOURCES

In my casual reading of the Miami Herald on Sunday, I came across an article titled “The Power of Propaganda”, publicizing a current exhibit at the Wolfsonian Museum in downtown Miami.Imagining its relevance to me as a concerned, American citizen in these authoritarian- like times, the next morning, I would tour this provocative topic collection on my own. Displaying powerful images of early 20th century, Russian history through poster displays, movie clips, and household artifacts, I learned that lies, deceit, emotionalism, and violence had been misused to solidify Communist power then. Was this damaging era of free speech/ press distortion repeating itself in my own country now?

3. USE TRADITIONAL MEDIA SOURCES EFFECTIVELY

I normally write blogs with the specific purpose of simply sharing positive insights with Word Press/Facebook readers about my most frequent endeavors of travel. Yet last week’s entry composed as an imagined letter to President Trump had turned starkly political as I heatedly vented my objections to separating immigrant child from parent as I saw it to simply achieve conservative electoral gain.

Click Here For Last Week’s Blog

Feeling compelled by several readers to further publicize this letter, I submitted it to the Miami Herald , Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, and USA Today as proposed editorial entries. The least I can do while I await their response in my idle travel time interim, would be to form new letters of protest in my mind and continue my grass roots activism as the election primary season approaches.