by Pa Rock
Curmudgeon Philosopher
As the Earth takes its annual voyage around the sun, it spins its way through four distinct seasons, each occupying roughly a quarter of the journey: spring, summer, fall, and winter - or in historic agrarian terms: sowing, growing, reaping, and rest. Today marks the beginning of the time set aside for gathering what has been sown and grown over the two preceding seasons, and the annual labors of the harvest will, in fact, be ushered in by the Harvest Moon which begins two nights hence on September 24th.
American politics have been crafted over the centuries to roughly fit the agrarian cycle of the seasons. Candidates often announce their intentions to run for office in the spring, grow their electoral prospects during the summer months through a cycle of hard campaigning, and stand for election in the fall where they harvest the votes that they have been cultivating. When the winter finally overtakes them, it is used as an opportunity to rest up and renew their strength.
This year has been an exceptionally hard time for those tilling the soil and for those trolling for votes. American farmers who cast their lot with Donald Trump, suddenly found their overseas markets drying up as Trump initiated spur-of-the-moment trade wars, often with no obvious long-term strategy. School shootings last winter and spring fired up a student revolt against the ready availability of guns - a popular uprising that left politicians who had been comfortable in the pockets of the NRA suddenly rethinking their positions on guns. The "#MeToo" movement strengthened and began to bring down pillars of the patriarchy. And politicians who were once seen as politically invulnerable have been defeated in primaries by enthusiastic political novices.
It's been a hell of a summer - but summer ended yesterday. Today is the first day of fall. Leaves are falling and so are institutions and individuals that were once seen as the guardians of the status quo. This past spring and summer have been turbulent, coughing up seismic changes in how we see ourselves and our leaders. And now it is fall - and fall will tell the tale and show us if the change that many of us have been sensing really happened - or if it was all merely a noisy illusion.
And if change did happen, how consequential will that change prove to be?
The new ideas that were sown in the spring, and cultivated throughout the summer, are now waiting to be reaped and weighed - and the ultimate worth of the harvest will depend on how many of us get out into the fields and help to bring it in.
We will reap what we vote.
Curmudgeon Philosopher
As the Earth takes its annual voyage around the sun, it spins its way through four distinct seasons, each occupying roughly a quarter of the journey: spring, summer, fall, and winter - or in historic agrarian terms: sowing, growing, reaping, and rest. Today marks the beginning of the time set aside for gathering what has been sown and grown over the two preceding seasons, and the annual labors of the harvest will, in fact, be ushered in by the Harvest Moon which begins two nights hence on September 24th.
American politics have been crafted over the centuries to roughly fit the agrarian cycle of the seasons. Candidates often announce their intentions to run for office in the spring, grow their electoral prospects during the summer months through a cycle of hard campaigning, and stand for election in the fall where they harvest the votes that they have been cultivating. When the winter finally overtakes them, it is used as an opportunity to rest up and renew their strength.
This year has been an exceptionally hard time for those tilling the soil and for those trolling for votes. American farmers who cast their lot with Donald Trump, suddenly found their overseas markets drying up as Trump initiated spur-of-the-moment trade wars, often with no obvious long-term strategy. School shootings last winter and spring fired up a student revolt against the ready availability of guns - a popular uprising that left politicians who had been comfortable in the pockets of the NRA suddenly rethinking their positions on guns. The "#MeToo" movement strengthened and began to bring down pillars of the patriarchy. And politicians who were once seen as politically invulnerable have been defeated in primaries by enthusiastic political novices.
It's been a hell of a summer - but summer ended yesterday. Today is the first day of fall. Leaves are falling and so are institutions and individuals that were once seen as the guardians of the status quo. This past spring and summer have been turbulent, coughing up seismic changes in how we see ourselves and our leaders. And now it is fall - and fall will tell the tale and show us if the change that many of us have been sensing really happened - or if it was all merely a noisy illusion.
And if change did happen, how consequential will that change prove to be?
The new ideas that were sown in the spring, and cultivated throughout the summer, are now waiting to be reaped and weighed - and the ultimate worth of the harvest will depend on how many of us get out into the fields and help to bring it in.
We will reap what we vote.
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