One Year Anniversary: A Better Nation / abetternation

Yep, amazingly enough, it's already been a whole year since I started this here blog, and I made it well past ten months before I even let my intention of posting once a day, M-F, slip. That was in October, and still I intend to backtrack and fill in the gaps so as to keep by ABN things all on the up and up - better late than never.

And inquiring minds want to know.

I started A Better Nation post Election Blues. Post trauma disorder. Post stress disorder. But of course, the trauma and stress of the last election are still baring down on not only me and the likes of me but on the whole world. So nothing's really "post." It's all ongoing.

Reagan set this whole thing in motion. Though maybe we could say that even Reagan, pre-1976, when he hit his stride nationally and gave the sitting president, Gerald Ford, a run for his money. Reagan just tapped into a growing undercurrent of religious and regressive strife and stress that was already re-emerging in the culture. But he was, sorry to say now, the right man at the right time for that cause. And he changed American culture then and ever since.

1980 and 1984 were the great watershed elections, not 2000, not 2004. Bush is still riding the slovenly coattails of deception and deceipt Reagan's media-meisters invented and nearly perfected.

And so, post Bush the Younger's RE-election, I had to do SOMETHING to voice my concerns for this nation and to speak the truth (at least to myself and a few loyal readers) about what I think, as an American Studies Guy, will make this a better nation.

At times, ABN has delved into the personal, and indeed, my personal posts have gotten the greatest responses - and been the most encouraging to me to persevere. But at heart, my public voice, even when personal, is political, as I consider all things personal to be political - and all things political to be personal.

And so, we've got to keep connecting the two. That's what a vibrant democracy is about - connecting the political to the personal and vice versa, to remind ourselves daily and DEEPLY that an informed and inspired democracy is what matters - not just any old democracy, where nuts for gods and ghosts rule the day but where inspired and informed and INVOLVED citizens participate.

Even if that is only by pounding out their own shreads of information and ideas on a keyboard, posting them day after day to a blog and hope there's someone out there listening - meaning reading, paying attention and acting on what is GOOD, working for... a better nation - and of course, a better world.

Thanks, dear readers.

Lawrence