When I was a child I spoke as a child. I wish i could remember what I said

[angrycarpenter]

A couple of earlier posts got me thinking about the "Good old days". For me it was the summer of 1976.

For all of the preceding school year and on tv we were saturated by the history of America especially the founders.

I was 12 years old and life was pretty simple. We camped and swam and fished. We spent the bi-centennial weekend at the lake being swarmed by mayflies. I remember people going to great lengths to rescue American flags that had fallen over unlike after 9/11 when they littered the roads like trash. But what I remember most was the glorious togetherness of that summer. We were Americans and there was not a single problem that we were not the equal of.

Not even the ever present threat of nuclear war could dampen our spirits. We were America, the good guys, and hope was in our hearts.

It is out of this short, almost mythical time that my idea of what America should be came from. I know that there were problems galore just like any other time but to a 12 year-old boy it seemed that things were going to be fabulous and the flying cars were just around the corner.

Are there others here who remember when republicans and democrats could at least agree that we were "Americans" and what the term meant. The thought of torture was unthinkable. We were the good guys and we worked hard to prove it.

Is it even possible in the light of our consumer culture to realize the vision of the founders? Can we be free men and women who protect freedoms first and profits second? Can we ever be people who refuse to cross the line into tyranny?

I don't really know what this post is about. I was just in a very reflective mood tonight. I bet that there were a lot of liberals born that summer when America was miracle of freedom and democracy was mankind's greatest accomplishment.

[NanceGreggs]

1. A beautiful piece.

Thank you.

[JeffR]

2. Somewhere in the background of all the adult heavy lifting ahead

Both the next President and the nation have to try and retrieve something of a 12 year old's spirit.

Very good post.

[qwertyMike]

3. Dark Age Ahead

by Jane Jacobs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Age_Ahead

We don't even know it, or remember our dreams of a 12-yr old.

Mick