The jet lag has subsided. The sacrificial power adapters have been blown. So have several people's minds, presumably. Have I come full circle, retracing the steps of my forebears in reverse back to the very continent whose penchant for ritualized violence initially drove them away: away and on into the wilderness of an as-yet unknown frontier; on into the bold experiment called democracy? What democracy remains now in that carefully manicured Disneyland theme park where only the power of money, fame and influence yet hold sway?
One hopes for vague platitudes about the resilience of American democratic institutions, as if this solid fact had already been tested in the face of precisely this sort of conflagrant situation, the preconditions of which could in no way have been anticipated by the architects of our republic. A slippery slope whose angle of attack seems to get steeper with every new incident must give way, eventually, to a kind of free fall; a weightlessness that accompanies that creeping realization that the floor has indeed given out, and there is no bottom.
Can we, as it were, at this late stage of evolution, finally learn to spread our wings as a society, as a species and as a planet, learn to fly, and take to the air where we might at last review our triumphs and failures in the light of wisdom? Are we finally able to take the truth in stride as we take stock of our options, and choose the one that is really best for ourselves?
