The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Last Saturday was the Tucson Peace Center’s 42nd annual Peace Fair and Music Festival in Reid Park. Eighty groups, mostly non-profits centered on peace, social justice, and environmental sustainability, gathered to share information with the public about who they are, what they do, and how folks can connect with them. Seven live local bands provided free music on a sunny, serene day. Nobody got paid big bucks for their work that day, but everyone benefited.
Concurrently, unfortunately, our country’s president declared war on Iran. I’m whipsawed between hope and dismay.
My president reveres power, money and dominance. I prefer human connection, compassion and care as defining social ethos. Peace is cheaper, healthier, more sustainable and more fun than war. Said president wants to shoot people like me in the knees while labeling us domestic terrorists because our world views differ so widely from his own. He’d like to lock us up in expensive but poorly run prisons owned by his friends to keep everyone else safe from our radical leftist views.
I am old, female, and poor. I have no power, little money and exert no dominance. But I honestly believe that contributing more to life than you take out leads to a healthier, happier, more sustainable and more fun society for all. Everyone wins when the collective pot grows and it is shared back broadly. When the art of the deal rules and everyone competes to take more out of the pot than he puts in very few people win.
Last Wednesday, at 3:33 a.m. on 3-3, a lunar eclipse occurred. A blood moon. Astrology describes eclipses as “high stakes cosmic plot twists.” In numerology, three represents creativity, communication, self-expression and social connection.
Roll your eyes if you must, but I want to believe my president can overcome his aggressive, winner-take-all, dog-eat-dog, “be a user or be a loser” attitude. Find better friends than Jeffrey Epstein. Put more stock in common people instead of cryptocurrency. Listen to Mother Earth rather than following artificial intelligence off an ecological and/or ethical cliff. Spend time in nature and away from gold-encrusted ballrooms.
If feels like American society is at a juncture. Military deaths are euphemistically dismissed as “fallen heroes” who pay the ultimate price for freedom. And we’re told to expect more deaths in the coming weeks. I think war is an outrageous and foolhardy waste of our national treasure. This truth is not treasonous talk. Those young soldiers should be dancing, teaching, growing gardens, and living full lives instead of moldering in their graves.
I’m grateful for the assistance the City’s Parks and Recreation staff provided in making the Peace Fair such a success this year. I’m thankful Tucson’s elected leadership is committed to community. I’m overwhelmed by the generous spirit of volunteerism on display in the Old Pueblo. I’m appreciative of the improvements being made to Santa Rita Park and Armory Park so citizens have noncommercial common space, equally accessible to all, to initiate, cultivate and enjoy human connections. Hopefully, I do not instill terror in your heart. Hopefully, Tucson will continue to work for peace. Hopefully, prison is not my next housing option.
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