July 21, 2024 (before Biden announcement)
Individualism as a campaign message #
I am waiting for my case to come up
and I am waiting
for a rebirth of wonder
and I am waiting for someone
to really discover America
and wail
and I am waiting
for the discovery
of a new symbolic western frontier
and I am waiting
for the American Eagle
to really spread its wings
and straighten up and fly right
and I am waiting
for the Age of Anxiety
to drop dead
and I am waiting
for the war to be fought
which will make the world safe
for anarchy
and I am waiting
for the final withering away
of all governments
and I am perpetually awaiting
a rebirth of wonder
We like Ferlinghetti’s words, which reveals a skeptical, libertarian streak in each of us.
Give me freedom or give me death.
Leave me alone.
Stay out of my bedroom.
My body, my choice.
Perhaps we need an addendum to The Bill of Rights: The right to privacy.
It’s troubling that white nationalists have usurped the Gadsden flag and Revolutionary War slogan Don’t tread on me, because that’s how many of us feel when imposed on by government. We don’t like rules, regulations, taxes, or kings.
Winning campaign messages, regardless of political persuasion, can emerge from an American spirit of individualism.
A poetic respite from politics: #
- Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. 1968. A Coney Island of the Mind. New York: New Directions. [ISBN-13: 978-0811200417] A modern classic with more than a million copies sold. See the full poem “I Am Waiting” at Poetry Foundation.
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