Cormac McCarthy "No Country For Old Men"
Exactly so.
America's "Golden Age" commenced in January 1953 with the inauguration of President Eisenhower. This brought eight years of growth, prosperity, domestic balance and the defense of those values against communism at home and abroad.
The golden age ended in November 1963 with the assassination of president Kennedy.
The two men, Eisenhower elderly and avuncular, Kennedy youthful, vigorous and with a beautiful wife were perfectly cast for their times and reflected the spectrum of the American Age.
Of course things were not perfect but the stirrings of the civil rights movement were supported by both presidents, were addressed positively by both men within the ethos of the times, but courageously and directly. Women were disadvantaged certainly but the feminist movement was commencing with reasoned argument.
On the other hand the perceived values of women as homemaker, mother and support for the single income earner was hugely valued, and in itself represented a major part of the balance and security of mainstream America.
The descent of America to where it is today, with race relations in a terrible place, with cities in disrepair, with an economy stuck in slow growth combined with trillions in the public debt began after Lyndon Johnson's landslide election in 1964. Nixon and Watergate brought the shame of a president and vice-president's resignations and further debunking of authority.
The immoral Vietnam war unleashed a torrent of violence,the repudiation of classic values of civility and disdain for authority. The deficit spending to finance the war unbalanced the economy, drug "culture" commenced as a norm and Hollywood was empowered to glorify every perversion of normal sexuality as the proper end for liberal society.
Certainly the first term of Ronald Reagan restored a degree of a return to stability but the Iran Contra affair stained his legacy and President Clinton debauchery brought the presidency to a low deemed impossible in previous generations.
Donald Trump because of the fact he is not beholden to any group or faction, offers the chance for a return not only to prosperity, and of course jobs are the best solution to crime and displacement caused by unemployment, but to a society where authority, and especially the police and armed forces personnel are valued, respected, an honored.
To expect such an outcome from Bill Clinton's wife, whose "values" and honesty are debatable to say the least is foolish.
America is at a crossroads, perhaps the last one, and if the wrong turning is taken the future of the country as a cohesive, peaceful society is dubious.
