Is the Enlightenment finished? by Dave Corbitt

This afternoon, a friend posted a suggestion on Facebook: If just half the adults in the U.S. bought a sheet of 20 stamps for $11, it would raise about $1.5 billion for the U.S. Postal Service. I know the situation is involves more than finances—and it doesn’t address Dave’s fundamental concerns—but it would make a huge practical difference.

Pelosi to Recall House for Postal Service Vote as Democrats Press for DeJoy to Testify—The New York Times

California wildfire spawns ‘firenado’ as tornado warning issued amid heatwave—The Guardian

120 Children Remain in ICE Detention Despite Court Order For Them to Be Released Due to COVID-19 Concerns—Time

August 16, 2020

Is the Enlightenment finished?
by Dave Corbitt, Whiting, New Jersey

Today, while discussing the state of our nation with my partner, it hit me like a clear epiphany that we are seeing the end of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was the blossoming of scientific reasoning, logical arguments clearly thought out, and the awakening of people’s sense of freedom based on the rule of law, the truths revealed through scientific inquiry, the establishment of principles based on those truths and carried out through a democratic form of government.

I marvel in wonder and anger at how a mentality so alien to the Enlightenment has crept into our society; denial of science, denial of fairness, corruption of the highest degree, being supported by a segment of society ignorant of the values held so dear by so many for so many years. It’s as if the spirit of the fallen Roman Empire has snuck in and replaced reason with superstition and ignorance. How Medieval!

One of the latest examples of this corruption is the Trump administration dismantling the Post Office at a time when it is needed more than ever to help us cope with a terrible pandemic that is nowhere near conquered. Who in their right mind declares that postal workers are forbidden to do their jobs by cancelling all overtime, telling them to leave mail unsorted until the next day, dismantling the mail sorting machines that help enormously to speed delivery, and removes street mounted mail drop off boxes? Clearly, the Republicans know they don’t stand a chance in a fair election, so they twist the rules and put in huge impediments to make sure those who oppose them are denied a valid democratic right to vote.

I’m saddened by the disastrous turn we’ve taken to betray both the Enlightenment and the heroic and brilliant founders of our nation with their well thought out ideas based on reason and a belief in the dignity of the people within our borders. Sure, we’ve made mistakes in the past and originally only land owning “free” men were participants in our democracy, but the nation was in tune with the spirit of the Enlightenment and provided for wider and wider inclusion.

As the pandemic continues to take its toll on the nation’s psyche and its population while our horribly corrupt crime family leadership could care less, we see some hope that new leadership promises to get us back on track and undo the damage done in the last 3 years and 7 months by an ignorant and narcissistic fool, a sociopath and force of evil.

My hope is we will return to the ideals of the Enlightenment and move again into becoming the most progressive and healthy society on the planet. Life as we know it is at stake and we’ve wasted too much national treasure and time on catering to those who eat the earth. We can no longer sit by and watch.