(no subject)

[siercia]

I think having just finished reading Anne Frank, having just seen The Pianist and having Where She Came From stuck in my head ever since I read it is definitely coloring my mood today. In all three, the families seemed to have underestimated the "worst" that could befall them, and in the latter two, took almost no precations. And in all of them, most of the people end up dead. This isn't a good object lesson.

Yes, I realize that they were all also Jewish in Nazi Germany, and that there isn't exactly a perfect parallel between there and what could happen here. But, again, the books I read during my different Chinese history classes, telling the tale of the Cultural Revolution echo in my head as well. Neighbors and family members turning on one another, sometimes for their own self preservation. Torture, imprisonment, death, all for exercising for freedoms we continue to take for granted here (for how much longer?).

I feel, too, like crap for thinking that I would prefer to flee instead of staying and fighting if it came down to that. It seems like an imposssible choice, with heartbreak on either side; do I protect my family and leave everyone else behind? Do I stay and face a completely diminished life (assuming I managed to stay on the right side of the law)? Could I just hunker down into the "trenches" of my job and family and not speak out, could I live with myself if I did OR if I didn't?

God I'm maudlin today. I'm not quite sure what's gotten into me.

Comments

[asmodel.livejournal.com]

Hey, everyone I know was feeling moody and cranky last weekend. Post winter blues combined with outbreak of war I think.

[halleyscomet.livejournal.com]

I've had a sinking feeling the last few months that one day a child of mine will ask me, "Daddy, where were you when they repealed the Bill of Rights?"