General Discussion

...I would like to add that we have seen a great deal come and go in our children's lives and our lives. As a loyal Democrat I have voted a straight ticket since I was 18. I was one of the first in my generation to be able to vote at 18. I am an activist and have seen the political, decay since Reagan. I think Ro Khanna gets it more than most ~ but the Dems are actually coming for Progressive Dems with their funding to get more conservatives (who are frankly clueless). Then I saw my so-called "allies" go into the back room and give everything away. I hope I do not get banned for saying this, but iMO Rep Khanna is telling Dems the bare truth. He says it is time for the elders to step aside. I think he is right but we old farts have been there and done that too.

My kids are First Nations(I am not) but as a parent who participated in meetings, classroom activities, and gatherings, powwows, meetings, etc. I have watched their way of doing things. The elders run the show. they come first in everything ~ food, housing, and support. Whatever they say goes. While the elders seemed out of touch at times, the truth is they have been doing things this way for 15,000 years right where I live. Youth have to lower their heads, STHU and listen. But the elders included the young, they just had the last say in what they see!! I often watched thr process and I heard wise decisions because the running theme in that culture is that the elders know best.

As Lau Tse said once, (not the direct quote but I hope close), "You never know your future until you know and come to terms with your past." Many elders can see a little farther because of their own mistakes and their own stands in their and their loved one's lives (not all elders as the fool we have in office right now)

I have to say until we stop admiring youth over the pride of having silver hair and earning every grey hair myself, I can tell you they came from making mistakes we would rather our younger loved ones do not make. Some of those greys came from standing up in spite of the heart aches it caused but was the truth. But the thing I saw in the First Nation's culture was a respect for what elders have seen and know ~ but these elders always collaborated with the younger people. But in the end, after considering everything the elders always had the last say. This is why it has lasted over 15,000 years

Yes I agree we need to let the younger people to step up and take over ~ it is a good way it is in The First Nation's way as well. But in the background, the elders were the last say. I am not saying our youth worshiping culture can ever be the way of First Nations, but we can at the least listen to elders.

Again we have been there done that. We may know a few things and yes we do not have the energy of the youth, but we have an interest because when we are gone, they need our wisdom to carry on. But these Seniors we have in power just do not get it. they never learned a single thing about real life or how others get hurt for their ridiculous decisions. They may intimately knowand have faith in the System and how to navigate it, but why it is not working is they need to go.

My 2 cents, Cat from Seattle