I'm only 10 years behind you but feel extreme guilt that we have allowed all this to happen and firmly feel we still need to do what we can for as long as we draw breath. My joy is when I see young people stepping up to the challenge, but we should all be willing to help and support them. Like Dean Roy in Vermont. He's only 14, but is running for governor. It seems crazy, but maybe THAT'S the kind of CRAZY we need!
You talk a lot about the gritty virtues of your aunts, as you do in this post, and how hard it is for kids today—yet you never talk about the obvious: how so many of them, especially the thin-skinned, increasingly radicalized ones on the far left, are the most lonely, embattled, anxious & depressed. They cannot tolerate opposing worldviews. They desperately need the grit you speak of.
You talk about racism—which is virtually criminal in this culture and seized upon, which is great—yet you avoid any mention of the virulent, harassing, rampant and increasingly violent antisemitism which is a far greater threat and turn which too many on the left turn a blind, cowardly eye.
If you’re going to call out injustices at all, have enough courage to call out the ones that need addressing and not the easy ones that ingratiate you with the people causing many of these problems too often.
You would make more sense if you first acknowledged the possible reason for subject antisemitism. It didn't just appear out of thin air. There are two thugs in this world who have caused much of all this distress. One of them is Netanyahu and the other is Trump. I shouldn't have to say anything further. The monumental destruction of human beings and their means of existence is akin to the holocaust on the other side of the fence.
I would change just one word in this post- 'left' to 'right'. To many It still rings true. Since Nixon what we are living through is the culmination of the desires of one party. The belief that not every American citizen is 'qualified' to vote. That wealthy people know best and the rest of us should calmy accept this and allow them to think for us as we work ourselves to death for them. If you can't see this bit of history (just read an unbiased history of FOX news- Nixon and Ailes) I would suggest that you read up. I, Garrison, and many who read and listen to him, are not your enemies. We are not terrorists any more that you are. Divide and conquer. The division has happened, now 'they' are conquering Democracy. It's sad to watch the decline of my beloved country, like so many former world leading ones before us. You've won. There will be only one party from now on. No choice, no 'freedom', no meaningful voting, the government will choose what school your kids will go to and where they work. Just like China-the worlds new superpower. You good with that?
Your post illustrates why it's so hard to address fundamental problems in our polarized society. Instead of being willing to sit down and discuss matters, people on both the right and left just want to blame the other side and make sweeping generalizations about them. Like kids on the left being anxious and depressed and unable to tolerate opposing worldviews. That could undoubtedly describe kids on the other end of the political spectrum as well, but this kind of finger-pointing doesn't advance the work of addressing the issues that lead to youthful alienation. Likewise, your accusation that people on the left turn a "blind, cowardly eye" to antisemitism. It shouldn't be necessary to point to copious examples of anti-semitism on the right, and I might add that abhorring the Israeli bombing in Gaza does not make someone anti-semitic, if that's what you're implying.
It is obvious from your comments that you are a one-issue individual. You seem to care about nothing but what you call antisemitism, which by your definition seems to consist of a willingness to criticize anything the Israeli government might do. Your paranoia is apparently so deep that it has driven you to embrace fascism in both the U.S.A. and in Israel. What a shame, and what a disgrace.
You should know better than to embrace a political party--the so-called Republican party--whose members and voters frequently "joke" about their love for Hitler, and a "president" whose incompetent defense secretary produces an official, physical name tag for himself that says "SSecretary of War." A "president" whose campaign created an advertisement showing a future newspaper article about the economic glory that has resulted from a "unified Reich." Sure, embrace those who thought up these and so many other "accidents" if it keeps young people from protesting war--I guess this sums up your mindset.
News flash: Some of the people who express disapproval of the No Kings protesters do so with middle fingers followed by Nazi salutes. As far as I'm aware, nobody on the left would dream of making a Nazi salute under any circumstances.
Andrew, just wondering, do you know personally very many of these thin-skinned, radicalized far left folks you write of, well enough to know they are lonely, embattled, anxious & depressed (and so forth)? Are you taking someone else's word for it? Also wondering, rather than suggesting to Garrison how he lead his life, I think it's more useful that we all lead our own lives properly. He is not a Pied Piper, after all, and if he successfully ingratiates himself with the folks you believe cause many of these problems too often, I'd be pretty surprised. Anyhow, thanks for contributing, your opinions are, um, thought provoking, and you are entitled to them, and that you (and the rest of us) may exercise free speech is encouraging.
99 counties and most have been losing population for decades. I’m a NYC kid married to an Iowan from farm country. Both her parents passed away recently and, looking back at land records, it’s fascinating to see how the Homestead Act of 1862 shaped Iowa’s growth way back when. It was a simple but brilliant decision that helped give life to the culture that once prevailed there. My wish is that, someday, people will tire of the political bickering that dominates the conversation today and turn to new ways to bring a healthy culture back to farm country. Thank you President Lincoln for the gift that was the Homestead Act of 1862.
Check the records and you will see how much of the “Homestead” land ended up in the hands of railroads and banks. The idea of a family with 40 acres in a mule is mythology.
If you have not, please read Rebecca Solnit's latest little book named "The Beginning Comes After the End". She reminds that we must look ahead even if there is no real pathway forward, but that from the ashes of these troubled times a new world will arise. The question is what we will make of and gives us reasons to believe that there are signs of a positive "change". It has encouraged me to believe in such a vision....
O Garrison, I love this post. I'm also nostalgic for a past that I never knew as well as you did but lived through just enough of to remember what I did know quite fondly. And I also worry a lot about what's coming at us all like a comet out of nowhere to slam into our world such as it is and blow us all to smithereens, which is what I can foresee in the near future. And I especially feel sorry for our kids and grandkids . . . but then again, who knows? Maybe the future will be like that Saturday morning cartoon show that we all once loved, "The Jetsons!" Maybe there'll be flying cars that fold up into a briefcase when we get out of them and rewarding but not too taxing work at Spacely Sprockets or Cogswell Cogs and a lovely apartment like you and Jenny have high in the clouds, and robomaids to keep things tidy, and a big talking dog to greet us when we come home by licking our face, and quality education for our sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters. Who knows? Maybe. https://youtu.be/tTq6Tofmo7E?si=qKNVFfafPTvCoJ_Y
You and I are among the lucky few remaining who had the privilege of being raised where family farming was common. Northern Minnesota where I grew up did not support the big farms of Iowa, but there were a lot of small ones. My grandparents owned two of those. During haying season, I helped with bringing the loose hay in from the field and stacking it in the haymow. My grandfather Kannas still had two horses, but they only roamed around and ate because grandpa loved them. It was years later before I realized the importance of that time.
Last weekend my wife and I visited our daughter and her family in a nearby town. Her oldest boy is starting college next Fall. I asked what he was going to do during the Summer. He had no answer. Although I would have liked to have suggested that he travel to the eastern part of the state and hire on at one of the many orchards that are in short supply of workers since the Orange Menace removed most of them, but I remained silent.
Our generation may not have all the answers, but what a lot of us have are memories of hard physical labor and the people we worked beside. Be well.
I think you make an interesting point. Almost every "baby boomer" I know of had part-time jobs as adolescents, teen-agers and in college if they went to college. In contrast, I don't know any person of similar age group now who has had any job.
Why did they always have to name their horses “Ned? That was my father’s name. He was humiliated back in the 1930s by the other children when that was the horse’s name in their McGuffey Reader. I am triggered, in case you haven’t guessed!
"Not my problem. Good luck kids." Now except for the "Good luck kids" that sounds a lot like a guy that lives between- or is it among- the White House, a certain private club in Florida originally built by Marjorie Merriweather Post, and golf courses. I grew up on one of those hardscrabble farms in very Northeast Iowa in the 50's. And it WAS hard and constant work with no financial guarantees. And Everything was our problem. Nobody else around to help fix it but the neighbor a farmstead away. I am still counting on those friendly neighbors in, say, Canada or Europe to help my kids out. And my kids' kids.
I spent only one summer.1954, in North Dakota with grandma and Amund...in a little town called Walcott where they had a town water pump in front of the Creamery...and that was the place the young teenagers could hang out and visit in the evenings...I was 12, from California and all the kids were so interested in my life by the beach. I was interested in their lives, feeding chickens, helping with farm chores, living in ancient houses with cellars full of canned goods, and attics with trunks full of family treasures. I remember visiting the Golberg Farm where they had a big barn.....I was barefoot and stepped in a warm soft cowpie....I can still remember the feeling of that swishing between my toes... No one back home in California had anything like that happen to them.
Another great column Garrison. You gave me a lot to reminisce about and a lot to think about.
I am familiar with the 26,000 family farms in New York, and the 100,000 family farms in Texas and I was getting ready to jump on your bandwagon to slam the corporate farms in the Midwest. But a quick google AI investigation revealed that 95%+ of the farms in Illinois and Minnesota are also family owned. I was quite surprised. There are even laws in Minnesota to ensure that farms remain family owned. But I wonder what is causing a decline in these small Midwest towns with their self-reliant culture?
I am hoping AI exposes slimy business people (who do not value hard work and spend their time looking for free lunches) and useless middlemen (and women) that do little to no real work. Unfortunately, I think the slimies and uselesses will be the first to use AI to protect their positions. We can only hope.
But on the other hand, I really like your AI vision. Something needs to clean up this complex mess our country is in.
Every generation has its own challenges, Garrison. Those of us who are now the elders were fortunate. I worry for my grandchildren in their time, this present era of late-stage capitalism, exhibited so clearly in the now vacant and soulless Iowa farmland.
Currently I am unemployed and not making a dime. They say I am too old to hire and too young to retire. When will people in this country learn that people are not disposable and expendable. We are heading to a major social crisis that will split the country apart. I am not asking that we unfairly tax rich people as punishment for being rich but that we hold them responsible for the breaks that they have received. Otherwise, whatever tax breaks they have received, if they can't prove that they benefited the American people in some way using them, then the people should demand their money back plus interest. Its your choice to pay something now; or pay a lot later.
Once again, you got me. I read your columns every day and stare at them in wonderment, and ask myself, how does this man get from A to Z every time, whilst visiting most of the letters in between, seemingly without difficulty? And what is his decision-making process for solving everyday problems? Does he meander through the hayfields before solving the day's problems?
I really liked your storey today about the farm and such, but the good feelings were nulified as you stated not my problem. I reslly dont know why though. I guess its a safe statement given the times we are in
I'm only 10 years behind you but feel extreme guilt that we have allowed all this to happen and firmly feel we still need to do what we can for as long as we draw breath. My joy is when I see young people stepping up to the challenge, but we should all be willing to help and support them. Like Dean Roy in Vermont. He's only 14, but is running for governor. It seems crazy, but maybe THAT'S the kind of CRAZY we need!
You talk a lot about the gritty virtues of your aunts, as you do in this post, and how hard it is for kids today—yet you never talk about the obvious: how so many of them, especially the thin-skinned, increasingly radicalized ones on the far left, are the most lonely, embattled, anxious & depressed. They cannot tolerate opposing worldviews. They desperately need the grit you speak of.
You talk about racism—which is virtually criminal in this culture and seized upon, which is great—yet you avoid any mention of the virulent, harassing, rampant and increasingly violent antisemitism which is a far greater threat and turn which too many on the left turn a blind, cowardly eye.
If you’re going to call out injustices at all, have enough courage to call out the ones that need addressing and not the easy ones that ingratiate you with the people causing many of these problems too often.
I agree with you on this
And what does any of your comments specifically have to do with growing up in rural Iowa?
Your rant makes no sense to me.
You would make more sense if you first acknowledged the possible reason for subject antisemitism. It didn't just appear out of thin air. There are two thugs in this world who have caused much of all this distress. One of them is Netanyahu and the other is Trump. I shouldn't have to say anything further. The monumental destruction of human beings and their means of existence is akin to the holocaust on the other side of the fence.
I would change just one word in this post- 'left' to 'right'. To many It still rings true. Since Nixon what we are living through is the culmination of the desires of one party. The belief that not every American citizen is 'qualified' to vote. That wealthy people know best and the rest of us should calmy accept this and allow them to think for us as we work ourselves to death for them. If you can't see this bit of history (just read an unbiased history of FOX news- Nixon and Ailes) I would suggest that you read up. I, Garrison, and many who read and listen to him, are not your enemies. We are not terrorists any more that you are. Divide and conquer. The division has happened, now 'they' are conquering Democracy. It's sad to watch the decline of my beloved country, like so many former world leading ones before us. You've won. There will be only one party from now on. No choice, no 'freedom', no meaningful voting, the government will choose what school your kids will go to and where they work. Just like China-the worlds new superpower. You good with that?
Your post illustrates why it's so hard to address fundamental problems in our polarized society. Instead of being willing to sit down and discuss matters, people on both the right and left just want to blame the other side and make sweeping generalizations about them. Like kids on the left being anxious and depressed and unable to tolerate opposing worldviews. That could undoubtedly describe kids on the other end of the political spectrum as well, but this kind of finger-pointing doesn't advance the work of addressing the issues that lead to youthful alienation. Likewise, your accusation that people on the left turn a "blind, cowardly eye" to antisemitism. It shouldn't be necessary to point to copious examples of anti-semitism on the right, and I might add that abhorring the Israeli bombing in Gaza does not make someone anti-semitic, if that's what you're implying.
Vacuous.
It is obvious from your comments that you are a one-issue individual. You seem to care about nothing but what you call antisemitism, which by your definition seems to consist of a willingness to criticize anything the Israeli government might do. Your paranoia is apparently so deep that it has driven you to embrace fascism in both the U.S.A. and in Israel. What a shame, and what a disgrace.
You should know better than to embrace a political party--the so-called Republican party--whose members and voters frequently "joke" about their love for Hitler, and a "president" whose incompetent defense secretary produces an official, physical name tag for himself that says "SSecretary of War." A "president" whose campaign created an advertisement showing a future newspaper article about the economic glory that has resulted from a "unified Reich." Sure, embrace those who thought up these and so many other "accidents" if it keeps young people from protesting war--I guess this sums up your mindset.
News flash: Some of the people who express disapproval of the No Kings protesters do so with middle fingers followed by Nazi salutes. As far as I'm aware, nobody on the left would dream of making a Nazi salute under any circumstances.
Andrew, just wondering, do you know personally very many of these thin-skinned, radicalized far left folks you write of, well enough to know they are lonely, embattled, anxious & depressed (and so forth)? Are you taking someone else's word for it? Also wondering, rather than suggesting to Garrison how he lead his life, I think it's more useful that we all lead our own lives properly. He is not a Pied Piper, after all, and if he successfully ingratiates himself with the folks you believe cause many of these problems too often, I'd be pretty surprised. Anyhow, thanks for contributing, your opinions are, um, thought provoking, and you are entitled to them, and that you (and the rest of us) may exercise free speech is encouraging.
You have clearly never read any of Garrison’s work. Go back to Florida.
99 counties and most have been losing population for decades. I’m a NYC kid married to an Iowan from farm country. Both her parents passed away recently and, looking back at land records, it’s fascinating to see how the Homestead Act of 1862 shaped Iowa’s growth way back when. It was a simple but brilliant decision that helped give life to the culture that once prevailed there. My wish is that, someday, people will tire of the political bickering that dominates the conversation today and turn to new ways to bring a healthy culture back to farm country. Thank you President Lincoln for the gift that was the Homestead Act of 1862.
Check the records and you will see how much of the “Homestead” land ended up in the hands of railroads and banks. The idea of a family with 40 acres in a mule is mythology.
If you have not, please read Rebecca Solnit's latest little book named "The Beginning Comes After the End". She reminds that we must look ahead even if there is no real pathway forward, but that from the ashes of these troubled times a new world will arise. The question is what we will make of and gives us reasons to believe that there are signs of a positive "change". It has encouraged me to believe in such a vision....
Thank you Pat.
All of your cylinders were firing with this column. Agree, Agree, Agree!!!
O Garrison, I love this post. I'm also nostalgic for a past that I never knew as well as you did but lived through just enough of to remember what I did know quite fondly. And I also worry a lot about what's coming at us all like a comet out of nowhere to slam into our world such as it is and blow us all to smithereens, which is what I can foresee in the near future. And I especially feel sorry for our kids and grandkids . . . but then again, who knows? Maybe the future will be like that Saturday morning cartoon show that we all once loved, "The Jetsons!" Maybe there'll be flying cars that fold up into a briefcase when we get out of them and rewarding but not too taxing work at Spacely Sprockets or Cogswell Cogs and a lovely apartment like you and Jenny have high in the clouds, and robomaids to keep things tidy, and a big talking dog to greet us when we come home by licking our face, and quality education for our sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters. Who knows? Maybe. https://youtu.be/tTq6Tofmo7E?si=qKNVFfafPTvCoJ_Y
You and I are among the lucky few remaining who had the privilege of being raised where family farming was common. Northern Minnesota where I grew up did not support the big farms of Iowa, but there were a lot of small ones. My grandparents owned two of those. During haying season, I helped with bringing the loose hay in from the field and stacking it in the haymow. My grandfather Kannas still had two horses, but they only roamed around and ate because grandpa loved them. It was years later before I realized the importance of that time.
Last weekend my wife and I visited our daughter and her family in a nearby town. Her oldest boy is starting college next Fall. I asked what he was going to do during the Summer. He had no answer. Although I would have liked to have suggested that he travel to the eastern part of the state and hire on at one of the many orchards that are in short supply of workers since the Orange Menace removed most of them, but I remained silent.
Our generation may not have all the answers, but what a lot of us have are memories of hard physical labor and the people we worked beside. Be well.
I think you make an interesting point. Almost every "baby boomer" I know of had part-time jobs as adolescents, teen-agers and in college if they went to college. In contrast, I don't know any person of similar age group now who has had any job.
I'm happy to say that I know quite a few who work their butts off and have much more focus and direction than I did at their age!
Why did they always have to name their horses “Ned? That was my father’s name. He was humiliated back in the 1930s by the other children when that was the horse’s name in their McGuffey Reader. I am triggered, in case you haven’t guessed!
Ned and Mr Ed. Oh my! And Trigger, too!
(Apologies, amigo. Couldn't resist).
"Not my problem. Good luck kids." Now except for the "Good luck kids" that sounds a lot like a guy that lives between- or is it among- the White House, a certain private club in Florida originally built by Marjorie Merriweather Post, and golf courses. I grew up on one of those hardscrabble farms in very Northeast Iowa in the 50's. And it WAS hard and constant work with no financial guarantees. And Everything was our problem. Nobody else around to help fix it but the neighbor a farmstead away. I am still counting on those friendly neighbors in, say, Canada or Europe to help my kids out. And my kids' kids.
Yes, I couldn't agree more!
Crypto-Christianity! Hahaha.
That was depressing.
I spent only one summer.1954, in North Dakota with grandma and Amund...in a little town called Walcott where they had a town water pump in front of the Creamery...and that was the place the young teenagers could hang out and visit in the evenings...I was 12, from California and all the kids were so interested in my life by the beach. I was interested in their lives, feeding chickens, helping with farm chores, living in ancient houses with cellars full of canned goods, and attics with trunks full of family treasures. I remember visiting the Golberg Farm where they had a big barn.....I was barefoot and stepped in a warm soft cowpie....I can still remember the feeling of that swishing between my toes... No one back home in California had anything like that happen to them.
Another great column Garrison. You gave me a lot to reminisce about and a lot to think about.
I am familiar with the 26,000 family farms in New York, and the 100,000 family farms in Texas and I was getting ready to jump on your bandwagon to slam the corporate farms in the Midwest. But a quick google AI investigation revealed that 95%+ of the farms in Illinois and Minnesota are also family owned. I was quite surprised. There are even laws in Minnesota to ensure that farms remain family owned. But I wonder what is causing a decline in these small Midwest towns with their self-reliant culture?
I am hoping AI exposes slimy business people (who do not value hard work and spend their time looking for free lunches) and useless middlemen (and women) that do little to no real work. Unfortunately, I think the slimies and uselesses will be the first to use AI to protect their positions. We can only hope.
But on the other hand, I really like your AI vision. Something needs to clean up this complex mess our country is in.
Take care and keep the columns coming!!
Every generation has its own challenges, Garrison. Those of us who are now the elders were fortunate. I worry for my grandchildren in their time, this present era of late-stage capitalism, exhibited so clearly in the now vacant and soulless Iowa farmland.
Currently I am unemployed and not making a dime. They say I am too old to hire and too young to retire. When will people in this country learn that people are not disposable and expendable. We are heading to a major social crisis that will split the country apart. I am not asking that we unfairly tax rich people as punishment for being rich but that we hold them responsible for the breaks that they have received. Otherwise, whatever tax breaks they have received, if they can't prove that they benefited the American people in some way using them, then the people should demand their money back plus interest. Its your choice to pay something now; or pay a lot later.
Once again, you got me. I read your columns every day and stare at them in wonderment, and ask myself, how does this man get from A to Z every time, whilst visiting most of the letters in between, seemingly without difficulty? And what is his decision-making process for solving everyday problems? Does he meander through the hayfields before solving the day's problems?
I really liked your storey today about the farm and such, but the good feelings were nulified as you stated not my problem. I reslly dont know why though. I guess its a safe statement given the times we are in