A catastrophic earthquake in Afghanistan, killing at least 1,100 people. An entire village and its 1,000 inhabitants wiped out by a landslide in Sudan. Thirteen dead and more missing in devastating floods in China. Raging wildfires consuming countless acres and taking lives in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Greece, Canada . . .

When the gods get pissed off, they don’t hold back.

All I can say is, we must have finally crossed the threshold of their patience to warrant so many natural disasters at once. Don’t you think it’s time we began paying attention?

Are the powers-that-be trying to tell us to get our act together and begin behaving like rational human beings? To stop killing our planet — and each other — and start fixing our broken world before it is no longer capable of being repaired? To stop bowing to fascist leaders and get busy mending our fences?

In the 1960s — the days of “peace, love and brotherhood” — a group called the Youngbloods had a hit song titled “Get Together,” about choosing peace over war, love over hate. The chorus went like this:

Come on, people now
Smile on each other
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now.

Listen to the folk music of the ‘60s; really listen to it. Listen to Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In the Wind,” and Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction.” In today’s world of anger, hate, and heavy metal, they may sound corny . . . even hopelessly Utopian. But they speak of a better world, of striving to do the right thing, of a brighter future.

And what’s wrong with that?

Given the chance, would I go back to the ‘60s? Yes, I would — and not only because I’d be young and sexy again. But because the world would have those 60 years back . . . a chance to undo all the damage we’ve done to ourselves, to grab those missed opportunities to save our planet and ourselves.

We can’t go back; but we can change our forward path. We can be the instruments of that change. We can, as individuals, speak out against the destruction and vote for a new, better direction.

Peace, brothers and sisters. Peace.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/2/25