Saturday, July 27, 2024
I wish Joan Didion, one of the most significant social observers and writers, were still among us and writing. She cycled through the Great Society’s changes, starting with the Kennedy-Johnson years, and wrote about societal situations with worthwhile insights. I would love to have her take on America’s current political landscape and how what is happening suggests for the future.
Naturally, we can all figure out for ourselves the ways that current happenings would frame the future. The male-dominated Republicans, now retreating, are trying to figure out how to combat an increasingly popular woman in a leadership role, without raising the ire of their more progressive followers.
Didion would know; she’d sense the possibilities and their impact on American and world populations. Sure, there are other writers tackling the issues and doing well, but none are doing as well as Didion did.
Her thinking was like a giant net cast over vast areas, captured and offered to us in essay after essay. Now, I want to re-read Didion’s writings to learn if she was predicting at least some of what’s happening today.
Besides, Didion was simply a great writer: spare, clean, and clear; she taught others how to do it.
In my perspective, the Repubs must refigure their fighting of fire with fire. They ought to start by highlighting their significant but reticent women, like Melania, to speak on their behalf about women’s issues. And they ought to reset Niki Haley, putting her in front again to message the general public about welfare in a Republican administration.
I know, I said I’d not be writing about politics. But, friends, this is a very different round; it’s mind-boggling and increasingly demanding attention.
Dear Friends: At heart, I’m forever a student of change. Diana
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