Ken Burns' "The National Parks: America's Best Idea"
PBS
Alan: In August I turned 70.
As I age, it is increasingly clear that human beings are "monkeys."
Not only that...
We are the most mischievous, destructive, murderous "family member" of all our mammalian kin.
In light of our animality --- and even more so in light of our dimwittedness (... by definition, half of all human beings have but double digit I.Q.) --- I have learned to accept that "monkey business" is standard operating procedure for homo "sapiens."
By my lights, the most illuminating "theme" of "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" was the ferocity with which residents of soon-to-be-established national parks originally opposed these federal projects, sometimes mounting armed posses to confront federal officials, issuing death threats should they trespass on private property.
Notably, when the descendents of these same "posses" were interviewed by Burns about nearby national parks today, every single one of them was florid with praise.
A popular children's story tells us that monkeys will put their hands in candy jars, seizing such large handfuls that they cannot remove their enlarged fist and prefer dying of hunger to letting go of their presumed "treasure."
The moral of the story?
Not only does time heal all wounds, it also opens the minds of all fools.
If Donald Trump truly represents "the will of the American people" (and not Russian manipulators bent on Uncle Sam's destruction) we are fools indeed, unable to let go any crippling supposition - be it uncontrolled land use, white privilege, white supremacy, the disenfranchisement of black voters or ad libidum consumption of fossil fuels.
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