I turned on the TV this morning while I marched to a set timer. It is one way I exercise when it is dark and cold outside. Early in the morning there are only news shows, usually in the format of discussions between hosts and guests, supposedly knowledgeable but for sure opinionated. This morning the hot item was the leaks about the U.S. government spying on foreign leaders and how that is pissing them off. All I can say is, “There is nothing new under the sun.”
I was never one to enjoy movies about espionage. I find them boring and difficult to follow, but also, I have been guilty of denial. I grew up believing that we Americans were the Good Guys in the world and those other nations were the Bad Guys. Well, I am not living in that denial any more.
This morning, the Amish come to mind as well as others who have formed small communities throughout the history of the world. Perhaps they can’t escape the world, but they can close their eyes to it and focus on the little problems that come to them each day where the solutions that are easier because smallness of the community makes them more manageable. In a few books that I have read recently about global warming, they suggest the formation of small communities in which people’s needs are simplified and they work together to care for one another. It sounds pretty appealing right now.