June 6 marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Also known as “the longest day,” the Allied invasion of about 160,000 soldiers was the beginning of the end for Hitler’s Third Reich. Less than 15 months later, with the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan, World War II came to an end. The Allied forces literally saved the world from fascism and military authoritarianism. It saved the world from evil. Those who died in that objective, and the countless wounded, exemplify the character of the so-called Greatest Generation.
Peace and prosperity followed, exemplified by the U.S. building a solid middle class. Unionized workers could make a robust living wage. A family could count on enough income security to buy a home, take annual vacations, and save for their children’s educational future — all made possible by the grit and determination honored each June 6.
In the U.S., that comfortable middle class is virtually gone. For the past four decades (until the last couple of years), wages were stagnant. The minimum wage was also stuck until recently. Unions have been targeted for decades. A rigged economy is hiding in plain sight. Billionaires make more money in one day than a lot of the working class makes in a year. Maybe in just a few hours! We have had to endure a succession of administrations that have largely been bought and paid for by the NRA, big oil and big pharma, and the military-industrial complex (invoked by Dwight Eisenhower in 1961) all doing the bidding of the few at the expense of the many.
Worst of all, the same general public that pulled together to help win that war of the world has become complicit in the inequalities and divisiveness that has people at each other’s throats. Voting against one’s best interest has become standard procedure. Halfwits and nitwits, grotesque cartoon figures, sell-outs and charlatans (do I need to name them?) get elected into positions of influence. Critical thinking is now akin to a superpower.
These are the bitter ironies that I cannot help conjuring when watching the precious few D-Day survivors hobble along those same beaches where a saner and safer world was to come owing to their incredible effort.
The world today, sadly, seems to be in contempt of the gift they granted all of humanity.
Joseph Harrington
Oak Park