The end of days? Peace out dude.

This recent election in the Excited States caused a bit of a ruckus. Don’t know if you knew about it but it was in most of the major papers. (Not that they’re necessarily relevant anymore!)

We had a bit of a ruckus up here in Canuckistan as well in our last federal election when our version of the Alt-Right was booted out in favour of people who actually seem to have some humanity and values beyond military dick wagging and capitalistic fervour.

Commentary has run from the purely panic stricken, think Chicken Little, to let’s everybody just try to get along, to holy hell Martha, we gotta get the f*(k outta this place before the Orange Shirts come marching down the main street of Pleasanton!

Got me to thinking and reflecting.

Is it the end of days?

Are the four horsemen of the apocalypse saddling up and getting their steeds ready to rain havoc on the Americas?

Throughout I have had friends reflect on what they viewed as calmer times. “We’ve never experienced anything like this before!” “In all of history never has such a calamity arisen!” “I’m going down to the basement for the next four years. Call me when it’s over if we last that long!”

I cast my mind back to when I was growing up. Just a little more than 18 months ago.

No, back to the ‘60s. The gauze of memory may have clouded our vision of that period, and so I took a look at what happened in the period of 1966 - 1969.

Come back with me now and visit the blissful and peaceful reality of that period.

1966:

The Black Panthers formed.

500,000 troops stationed in Viet Nam.

Massive race riots in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ronald Reagan elected Governor of California.

England won the World Cup of Football.

1967:

Canada turned 100 years old.

Muhammad Ali stripped of his title.

Israel, Syria, Egypt engaged in the Six-day War.

7,000 National Guardsmen deployed to quell race riots in Detroit.

Interracial marriage declared constitutional.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson increased federal tax rates by 6% to pay for the war in Viet Nam.

Rolling Stone published.

40,000 gathered in Kezar Stadium, San Francisco to protest the war in Viet Nam.

The oil tanker Torrey Canyon ran aground.

1968:

The first heart transplant completed.

U.S. troops massacred innocents at My Lai.

In Czechoslovakia, the Prague Spring uprising occurred.

Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated.

Robert F. Kennedy assassinated.

800,000 people participated in a General Strike in France.

President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act - after MLK murdered.

Viet Nam protest grow in number and intensity.

The Zodiac killer terrorizes California.

1969:

Charles Manson and his lunatics undertake a murder spree.

Woodstock happens!

Man lands on the moon!

250,000 people march on Washington, D.C. to protest the war in Viet Nam.

America introduces the draft lottery to keep feeding the supply of young people for the war in Viet Nam.

And, wait for it, Richard Milhous Nixon becomes President of the United States of America!

Now, perhaps I’m just naive, but it’s gonna take an almighty effort by the Orange-Skinned President to rival those four years.

Nope. I wouldn’t underestimate his ability. Look what happened the last time people did that!

But, maybe, just maybe, with a little more focus on the common good and an effort to keep our eyes on keeping this world a decent place for our kids, we can ride out this storm.

God knows, we’ve done it before.

Hell, I didn’t even venture into the Cuban Missile Crisis and being taught to hide under my desk at school when the air raid sirens went off.

Of course, we Canadians have been in a bit of trouble lately for our commentary on Cuban affairs so probably best to leave that one alone.

Peace.

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