I come from a tiny village in the far northwest corner of Minnesota. When I was growing up, you waived to the customs officials and border patrol guards, because they knew you and they trusted you. That is now a dim memory, especially since 9/11.  

I began to question things in the 1990s. As time went on, it became clear to me: There is no ‘good’ side to be on. All sides are corrupt.

Since the financial collapse of 2008, things have gotten much worse for me. I worked for over 23 years for the federal government. I had to leave and take a deferred retirement because of my health in early 2010. I tried working in other jobs, but none paid me what I once earned in government, and for the first time in my life, I had no benefits, including health care. I was in a limbo for awhile, not able to afford insurance myself, but not qualifying for medical assistance in my state.

I was a lucky one. I applied for SSA Disability and after 18 months, won my case.  Now, with my disability, and doing as much homesteading as two health-challenged over 55-year-olds can muster, we manage.

What I’ve always worried about – ever since I was a little girl staring at a TV screen showing the erupting social unrest in the 1960s – is the bigger, long-term picture.   

I have come to this conclusion: Once again, we are at that point in the historical cycle, where the rich have become obscene and they will only stop if someone makes them. Sooner or later, there will be a revolution. An uprising. Some sort of upheaval is inevitable…

Everything else until then are band-aids and fingers in the dike.

Trish is a retired federal employee, who still lives somewhere in northwestern Minnesota on a farm. She and her partner Bill try to live a simple healthy life by gardening, and raising a motley crew of chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, and goats. Their livestock guard dog Gandalf keeps them all safe.

Trish’s Blogs:

St. Vincent Memories – One Small Town in Minnesota

Scribblings from Memory: I grew up somewhere near Lake Wobegon, but not far from Walton’s Mountain

Prairie Woman (Life in the Slow Lane)

Our Mothers (A Caregiving Journey)

Penny Plain, Twopence Coloured: Adventures of a Toy Theatre Novice