It has been a while since I have written here, and most of you likely do not know that I have a blog.
[Brief background: This blog was created after I left my Franciscan discernment to determine if I would be a religious friar, having gone through five months of the postulate year (first year of formation) in Silver Spring, Maryland from August 2016 - January 2017.
The day I decided to leave was the day Trump was inaugurated President for the first time, January 18, 2017, one day before my 35th birthday.
This blog is intended to document musings on my spiritual life and journey, in addition to thoughts on music, society, and politics. And I must comment a little on this. I did intend to live a more contemplative life after leaving discernment as a Franciscan; however, the pandemic with its stresses and ways of relief that I embraced, distracted me from my sincere intention of living a more contemplative and spiritual life. I am reclaiming that intention now.]
However, this is not the point of this post. The point of this post is to share a musing I was compelled to write down in a frenzy, after having seen the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Germany in the summer of 2005 (during which I was attending the Freie Universität International Summer University Composition Course led by Samuel Adler) - 20 years ago to this date(!) - on a lonely street, blocked off by authorities, with ominous shadows cast by surrounding buildings. Why was it blocked off by authorities you might ask? Because the U.S. started to become hated by more of the world due to the Iraqi invasion. The thoughts, premonitions, and fantastical musings came sprouting out of me at the site of the lonely Embassy.
I must also preface my writing from 2005 by saying the following with hindsight in 2025: I felt instinctively that 9.11 and our response to it by invading Iraq would be the beginning of our downfall. Later, years after writing this, I thought I might have overreacted and saw our demise too soon after 9.11, after the invasion of Iraq, or that the demise might never happen. Also in the writing below, I overestimated the rate at which the E.U. might turn on the U.S. and/or their readiness to go on without the U.S. in world affairs, but it does seem that it might be happening now (France has now recognized Palestine as a state in 2025 and the E.U. has acted more independently from the U.S. with regard to its dealings with Ukraine, Russian, etc.). It seemed for moment, that a few years after 2005 the world somewhat forgave the U.S. for invading Iraq, especially after the election of a half-black President. But now we have really messed up, on our own, with the election of Trump, a second time.
I did not see in the writing below that the divide the U.S. would face would be from within, without outside opposition (however if you asked me then if it could be a possibility, I would say yes). I could not see the divide that would embroil the U.S. once a half-black man was elected President in 2008, which fueled the racist undercurrents that have now flowered into a complete take over of the U.S. federal government in 2025. I could not have envisioned the manipulation of Trump that emboldened U.S. Neo-Nazis, U.S. Fascists, and U.S. white supremacists to come out in the open and wreak terror in the United States - backed and employed by the federal government! (I'm talking about ICE here.) I could not see that some U.S. P.O.C. would be manipulated enough to side with Trump and his racist fascists in this country, all for the false promise of more "jobs" and a "better economy" - I am talking to you Malinches, Uncle Toms, etc. (And since when is evil the only road to prosperity and security? Or maybe that is what a segment of human society only sees as the way to prosperity and security - through violence and evil.) I was naive to think that could not happen. I did think we were about to move beyond racism. But we were fooled. We were fooled in the '90s and early '00s by the veneer of social unity and racial progress (to some extent) without realizing that the undercurrent of the evil of white supremacy was still festering. Then these currents boiled over after the election of a half-black man as president in 2008 as expressed through the formation of the "Tea Party" that then found itself fully realized in MAGA, in 2016 with Trump as its "dear leader".
So now that my thoughts from today on July 28, 2025 in New York, New York are said with regard to my thoughts from July 28, 2005 in Berlin, Germany, I now present my musing from 20 years ago:
Berlin, Germany
July 28, 2005
Coke with ice – in Deutschland…
An American custom?
The music all around is
of that land [the U.S.]
that culture
that mentality
They [the Germans] like it so
it seems
since it is in every bar, club, and restaurant
Today I saw a man dancing his head to Elvis
in a “’60s” [American] restaurant in Germany
They seem to like the music
But do they like the country?
What is America (U.S.)?
What place does it have in this world?
Now, today, July 2005, post-9.11, post-Iraqi invasion?
The [U.S.] Embassy looked removed
The flag looked so lonely, like that of a once prominent, powerful entity that has now fallen out of RESPECT
It looked lonely
waving in the sunlight surrounded by shadows of the surrounding buildings
The street was lonely,
no one seemed to care it was there
let alone, to walk down the street
but –
you couldn’t
there were guards, police, and blocking moveable “fences”
No matter if you wanted to go there, it was not inviting
What is its place in the world? Now. Post 9.11, post-Iraqi invasion,
POST-AMERICAN EMPIRE?
Post-american empire? [lower case intentional]
The posters of rock stars
from the U.S.A.
look like clowns
American advertising may have the qualities a clown may like
The décor of the restaurant reminded me of a circus
A circus with performers
Of a façade
Almost embarrassing
What is our government doing?
Acting like clowns
Looking like clowns
maybe even
TALKING like clowns
Once a respected nation taken seriously by the world.
now
It may be taken as a clown
If our radical religious-driven government continues in a clownish manner
The world will not listen
If the stupidity of not cooperating with threating nations continues and then invading those countries occurs
The world may react
[They like American music, American drinks, American pop stars, etc.]
Iran, North Korea, the E.U.
What will happen?
Would if the U.S. invades Iran, North Korea…
Who will react?
Europe won’t be behind the U.S., but they will be fearful
We have the bomb, and we have used it.
They fear that.
“King Joseph”, a German opera about the treatment of the Native Americans by the Americans [U.S. Americans] displays that fear – the [U.S.] Americans bombed the Native Americans.
Europe is becoming united; it seems to resemble a loose confederacy! Foreign affairs, immigration, currency, a cabinet, [etc.], all regulated by the European Union!
They may be united
United against America
Out of favor
Definitely if the U.S. invades more countries with the “War On Terror”
“War On Terror” – RIGHT!
Simple scenario:
America invades more countries, North Korea, Iran, or another “terrorist” state
The world will react or the E.U. will react
Something may cause them to be involved
- militarily –
We’re in North Korea
We’re in Iran
We’re in Israel
The E.U., Iran, Palestine
Hell – All of the Muslim world, North Korea maybe allied with China?
All against the U.S.
Who will the U.S. have?
What will Britain do?
There will almost be no chance.
America is defeated.
What becomes of the country?
What will they do?
What will those in American do?
Will there be a revolt against what happened?
Will NYC become its own country?
The South?
Texas?
The Midwest?
[The] West Coast?
What will happen?
America will be divided further
Maybe even different Americas
[America] may be punished by the World
Oppressed, disrespected, looked down upon
Regulated by other nations?
The morale, arrogance, and pride of the patriotic one – ruined
Confidence and self-righteousness in the world – shattered
American will fall back on itself, hurt, bruised, befuddled
They will try to understand their place in the world
Their place in their country
Trying to find their identity
Having no influence on the world any longer
It will try to recover
In the meantime
All that will remain of America in the world will be the music, food, and cultural influences
The material items then will be assimilated and regionalized according to parts of the world
Soon they’ll forget it was American because it will be theirs
While the quiet, struggling, bruised America attempts to recover
If there is an America…
Gilbert Galindo, July 28, 2005
