COMMENTARY FROM A BADASS WOMAN

In 1849, French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”  According to Wiktionary, this proverb makes the observation that “even the most turbulent of changes do not affect reality on a deeper level other than to cement the status quo.”  Usually this phrase is used sarcastically or to refer to an ironic situation.

Recently I set out to purge some of my files.  A collector for many years of articles and booklets on dozens of subjects, I thought it prudent to send to the recycle ben those items I believed were outdated.

Determining which ones would be purged meant checking copyright dates and/or reading at least a few paragraphs.  As I began, that proverb “the more things change, the more they stay the same” kept running through my mind.

No matter the publishing date or the subject matter, my gut reaction was the same “the more things change, the more they stay the same”.  What a sad state of affairs!

I would like to believe there is at least something, however small, I could do to the change that narrative.  But I don’t think I am wise enough to find a way.