Captain America

Being in the Captain America fandom has led me to Thomas Paine. Did you know that Roosevelt quoted from his Crisis when he made his great speech to rally the people against fascism after Pearl Harbour?


'These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.’


Bucky Barnes, future Winter Soldier, would have heard that.

In which I talk about Captain America and my own church

Do you remember that scene at the beginning of The Winter Soldier when Sam Wilson asks Steve how he finds the 21st century. He clearly expects a grumpy old man the grass was greener in the past answer, but gets a really positive answer. One of my favourite insights into Steve’s radical nature.


So a while back at church the Minister asked the congregation to talk about whether things were better now or worse than in the 1950s. I was mentally shuddering because the average age in the congregation is like the far side of 75 and I expected a fairly conservative response. I am one of the young ones and I’m in my mid-40s. I expected a whole lot of talk about how much better things were in the mythical 1950s in which there was vast economic prosperity and everyone knew their place.


But! The very first person said how wonderful the eradication of polio was. Like that was the top of mind comparison to the past for someone who remembered that disease. And the next person said how brilliant immunisation is and how children don’t die now of diseases which used to kill. Bear in mind that these people certainly saw their siblings and friends die and probably their children too.


Then there was an outpouring of positive statements. Nowadays women don’t have to quit work when they get married! They earn a lot more than they used to when jobs were listed separately! Aboriginal people are citizens (though obviously there are still problems there)! One of the most amazing statements was from a man who said ‘remember the excitement’ of the 1970s when almost every day a new nation appeared, with people seeking freedom in Africa and Asia (although also still problems there)!


My take away – people are basically nice! And also, eradicating polio is a really big deal!