Point of no return?

I was watching TV Land today--ok, before you judge, I am on vacation.  If I had this job situation locked up, I'd be with my grandchildren and kids in Pittsburgh, but I'm not.  So, I'm watching television.    I had been watching 'Hot in Cleveland' which is on my list of top new favorite shows.. Right up there with' Modern Family', the' Big Bang Theory' and that summer mini-series about people getting snapped up and slapped into this abandoned town. Can't remember the name: ' Persons Unknown?'  Whatever, and not the point.

At any rate, I had dozed off, woke up to find the Lone Ranger and Tonto. Tonto said something about 'Big trouble, Kemo Sabe'. So, I kept watching.  Turns out this man was locked up in the local jail.  He  was innocent.  The sheriff was alone until, well,  you know.  Our two heroes  rode up.  The 'big trouble' to which Tonto referred was a lynch mob.  As they armed themselves, the sheriff commented, "Why do people resort to lynch mobs?  I just do not understand."  The Lone Ranger, wise to the very bone, replied, 'Bigotry, fear and hate. Take your pick." I'm paraphrasing here, but you get the point. The accused man begged them to save themselves, but all three men fought off the town. Well, of course, everything turned out all right. 

Now, I know, of course, that the fifties weren't all THAT.  They weren't even half of all THAT.  That's why we had the sixties.  I am, also, quite aware, that the period portrayed by that television show was not all THAT. During that historical period, we were busy snatching land and resources from the people who were here first.  But, I have been thinking, all afternoon, about that question and the response. 

We are still, it would seem, in that same mode.  During that historical period, railroads were built across land in such a manner that the buffalo and bison were nearly made extinct.  That action led to terrible, terrible times for  the  people who depended on the buffalo  for their very lives.  This time, we may have, with the help of British Petroleum,  kicked the ecosystem right past a point of no return.  We are forcing  'illegal' immigrants back to 'their' countries, when , in fact, their ancestors may have met our ancestors' boats. We are tyrannizing people whose life style choices are not our own, whose belief systems are not our own. 

Yes, there have always been and still are today, people who will stand up for the rights of the downtrodden, the environment, the abused and mistreated.  But, are there enough of us?  ,  I don't if we have gone too far over to the lynch mob, fearful mentality or not. What to do?  We all  attempt to bring light to our little corner of the world, but is it enough?

What I do know is that all I can do, tonight,  is light my Shabbos candles, cut my challah (well, it's yeast bread that I bought on top of the hill, but she bakes it in a lovely braided circle, and it's close enough for my ecumenical self) and say a prayer for us and our country.  Tomorrow, I'll just keep on keeping on.  Just as all of people I know and love will do.  Keep on keeping on, speaking up, spreading the word and the love.