Once upon a time, America was a truly special, unique place and Americans (for the most part) were as bold and forward thinking as they were generous and caring.
Sure, there were some ugly things in the past in this country, nobody with two brain cells to rub together is debating that fact. But that was in NO WAY unique to the USA. The world for the bulk of history has been a cruel, brutal place. That goes for the US, as much as it does for every other country and continent for all of recorded history. We were not special in that regard, not even slightly.
No, what made it special was that you could speak your mind without fear of persecution. You could go to whatever Church your soul guided you to, or not go at all. We had unalienable rights and were FREE to pursue YOUR happiness. Basically, the Government was restricted from pushing you around. This is individual freedom.
All of this is great stuff, right? Makes sense from a human perspective, that we should be able to live our lives AS WE SEE FIT, so long as we’re not infringing on others. Simple. Effective.
Then, of course, as always happens with mere humans “holding power”, they can’t help themselves but to try to attain even MORE power. This again, plagues all of recorded history, worldwide. It’s no surprise, it is to be expected.
What IS surprising, to me at least, is how the population today seems to be not only OK with what is essentially a hostile takeover of our country by government and their cronies in business, they seem to be celebrating it and chastising anyone that doesn’t want to get with their program
It’s bad enough when the Hollyweirdos and the sportsball morons weigh in on things they know nothing about, but now everyone with a smartphone and a twitter account thinks they know what is better for me than I do.
What happened to our bold, proud populace to turn them into nanny-state cheerleaders? Why don’t they understand that any power to compell ME to do something against my will/wishes/conscience, can ALSO be used against THEM to compell actions they themselves are against? Those that would abuse their power generally aren’t too picky about who they wield it against.
These are certainly not new concepts, and there have been a lot of words spilled on the topic over the last few years (which is probably why it’s on my mind now) but I have yet to see any reasoning that makes sense.
There is a lot of blather about this being the result of the public ed. system. I don’t buy that. It MAY have contributed to it, especially at Universities in the last decade, but a lot of the lemmings out there went through their schooling back when schools actually taught and weren’t the so-called “indoctrination centers” they are considered by many to be these day.
While I find social media kinda gross, I don’t think that’s the cause of it either. Yes, it has certainly exacerbated some problems, but there is a certain equilibrium within social media. While I don’t engage in the “big names” like FB and IG and Twitter, I do occasionally comment on YouTube and on other blogs, so I’d consider that “social media” too. And I’ve both learned AND laughed from those outlets, so I cannot condemn social media as a whole. Though generally speaking I do believe it does more harm than good.
Is it that we’ve gone from being “the great melting pot” of society to self-segregating along racial/political lines? It seems everyone is fighting for /their/ interests, which coincidentally also happen to be the “only path to justice”, so you know, they are fighting only for altruistic, selfless goals…it’s everybody ELSE that’s wrong!
In my humble opinion, I believe a combination of factors brought us here. First, fear. And it’s a biggie. Fear of the unknown. Fear of disease/death. Fear of the Police. Fear of the thugs “protesting” by burning city blocks to the ground. Fear of your business closing or your job disappearing. Fear of a government that has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that they do not care about their constituents, and in some cases look at their populace as the enemy. And this is all on top of the usual fears most people deal with on the day-to-day, like paying the rent/mortgage, buying groceries and keeping the house warm, in this era of crazy inflation, etc.
Second, I believe a lot of people are experiencing a profound sense of hopelessness/helplessness. And no, they AREN’T the same thing. These feelings come from fear. See above.
And third, we are completely oversaturated with “data” and “content”, but everything we see and hear has gone through some sort of spin cycle to make sure the “right narrative” is being pushed. Therefore, most of us feel like we’re being lied to, all day, every day. That insecure feeling of not knowing what’s going on helps cement that hopeless/helpless feeling.
This may sound like full on tin-foil hat, looney speak but I think that fear and hopelessness is what our “leaders” are counting on. If We the People aren’t afraid of some “threat” or there isn’t a “crisis” to be concerned with, then of what use is the Gov’t?
To be perfectly honest, I think a lot of our “problems” come from the fact that things in the US have been too good, too easy, for too long. We’ve gone soft. Way too soft. I don’t mean that as an insult, truly. I’m in the same boat. We’re too focused on how many likes we get on a post, or getting our hands on the latest iPhone. Worried that /our/ team/contestant/politician won’t win. Worries about our own personal “optics”… But nobody really seems to be concerned with getting along, being neighborly or being responsible and preparing for hard times.
We’re long overdue for a big Sping Cleaning. We need to find purpose in ourselves beyond consuming. And if we’re to survive as a nation, it’s time to start pushing back and reminding the powers-that-be that WE put them there to represent US. If they aren’t up to the job, we’ll find someone who is.
And as an aside, and I haven’t the slightest idea how this can happen, but I believe a good start is to remove full-time job status from Congress. I think is should be run like the National Guard – one weekend a month, with a month-long session every summer. If those people had to work for a living like the rest of us, we’d be in a better condition. Part B of this idea is that all members of congress are paid the median salary of their district, period. If nothing else it would give them incentive to raise the standards of living for the people they represent, not just their donors. But here I go again, off on a tangent…
In conclusion, I guess what I’m saying is it’s time to change perspective on Government. They are NOT our saviors, they are OUR EMPLOYEES. Clearly they are working overtime to get you to forget that all important fact.
Take care of yourself and those important to you, and remember that when you need them most, the Government will leave you hanging, if not make things worse for you. They are not your friends; you are nothing more than a taxable asset (and hopefully a vote) to them. That is all they see you as. The number one goal of Government is CONTROL. Over you, your finances, your health, your future well-being. That is not their job. Remember that with freedom comes responsibility, but at least when free you can determine your own course.
I realize this was me just thinking “out loud”, I wish I actually had solutions to the crazy mess we find ourselves living in. Nonetheless, thanks for reading!
The Boring Old Man 