“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
—Desmond Tutu
What the fuck happened? I mean seriously, what the fuck happened? How did we get here and who allowed this shit? What I am talking about is the state of our country. Over the last ten years, we have taken a new direction. But especially over the last eighteen months, we as a country have completely morphed into something that a lot of us don’t even recognize anymore. My question is, is this who we really want to be?
The list is long. It’s so long in fact that most people just throw their hands up in the air now because it is impossible to keep up with it all. Even political junkies like me get frustrated with the amount of bullshit that is going on every day. I experience information overload to the point now that it has become almost impossible to research, dispute, corroborate a breaking story. The evening news is littered from wall to wall with nothing but trump. It is impossible to have a conversation with friends, co-workers or family members without breaching the subject. And the most absurd thing about all of this is despite everything that he has done, he still has loyal followers.
Thus the question, what the fuck happened? Are all of these followers closet bigots, misogynists, racists and fake christians and now they’ve finally found their spiritual leader that has allowed them to come out into the light? Or did trump do a great job in bringing these topics to light in such a way that it has turned ordinarily good people into assholes? Does anyone have the answer?
I really thought we had turned the corner. I thought that people had started to see each other as fellow human beings. Yes, there is still the kkk and other impotent groups out there. Regardless, I thought a lot of that stuff was in the rear view mirror. Wow, was I wrong.
The hate is everywhere. From co-workers to politicians to people of the cloth, the hate extends far and wide. And they aren’t afraid to show you now. I have people that I have known for years that I don’t really care to be around anymore because of their hate. It’s disturbing. It’s quite troubling, the things that are acceptable now. Here’s my list. Comment below if I missed anything.
- Mocking the disabled
- Kidnapping children
- Pardoning convicted felons if they agree with you ideologically
- Misogyny
- Bigotry
- Racism
- Poisoning drinking water
- Raping the earth for unneeded natural resources
- Bombing other countries
- Killing their civilians
- Police brutality
- Not convicting police officers that kill civilians
- Gutting public education
- Gutting consumer protection oversight
- Gutting pollution oversight
- Lying
- Gerrymandering
- Voter suppression
- Violation of constitutional rights
- Union busting
- Judging others based on their religious beliefs
- Rape
- Sexual assault
- Political corruption
- Colluding with foreign adversaries
- Violating the emoluments clause
- Nepotism
- Bullying
- Allowing foreign adversaries to cyber attack us
Trust me, this is my short list. But what a list it is. And if you are skeptical of it, google any one of these bullet points. I dare you!
Is this really the country we want to be? Is this how we want to be known around the world? Unbelievably, some of us do. But not the vast majority. And that majority not only has the power to change it, but has the duty to change it. It is our duty and our responsibility to make things right. Your move.