Often, the misdeeds of a few poison the well for all.
As of this writing, I've been on Earth for a little over 34 years, and all of that time was spent in middle America. I've watched the paranoia of the 1980's, the depression of the 1990's, the horror of the 2000's and the confusion of the 2010's, and I often wonder about the pattern. Surely, there must be one, a piece missing, albeit out in the open.
The 80's was a time of narcotics, street crime, city grit; it was a place where blue collar labor all but vanished, where white collar crime accelerated into untold fortune, where fear really took hold: Fear of losing your job, fear of being a victim to some awful crime, fear of pollution, fear of Satanism, fear of crimes against children, fear of machinegun toting narcotic-crazed maniacs roaming the streets, fear of family farms vanishing, fear of factories shutting down, fear of poverty and lack of education.
The 90's seemed to be the answer - it was at least more optimistic. But truly, nothing changed. While TV shows like Cops showed police cracking down on unfortunate drug addicts in the privacy, security and comfort of your living room, perhaps providing some kind of pseudo-relief, minorities finally exploded with rage, burning down LA. Music like Gangsta rap and Grunge revealed an undercurrent of depression, disenfranchisement, and rebellion - and this wasn't just an Elvis hip-thrust rebellion with white t-shirts and cigarettes, this was guns in your face, ripped from your car, or mom and dad walking in on your shotgun goodbye-note.
The 00's (pronounced "aught's"), started with a contested election stolen via nepotism, the scepter handed to the son of the former ruler by his brother - something you'd expect in a third world hell hole. It was followed by a terrorist attack that didn't just permanently change this country, but basically ruined it. Our ruler turned the US war machine back on a country which his father hadn't had the balls to conquer, and which hadn't been involved in the terrorist attacks whatsoever; perhaps something you'd expect from Ancient Egypt, Rome or Greece. After that, we convinced ourselves that 24/7 surveillance of our personal lives wasn't just acceptable, but necessary. Moreover, we needed to kill Muslims (religious terrorists), we needed to kill Mexicans (narco-terrorists), and we needed to renew our fears of the Reds (Chinese and Russian terrorists). In 2008, the white collar criminals allowed to run the show since the Reagan-Voodoo 80's and Clinton-Corruption 90's bankrupt the entire fucking country and brought us to the brink of pure madness. Once again, the fear set in - fear of drugs, fear of minorities, fear (and fact) of losing jobs, fear (and fact) of losing homes...
The 10's has been a decade ruled by a black man with a Muslim name - something once thought impossible, and by all rights should have been considering where we'd come from just ten years previously. Once again, minorities exploded as deep-seated racism in this country was exposed. The US has remained engulfed in old wars from the previous decade, as well as new wars with the usual old Middle Eastern boogeymen (Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Democrats, you name it). People are still broke, pollution is still bad, climate change is still raging, and we're all basically going to die painfully, and soon. We're even on the brink of electing either a comic book madman, or another lying nepotist, to our highest office
Is it no wonder, then, that we are all depressed, stuffing pills in our stomachs to forget, drinking ourselves to sleep at night, grinding one another into bloody nubs out of spite? Is it any wonder that we are all obsessed with our phones, and electronic toys - ANYTHING to take us away from the creeping horror that is just outside of our doors - murder in the streets, civil war, racism, struggle, brutishness, a fallen empire. An invasion. A ceasing.
Fight the urge to look at your phone. Fight the urge to post to Facebook. Fight the urge to watch television reality shows. Fight the urge to spend another dollar at Wal-Mart for something you don't need, and probably don't even want. If you want to save this country, be loyal to each other. Wake up from the spell and spend time with one another in person. America IS great, if only we could remember to make it that way ourselves.
Hold the door open for a stranger. Let someone ahead of you on the road. Help pick up something someone dropped. Say hello to your neighbor. Leave candy for the postal carrier. Clean up your yard. Shut racism down when you see it. Stop raping your college co-eds and learn how to ask their permission. Be your own damn person, find your own interests, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid.