Every
time the fourth rolls around, I think about writing something like this. A
little performance review, if you will, taking a look at the part of the
country I’ve experienced and, maybe, set some goals to improve for next time.
Every year I don’t end up doing it, because I’m doing other stuff or I’m
worried how much of a blowhard I’m going to come off as, or, you know,
laziness. Let’s be real, the last thing anybody needs anymore is one more
opinionated white hetero male telling them what to think about the country. But
the thing about it is, this year I’m a little more worried about the things I
see than usual. Yes, the president I want is not in the office right now. Yes,
the Supreme Court is about to become predominantly conservative and there’s a
very real chance that things like Roe v. Wade may be in actual danger. And yes,
the small undercurrent of race and sexism the country’s had my whole life has
now decided that it’s cool to walk around in the daytime and throw itself in
all of our collective faces, whether we like it or not.
To paraphrase the opening crawl of
Empire “It’s a dark time for the Republic.”
I find
myself, honestly, considering the possibility that things have taken a turn for
the worse from which we may never recover, but not for the reasons you think.
Certainly not because of those things above, but rather the underlying
mechanisms that are making them possible. These things are symptoms, in my
opinion. They’re not the disease. What I think has really happened today is a
two-fold problem: it’s harder for people to get ahead in this economy than a
lot of us were taught it would be, and the two sides of the political spectrum
have lost the ability to talk to each other. The reasons for this are numerous
and go beyond what I want to blather on about here (I’ll blather about
completely different things, naturally.) But regardless of where you fall on
the political spectrum, I have a feeling that you’re not happy (or at least
vaguely uneasy) with the way the country is going right now, and you’re pretty
sure the other side is the reason. If we could just get these
neo-cons/libtards/Nazis/snowlflakes out of the way, things would get better. Right?
But here’s
the thing. No matter how divided we’ve let ourselves become, we’re still
Americans. We’re still in this together. We’re on different sides of the
political spectrum, but we’re all in the same boat. The government’s not
looking out for us unless we’re part of the lucky few with enough money to make
them look out for us. For a lot of people in our country, things really ARE
bleak right now, and it’s easy to blame somebody else, especially if they’re different
than us. For the first time in a while, a lot of the arrows aren’t pointing up
for the United States. The economy’s not growing like it did for several
decades after all the other big economies blew themselves up in the World Wars
(go figure.) We’ve spent several decades making enemies worldwide and
effectively playing Team America World Police, and that’s starting to catch up
to us economically and politically. Maybe this is a blip in our history, or
maybe this is the beginning of a downturn that all civilizations go through at
some point, but we’re probably reaching a point in our history when we’re going
to have to honestly reevaluate our place in the world and maybe even take a
step back from the #1 spot and give somebody else a turn.
And yeah, that’s kinda scary.
But the bottom line is, we’re
stronger together than separated, and we need to remember that if we’re going
to get past these problems. A divided populace with each side constantly at
each other’s throat are EXACTLY what the bad guys (whoever you think the bad
guys are) want. I kind of doubt that the Russians who screwed with the last
election cared who ended up President, because at the end of the day their goal
was to put us right where we are: a country without faith in their leadership.
I’m not calling for blind loyalty and patriotism, of course, but we’ve gotta
find a way to talk to each other again. When we can’t even agree that taking
kids away from their families and locking them up in cages isn’t an ideal
solution to the immigration problem, well, that’s a problem folks. It’s like we’re
so far apart that we can’t even agree on a base-level of what “facts” are
anymore. And I stress, all of this comes from the fact that we’ve let ourselves
get pushed into these boxes (or bubbles or silos, whatever euphemism you prefer)
and don’t take the time to poke our heads out and see how the other half is
living.
Every time I’ve sat down to talk
with a person with different beliefs than me, I’ve come away with a better
understanding of the issue as a whole and a better idea of what the right
choices may actually be. I’m in favor of tighter gun laws in this country, but
I also think you’re the worst kind of naïve if you really believe that will
stop mass killings. I can’t fathom how anyone can still believe that climate
change isn’t happening, but discussions with my father about what working with
the EPA really entailed on a ground-level basis for manufacturing and
agricultural workers helps me understand why so many people vehemently want to
see it broken down. I believe health care should be a right in this country,
but I can tell you with certainty that the ACA is a half-measure that needs to
fixed and/or replaced if it’s ever going to correct the spiraling costs in the
health care industry.
Maybe that makes me a fence-sitter,
but I think the worst thing that’s happened to us is the “Primary” effect where
only the fringes ever get any air-time and only one solution can ever be
considered to address a problem. So what am I telling you to do? Step outside
your comfort zone for a while. Stop listening to the news network of your
choice (again, whichever one it might be.) Go to your 4th of July BBQ,
find somebody who thinks differently than you, whether they’re a different skin
color or just a different color on the political map, and have a calm
discussion with them about why they think the way they do. And, if they’re interested, tell them why you
think the way you do. I would put money on the table right now that you’ll find
common ground. And I truly, down to the core of my being, believe that this,
more than any other thing, is how we can turn this great-big Red, White and
Blue ship around and point it in the right direction again.
*waves a sparkler*
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