Opinion: America …what the hell have we become?

 Dear America, what the hell is wrong with you? It’s hard to narrow down to just one complaint because lately, society has taken so many steps back with the lack of common sense and decency that it’s hard to imagine a return back to normalcy … EVER! 

From 2016 to present day, society has turned into a giant ball of cluster-f*#! that continues to grow like a snowball going down a mountain. Many can argue that it didn’t start there but these past few years have been predominantly stupid. 

Let’s start with 2016. America was tired of politics as usual and wanted a change. We had to choose between a jaded “Karen-esque” career politician with a less than favorable approval rating as Secretary of State and an over-the-top self-professed playboy with no political experience and an unapologetic way of expressing himself and not giving a crap. Oh, and let’s not forget the guy who wanted to legalize weed, let Americans live free and whose campaign slogan was “Make America Sane Again.” 

Those were our choices and Americans made a loud, obscene statement by electing an even louder and obscener president. It was almost comical to see the reactions of every liberal talking head stare in horror with their mouths agape looking similar to the way I did the day I accidentally shoved a straw inside my mom’s nose and realizing that the chancla was about to enter my world and alter my life in ways I cannot explain. 

For all intents and purposes, Trump’s presidency wasn’t all bad, if you take away all his tweets, obscure press conferences, his controlling behavior, his narcissism and so on … and honestly, Americans knew what they were getting with him so there shouldn’t have been any surprises. We knew that the Democrats would never be willing to work with him and in my opinion, were hoping he would fail. Who does that? It’s like wanting the pilot of the plane you’re a passenger in to go head on into a building because you don’t like him. 

Unfortunately, the Trump presidency brought out the butt ugly in so many people. True colors have never been so bright until now. Decency toward each other has always been a problem but for whatever reason, it became a lost art. Sure, we had our problems pre-Trump in regards to race relations, especially between people of color and law enforcement, but the issues seem to have escalated tenfold after the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and many others. While half of society condemned the killings, the other half appeared to find excuses to justify their killings. Life is life, is it not? When did it become OK to murder a man because he was on drugs? 

Oh America, what have you become? There was once a time when Americans pledged allegiance to our flag and everything it represented and vowed to do whatever it took to support our country in every way possible. When we were at war, we were all at war, together. Yet we can’t seem to get on the same page when it comes to defeating a virus. Our political leaders are playing tug-o-war with our lives and so many of us are jumping on one bandwagon or another using small sound bites heard on YouTube as factual evidence. We accuse experts of hidden agendas as if they are these evil geniuses trying to eradicate the world of Trump supporters. 

We are at war and our weapons are a vaccine and a mask and yet people would rather sacrifice the lives of their loved ones to preserve their “freedoms.” Give me a freaking break. 

You want to cry “My body, my choice,” yet are so Gung-ho about limiting the ability of allowing women to make a choice on abortion. You can’t have it both ways. 

Here’s the part where I channel the late Billy Mays when I say, “But wait, there’s more.” 

Just when we thought America couldn’t get worse, the events of the 2020 presidential election left so many of us with our heads buried in our hands silently mouthing “WTF” in unison. Never mind the candidates we had to choose from. Never mind the rabid followers in caravans of 4x4s driving around with rebel flags and Trump 2020 signs. Never mind the constant cries of a stolen election. What happened on January 6, 2021, made us the laughingstock of the world. The s*#! hit the proverbial fan on that day and there was no turning back. What happened, happened and there is no taking it back. And yet, that was just the beginning. We’re traveling in a tunnel right now and there doesn’t seem to be a light anywhere in sight. 

But let’s take politics out of this conversation. Society seems to have reached a point of no return after the events that unfolded in Houston at the Travis Scott concert. When did we, as a society, become so obsessed with celebrity that we have no regard for the safety of others? Why are we packing 50,000 people into a venue and encouraging those 50,000 people to go all-out crazy and rush the stage creating a dangerous surge and causing people to literally drown in a sea of people? By the way, did the pandemic end in Houston? I don’t remember seeing anyone wearing a mask in all of those videos when they reported nine people dead and several hundred injured. 

Take Scott out of the equation. People are losing all respect for human life and the fact that the surge continued even after people were falling is very telling of the lack of human compassion all because people felt the need to get closer to celebrity. 

Now, put Scott back into the equation and the fact that the show went on for 40 minutes after people were reportedly getting trampled and first responders were arriving on the scene. Again, head buried in hands mouthing “WTF.” 

All in all, can we be surprised at how society seems to regress? I mean, after all, we live in a society that is so quick to call major news media “Fake News” the moment a news story conflicts with the opinion of certain consumers, yet those same people will follow a Facebook journalist known for his involvement in human trafficking and his violation of a cake in City Hall. 

God Bless Your Hearts 

One thought on “Opinion: America …what the hell have we become?

  1. I agree with the fact that it feels like people continue to care for each other less and less. I am constantly stuck between the thought that the world has always been this way and I am just now starting to be mature enough to understand that there are very few people in the world who actually care about others and not just themselves. Like you said, people will risk the health of themselves and their loved ones just to make a political statement. It is so hard for me to comprehend that because I just cannot wrap my head around the idea that people truly do not care about anyone. Not even their own families and loved ones. I would hope that within all the unprecedented times that we are experiencing that people would be there for one another but unfortunately that does not seem to be true.

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