Mean America

This is not the America I signed up for.  When I was a kid we were told that America was the protector of all that is good.  We were told that America would stand up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves.  We would help others in need.  We would welcome others who could no longer live in their own countries.  We would fight for what is right, not only within our own borders, but everywhere in the the world.  We would not be assholes.

But that has changed.  Just watch the news.  Now, we're stripping our own citizens of the benefits they need to survive.  We're not allowing people in need to enter our country.  We're telling our seniors that they can't have health care unless they're wealthy.  We're telling people who can't afford to eat that it's their fault.  We're cutting ties with our allies across the world.  We are changing everything and we are changing it in a big way.  We are becoming mean to our own citizens and to the rest of the world.

Until now, America has been both benefactor and policeman to the world.  Now we can barely make it through a day without a major scandal.  We can no longer be either benefactor or policeman.  We can't handle our own business and we certainly can't handle anyone else's.  We are at a crossroads and it's not pretty.  We need to make some hard decisions.

Do we continue to look out for the world's best interests or do we just look out for ourselves? Are we a welfare state or should our own citizens be responsible for their own destinies? Should we all be responsible for making our lives livable or should we expect our government to help us?

Well, I'll tell you that I don't have the answer.  It's a tough question.  I will tell you, however, that we need to make informed decisions and we need reliable information to make those decisions.  I don't think we're getting good information today.  We're getting information that has been twisted by political parties in order to suit their needs, not ours.  We're flooded with information and misinformation and it's up to us to determine what's true and what's just someone's attempt to force their bullshit on us to achieve their own ends.

This has made is unfeeling, unsympathetic, and downright mean.  We're not mean because we're unsympathetic and unfeeling.  We're mean because we don't care that we're that way.  Who can honestly say that depriving healthcare to low income Americans is a good thing?  Unfortunately, most Americans just listen to the party talking points instead of really looking into what's about to happen to us.  We need to really dig into the healthcare situation in order to truly understand the implications of the American Healthcare Act.  Most of us aren't willing to do that, but we really need to.  The talking points offered by both parties don't tell the whole story.  They tell just one side and neither side is telling the whole truth.

We aren't taking the time to really think through these things.  They don't represent the real America and we should be worried about it.  Seriously worried.  The reason we're becoming a mean America is that we don't seem to care.  We are willing to just swallow the party line and go along with it because it's the easiest path.  If we just accept it, we are not honoring our commitments to our own citizens or the rest of the world.  We are becoming a mean, self-centered America.

You can take action now by really thinking about where we're heading and acting accordingly.  That means you'll have to read the bills that are before Congress, listen to our president and decide of you agree with him, and conduct your life in a manner that you know is right.  Make the right choice and think for yourself instead of just accepting what you hear from others.  Including what you are reading here.  Form your own opinion and do what you think is right.