Mourning an Ideal

Where to begin? I'm really not sure when education and common sense became wastes of time in the mass population of the US. People blame it on the internet and social media, but I think it started before that. The only thing social media did was speed up the effects of our choices.

I admit it, I'm old. I remember 4 channels on the TV. I remember when it signed off at midnight with the flag waving and the national anthem playing, then the white noise and fuzzy screen appeared. I remember when nightly news had reporters in the field, and news anchors who had studied journalism and broadcasting. I remember when someone sitting and spouting an opinion was a separate entity from news. When fact and opinion were recognized as different things. They are different things.

I am working in another country, and watching from a distance as my home grapples with its choices, and the consequences of them. I'm telling you that if someone had told me forty years ago that we would no longer care about war, or felony charges, or loss of civil liberties, or that our tolerance for alternate truth would be boundless, that our regard for the education and protection of our children would matter less than our regard for someone's right to carry a semi-automatic weapon with them into Walmart, that we would ignore the creation of monopolies in all the major industries without considering what the ramifications would be....I would have thought that person was insane. That anyone who had been in a history class would understand the danger signs. That the country wouldn't ever allow this state of affairs to become a reality.

I know brave people have worked tirelessly for years and years, bringing evidence to our attention and speaking clearly and calmly. Then shouting over the din of disinterest. Then rioting, thousands strong, trying to be heard. But we, as a country, have allowed money and power to be our idol, and it has taken control. We have become addicted to the fantasy that being famous and rich can be anyone's reality. That what happens around us doesn't matter. That other people don't matter (unless you need them to like your video on your youtube channel) and that the all mighty "I" wins.

The US is the toddler of nations. We are young and loud and sure of ourselves. We stamp our collective feet when we don't get our way, and we expect everything to go our way. Other countries were once where we are now. They were young and full of self importance. They allowed their self love to become all consuming and, at times, they struck out to show other countries how superior they were.

They were ruled by ruthless oligarchs, suffered under tyrants, were covered in the blood of war and defeat. They suffered for their arrogance, and they became wiser, humble, slower to act. Far sighted.

I wish, desperately, that the US wasn't in this state of teetering on the edge of this self made precipice. I hope I'm proved wrong. But if I'm right, I hope the nations that are older and wiser will show compassion when the toddler stands up and begins to grow up.