I was raised to believe that I was growing up in the greatest country in the world. It wasn't a statement of opinion, but was presented as a fact, backed up by historical evidence. We were the good guys. We saved the world in WW2. We were always on the side of the just and the right. Anyone could be successful. Everyone had rights and freedom and the chance to become whatever they wanted to be if they just worked hard enough. It was a wonderful way to grow up. It felt secure, safe, and real. I was taught that I was among the most fortunate, simply because of the country of my birth.
When I grew up and started reading, listening, watching, and thinking for myself, I saw this for the fairy tale it was - a beautiful fairy tale based on exaggerations, narrow perspective, good lighting, and flattering mirrors. One that I needed to look beyond in order to see something closer to reality.
Yet I continued to believe there was a kernel of truth to it all. I believe that our country, like all countries has always been imperfect, but that the true fortune was living in a country that encouraged its citizens to find, call out, and remedy those imperfections.
I believe that the ideals that the nation was built on do exist.
I believe that there are citizens and officials at all levels who want to be a power for good, who work to care for our citizens, and who desire and strive for peace in the world.
I even believe that they exist in both parties. While we might disagree on what is best for people, I believe that most people do want what we each believe to be the best for our country.
Or I did.
Now that belief is disappearing at an unimaginable rate of speed.
A man, a president, has referred to himself as a king.
He has tried to overturn one election and has already made allusions to remaining in office beyond a second term. He has said that the rule of law doesn't apply to him because he is saving the country.
He has openly sided with a dictator whose critics have a bad habit of falling out of hotel windows or getting poisoned. He has disrespected, antagonized, and abandoned our allies, all but spitting on the ideals that my uncles and grandfathers fought for, while embracing those that they fought against.
He has allowed someone who nobody elected, whose name never appeared on a ballot, to bully congress and worm his way into our most sensitive information. He has allowed that same non-elected person to gut programs that feed children and provide medical care, to cull the funding for research that aims to cure diseases and prevent future ones, to fire lifelong public servants based on race, identity, or sex, to end careers on a whim.
He has filled cabinet positions with an astounding lack of knowledge, experience, or wisdom, endangering our health, safety, and wellbeing.
He has threatened states who don't teach what he wants taught, as well as the free speech of college students, even using the truly un-American phrase, "illegal protests." He has threatened to imprison Americans for the crime of protesting.
He talks of selling off our national parks, calling for deforestation and unfettered mining and destruction. He is allowing billionaires to profit off of our country while selling out everyone else.
He thrives in hatred, fear, and chaos, holding nothing as sacred save himself and the almighty dollar.
But somehow he is still loved. He is revered, even worshiped by his followers. He seems to be unstoppable. His party, whether drunk with power or frightened for their jobs or safety, stand by and do nothing, while billionaires use their limitless funds to buy silence, complicity, and favor.
So, is it over? Is that the end of the US? Has the global good guy of my youth become the new villain? Have our tribal natures brought us to such depths that "owning the libs" is worth throwing away the entire Constitution, the entire rule of law?
And what of "The Libs"? What can we do? How do we fight a behemoth? Do we march? Hold signs? Boycott businesses? Make phone calls? Post on social media? The hopelessness feels overwhelming, the task daunting.
For me, and for now, I will write, since that is what I know how to do. I will try, in my small way, to convince others that this is not ok. Meanwhile I also still cling to hope. I hope that people will see what is happening. I hope that someone will draw a line and hold it. I hope that our system of checks and balances will hold. I hope that this will not cause the suffering that seems inevitable.
Mostly, I hope that our children are wiser than the generations that came before. And that our country survives long enough for them to save it.
