What Have We Done?
What in the World Have We Done?
We live in a culture where division is rampant. People have stopped being civil. Competitions and political races have become verbal assault arenas. It's so unnecessary. Positions of leadership should go to strong individuals who understand how to work well with others.
Think about it. If we keep electing people or choosing leaders because they can scream the loudest, dig deeper dirt, and throw the most damaging accusations, we will get exactly what we deserve. Chaos, confusion and pain.
Kindness and cooperation still matter. We watch sports teams. Imagine if every member of the team called himself or herself the most important? They would be fighting each other, focusing on defeating their teammate and in no time the team would lose every game. Why? Because they were no longer a team. If teamwork makes the dream work, isn't it obvious egotism and self love will destroy every group effort?
How can we turn this mentality around? It feels impossible. It’s trite to say this idea came out of every child getting participation trophies and honor for simply attending workouts and games. But it did. The idea we should pat our own backs and demean other human beings so we can pretend to be leaders has created a situation where all the wrong people are running the show.
It will likely take another crisis or catastrophe to unite Americans again. Hostility, jealousy, and contempt for others has become normal. I am appalled at this division. Families have been shattered over politics and social dilemmas. Civil debate has ceased to exist. Insults and hostility are not only accepted; they are celebrated. What is going on? When did we, as a people, decide being kind was out of fashion?
I am a journalist. I love research and facts. I love that reporters are charged with presenting the who, what, where, why, and when of all stories. It isn't the journalist’s role to tell you to believe what they believe or to slant the story with manipulative photos and innuendo. I was taught that is yellow journalism, journalism based on sensationalism and crude exaggeration. Because television stations and newspapers are owned by biased individuals who prefer profit or political bias over truth, many journalists are being forced to report in ways that challenge their ethics and training.
Americans did not set out to fight each other, to abandon life long friendships, to emotionally separate from a spouse, a parent or even their own child. Media and insincere leaders deliberately caused this division, knowing our strength was in our unity. How did they do it? Let me count the ways: Abortion, Covid-19, masks, vaccines, sexual orientation, race, gender, charity, homelessness, poverty, religion, empathy, and so much more. They mock and demean certain groups while pretending to preach tolerance. Never has any group on earth been less tolerant than those who tell us we must be more accepting.
Will we fight this new “wisdom” or will we lose everything we’ve held dear, most importantly each other? Stop listening to these egregious grandstanders. They have no good intentions for us. None. I quite imagine the parties and laughter they share as we march to their wicked drums. Do not think both sides of the aisle truly hate each other. It's us they hate. Our happiness. Our freedoms. Our love for our country and our fellow Americans. Once you realize we are nothing but a way to make even more money for them, you might just join me in turning off your television, saying a welcoming hello to your neighbors, getting back out into the world and demanding this division stop.