"Our history is told through the lens of a shallow comic book." I think about this a lot. How when I was a child, it was so clear who is the good and the bad guy. We were told the guy in prison is bad, the guy in uniform and the guys in suits, those are good and decent and trustworthy.
And now, as an adult realising it's all upside down. The guys we were told are good are actually the bad ones.
It rips right through you like an earthquake when the worldview shatters, it can drive you mad. I absolutely understand how people end up there, going 'crazy', on the fringes. You need people around you, a community, in order to survive this, in order not to fall off the edge of society. Nobody can get through this shit alone. Not if you are awake and aware to the horror.
This was good in the way ugly truth can be a relief. Lately I’ve been more vocal out in the world about whether or not I want to keep this whole charade up. I can’t afford my lifestyle anymore. I bought a foreclosed cabin on a little creek in a dumpy town and started my version of the American dream. But insurance is running me into the ground and people in dumpy towns in the mountains are finding their entire communities burned to the ground too frequently. Plus I’m 55 and really struggling to make money. My parents are 100. Literally. I have 17 year old twins, and all of them have serious medical problems. The US has no place for that. You’ve got to be healthy, prosperous and thirsty for $22 cocktails. Or you are nothing. Then the people that have actually lost their homes and livelihoods are truly ignored. And further down our imaginary ladder of what matters are the immigrants, who’ve busted their asses to get here, been shipped to places where there are lots of democrats and given Walmart wardrobes and backpacks and then….sent into the streets. Ignored. It’s an American specialty. Can we discuss solutions? Or are we too far gone? Is the solution to take my privilege, sell out and leave before the collapse? Even my dad, who is 100, is looking toward socialism for answers. Or at least more socialized programs and safety nets.
Ooof I feel this, Camille, and I'm sorry that things have been so hard. I feel like these days I vacillate between wondering if things can still get better, and looking up dual citizenship options in Ghana. I'm not from there, but they recently said anyone who could prove their ancestry traces back there can apply for and receive citizenship. When I'm far enough down that spiral I remember that Ghana's government has long been corrupted by the type of right-wing, venture capitalist's nuts who are currently supporting the downfall of this one as well.
What drives me insane is that the solutions are clear and we have the ability to implement them. But as long as the ultra rich are unwilling to make money hand over fist, but at a slightly slower rate, and our elected officials choose empty power, money, and self interest, I don't know how we get there. Even then, if those two things shift, our country is so punch drunk on white supremacy, patriarchy, and the "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" ideology, we might end up sabotaging our own liberation.
All I have is my willingness to have empathy and speak truth. That's what's holding me together these days.
Stanley - that is such a good reminder. To keep speaking up. Maybe the mess we are in is related somehow to the pressure on the white supremacist patriarchy recently applied, and the dying of a generation? That might be a dream though. In any case, thank you for the thoughtful words. It helps to find each other out there. I’ll look forward to more of your writing.
ohhhfffff. This hit so hard.
"Our history is told through the lens of a shallow comic book." I think about this a lot. How when I was a child, it was so clear who is the good and the bad guy. We were told the guy in prison is bad, the guy in uniform and the guys in suits, those are good and decent and trustworthy.
And now, as an adult realising it's all upside down. The guys we were told are good are actually the bad ones.
It rips right through you like an earthquake when the worldview shatters, it can drive you mad. I absolutely understand how people end up there, going 'crazy', on the fringes. You need people around you, a community, in order to survive this, in order not to fall off the edge of society. Nobody can get through this shit alone. Not if you are awake and aware to the horror.
Thanks for reading. I have been trying to find a ways to point out these inevitable but unnecessary cycles I feel capitalism is sucking us into
This was good in the way ugly truth can be a relief. Lately I’ve been more vocal out in the world about whether or not I want to keep this whole charade up. I can’t afford my lifestyle anymore. I bought a foreclosed cabin on a little creek in a dumpy town and started my version of the American dream. But insurance is running me into the ground and people in dumpy towns in the mountains are finding their entire communities burned to the ground too frequently. Plus I’m 55 and really struggling to make money. My parents are 100. Literally. I have 17 year old twins, and all of them have serious medical problems. The US has no place for that. You’ve got to be healthy, prosperous and thirsty for $22 cocktails. Or you are nothing. Then the people that have actually lost their homes and livelihoods are truly ignored. And further down our imaginary ladder of what matters are the immigrants, who’ve busted their asses to get here, been shipped to places where there are lots of democrats and given Walmart wardrobes and backpacks and then….sent into the streets. Ignored. It’s an American specialty. Can we discuss solutions? Or are we too far gone? Is the solution to take my privilege, sell out and leave before the collapse? Even my dad, who is 100, is looking toward socialism for answers. Or at least more socialized programs and safety nets.
Ooof I feel this, Camille, and I'm sorry that things have been so hard. I feel like these days I vacillate between wondering if things can still get better, and looking up dual citizenship options in Ghana. I'm not from there, but they recently said anyone who could prove their ancestry traces back there can apply for and receive citizenship. When I'm far enough down that spiral I remember that Ghana's government has long been corrupted by the type of right-wing, venture capitalist's nuts who are currently supporting the downfall of this one as well.
What drives me insane is that the solutions are clear and we have the ability to implement them. But as long as the ultra rich are unwilling to make money hand over fist, but at a slightly slower rate, and our elected officials choose empty power, money, and self interest, I don't know how we get there. Even then, if those two things shift, our country is so punch drunk on white supremacy, patriarchy, and the "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" ideology, we might end up sabotaging our own liberation.
All I have is my willingness to have empathy and speak truth. That's what's holding me together these days.
Stanley - that is such a good reminder. To keep speaking up. Maybe the mess we are in is related somehow to the pressure on the white supremacist patriarchy recently applied, and the dying of a generation? That might be a dream though. In any case, thank you for the thoughtful words. It helps to find each other out there. I’ll look forward to more of your writing.