What Went Wrong: A Reflection on America at 250

 

Global climate change science predicts we will be underwater due to rising seas. Metaphorically, is America already underwater???

With the nation’s deficit growing with each insane presidential edict—be it Netanyahu’s war or Reflecting Pool algae—to nearly 40 TRILLION DOLLARS, it would seem we are already neck deep.

When these brave men took up arms against their British overlords, do you think they had gilded, golden towers, unfettered consumerism or trillions owed to foreign creditors in mind? These simple farmers, blacksmiths and coopers just wanted a representative government that would allow them to continue to ply their respective crafts without undue government interference or burdensome taxes. “No taxation without representation,” was the rallying cry during our nation’s birth 250 years ago.

I don’t believe they could have foreseen where we are in the 21st Century—families drowning in debt, corporate greed overtaking our representative government or the malaise that’s overtaken most Americans. Our national attitude has gone from “Give me liberty or give me death,” to pass me the bag of overpriced chips and the remote. Real political change is the next person’s problem. We can’t be bothered. Meanwhile, we’ve willingly (or ignorantly, unknowingly) given over our vote to corporations. Where is our revolutionary zeal?!?! Who is ready to throw some tea into the harbor???

My daughter cries that we live in a fascist state. I understand her frustration. With real live Nazi cosplayers like Stephen Miller shaping national policy, it can certainly feel that way. DJT is merely a puppet of his Christian Nationalists handlers. But I believe his election is the result of our national malaise, the greed we’ve let soil the American fabric and our simply giving up on The Dream.

I really don’t think most of my neighbors care. That’s why they blindly celebrated 250 years of American “freedom” yesterday with flags, good and fireworks. But our freedom seems to be faltering, when women can’t get access to reproductive healthcare, children can’t get free, hot meals at school or disabled vets are denied their basic needs and end up on the streets. The dream of home ownership is just a pipe dream for many hardworking Americans. And the Epstein class seems content to tell the rest of us, “eat cake.” 

The freedom our nation was built upon was a notion to begin with, the signers of both the Declaration and Constitution held men in shackles. The notion of ALL “created by the Creator” being on equal footing was hogwash even as the ink was drying on these defunct documents. The very land comprising the original colonies was taken from original Americans. Was The Dream doomed from the beginning??

I have personally participated in protests over the last six years, but do I see any real change resulting from posters and rallying cries over bullhorns? Do I even believe our system of voting is fair, accurate or effective? Not really. What does one vote mean when elections are decided in corporate boardrooms. This is the same place we started, isn't it? Taxation without representation. Only the tax burden falls mainly on the backs of those struggling the most. The 99% are barely above water.

America, Land of the Free? Are we?