Who are we?

[Javaman]

It’s been paining me to accurately define what we, as a nation, have been become and how we got here in the collective sense.

Is it a sort of mass PTSD? The fallout from Covid and all the machinations that left in its wake? The rise of a selfish latent racist sector of society that sees anything other than white leadership as bad? The sudden about face of our nations historic responsibilities upon the rest of the world because out of the bizzare desire for others to contribute “their fair share”? The gross emphasis upon tech as “the solution” to a world in turmoil because it’s perceived as an “best” (easy) fix? The ever expanding divide between rich and poor, completely ignored by a section that believe the rich know better? A complete disassociation from empathy because that’s perceived as weak?

Yes to all

But why?

The only analogy I can use is, is when I used to work in film. The common belief is that the director sets the tone for how a shoot would go, but that is so far from the truth. The director, for the most part, deals with the actors and very little with the crew. The tone of the set was on the shoulders of the 1st assistant director. If he or she were an asshole; yelling a lot, no common sense, not a basic good person, cast blame on others for their own fault, etc: it was going to be a shitty hellish shoot.

If a director wasn’t vein glorious and had a good competent 1st AD, the shoot could literally be magical, in that way one would dream of how filmmaking should be. It would reinvigorate a persons feeling as to why they got into film in the first place. They are rare but not impossible.

But there also is another type of movie set, the absolute very worse kind, it’s one where the director is a clueless control freak asshole that won’t let anyone do their jobs without putting in their two cents. These are the types of shoots that drive people to drink, quite literally. (Oh the things I’ve seen) You just want the shoot to be over, get your pay and tell everyone to fuck off and never see anyone one of them again. And the sad part is, the entire crew feels this way.

We are now experiencing, as a nation, one of those shoots

We, as a nation are now “led” by a vein glorious “leadership” out for a self imposed desire to get even. To show the world their latent “brilliance”.

And this, regardless of the shutdown, is what we have been experiencing: we are rudderless and continue to be so.

All “discussions” are based on greed, need for the monetary and momentary desires, the very base and ignorant wonton need for revenge and the very real belief that all “respect” is deserved simply because they are in power. And that any type of negotiation is a sign of “unmanly” weakness.

And as we all know, in the truer sense, respect is earned. And is earned by hard work, self-effacement, kindness, stick-to-itiveness, and firm thoughtful decisions. Decisions based on facts, all available information, close contacts with allies and not “gut feelings” based solely on selfishness.

We are a nation without leadership. We are a nation run by a haunting cruel 1st assist director: Miller.

Trump is now nothing more than a chaotic place holder to exercise all his warped and bizarre fantasies, on the world stage, which seem to change from week to week.

Every decision, every consideration, every choice is based solely on revenge, vanity and wonton need. Nothing is for the good or the noble. Nothing is based on betterment, improvement or hopes for the future. It’s all for now and “it’s mine because I deserve it” mentality.

I grew upon in a house full of turmoil, to be polite, and I remember my sister once said to me, “you know, we raised ourselves”. I never forgot that.

Fight as our elected Dems will do, they are not in power and they only have so much “leverage”. And in a larger sense, we as a people, are in our own.

It is upon us to define who we are as a nation.

We are at an inflection point in our history.

Do we choose betterment or will we allow base emotions of a depraved few to define us as a people and as a nation?