While Being Burnt by the Flames

So...I have avoided talking about the current situation in the U.S. because it feels futile.  It doesn't feel safe for free speech anymore, and it is overwhelming.

I don't think this feeling is unique to any specific side, I believe both sides are perhaps feeling the same way. The difference being is one side has a slightly more percentage of population.  We can wade into the informed versus the uninformed or misled but I am not going to go  there either.

What's terrifying to me is watching the demise of progress that not only the early 2000's brought but also the progress that has occurred since the 1960's.  I can comfort myself that polices can be reinstated, replaced or recreated.  It has to be acknowledged that what in less than four years has been undone will take decades to address.

It was explained that there is a demographic (or a mixture of demographics) that are terrified of what the world looks like right now. It doesn't look like the Happy Days, the Waltons, or even Family Ties, Home Improvement, and Full House.  Women are working, women are independent, children are smart and incredibly verbal and no longer silent or invisible. Families consist of all configurations, not just man-wife-child. People are allowed to be openly who they are and that doesn't look the same as it used to.  The balance of caucasians and minorities are more equal than ever before.

It is understood that as generations age out, the world will be more accepting and open.  However, what has been discovered is that those outdated morals and ideas have been passed down more than anticipated. The new generations have been emboldened by the current administration like never before.  Because now it is okay to be open about a person's hatred and ignorance.  It's okay to be violent either with your words or your actions.  It is okay because our leaders accept it and have encouraged it.

What's specifically scary and puzzling to me is that these same demographics cling to their beliefs yet their beliefs in no way support this kind of behavior. Love thy neighbor, turn the other cheek, therefore by the grace of god go I.  Then add fear, ignorance, greed and violence. The news media and social media with it's misinformation and hyperbole just adds fuel to the flames. 

Yet as afraid as that demographic is of the changing world, the folks with differing opinions are just as scared that the world that they have fought to create feels like it is disappearing.

This isn't just about policy, This isn't about party versus party.  This is about racism, sexism, greed. This is about glorifying/worshiping bad behavior.  This is quite literally risking the republic, the environment and it's citizens.

It feels like the world is on fire and folks are enjoying the heat even though they're being burnt by the flames.

#VoteBlueNoMatterWho