We're running backwards, y'all

One of the reasons why I love watching certain old movies and TV shows, or listening to particular old songs or reading vintage books, is because if they were good enough in my youth, they’ve proven to be even better now with time because culturally and artistically, the vision that created them was forward thinking. 

They gave me hope.

But the same can’t be said about today’s politics. 

Indeed it is absolutely shocking how devoid most politicians  and political parties are of imagination today. Instead of finding new ways to inspire us to be better citizens and better human beings towards one another (assuming that’s your purpose in the first place), the politicians/political parties today actively look for ways to keep us divided and at each other’s throats.

Yes, I understand that the ultimate goal of politics - said or unsaid - is power, and the acquisition of such, but is it imperative that we deny each other’s humanity and citizenship in the process?

Let’s take a look at 2023….the year that just ended.

Many of the political hallmarks, if you want to call them that, involved how many major political figures invested themselves in denying the truth, regardless of what it was.

Apparently some whip smart political consultant decided that if you tell the same lie long enough, and enough people ultimately hear it,  you can get away with it because more and more people will believe it. Certain folks covet this philosophy, because they consistently act as if the only “truth” that exists is the one they make up!

So we have politicians trying to rewrite our history right in front of our eyes so that they can play games with our legal and election systems for their own nefarious purposes. We have private businesses brazenly ignoring federal law as it pertains to accommodating the disabled because they don’t particularly want those folks on their properties.

And we have elected officials still engaging in redrawing political voting maps in a manner where certain citizens are not allowed to fully participate in legislative or congressional elections because those citizens threaten the political power machinations of those elected officials.

We’re running backwards, y’all! 

And clearly many of us are not paying enough attention because now we have an alleged criminally inclined ex-president who will most likely become the presidential nominee for his party, and members of his party in Congress attempting to impeach a sitting president with no evidence of wrongdoing, just to justify the fact that they are supporting the alleged criminally inclined ex-president for reelection.

Gone are the days of common sense, common decency, and common respect, especially in our politics.

We once saw helping the poor leave their lives of poverty for lives of personal prosperity, as a noble endeavor.

We once saw building bridges of understanding  across racial and cultural divides as societal responsibilities.

We once saw insisting on the highest standard of truth in everything we did, in hopes that by doing so, we were helping our children better understand what kind of society we were hopefully building and leaving for them, as the right thing to do.

We were once very proud to be running forward, being Number One in the world in education, prosperity, and social justice.

But today, all of that has changed!

Today, how far back we can turn the clock of progress is considered a worthy achievement.

How much we can ignore the obvious evidence that climate change is real is hailed as  standing for something, even though the increasingly hot temperatures and violent storms tell us otherwise.

And being blind to obvious injustices committed by our allies, just because they are our allies, seems to be a necessary evil.

No, we were never perfect, and I’m not suggesting that we ever can be. But once upon a time, there seemed to be a pride in at least leaning towards our better angels. There seemed to be a recognition of the important role the church played in our daily lives, and encouragement that it continue to do so.

There used to be a greater intolerance for abusing the minds and sensibilities of our young people with crap passing for music or films or television shows, robbing them of their early innocence, just to make a buck.

Yes, once upon a time, we seemed to be building a foundation on which we could all stand and be proud of who we are as a nation.

Where is that pride today? Where is that purpose?

Anyone who claims that we are better off as a nation now than we’ve ever been is either dreaming recklessly, or lying foolishly. Those clowns who boast that re-electing a certain allegedly criminally inclined ex-president will “Make America Great Again” are hoping you buy into their dark state vision without question. And it’s a shame and disgrace that literally half the country already does because those folks viscously hate the other half with a passion.

Yep, we’re running backwards, y’all!

And this year’s elections will clearly determine just how much ground we cover in our quest towards a finish line of mutual destruction.