The Un-united States of Apathy

Hello again. I’d like to take a minute to thank anyone and everyone that has taken a moment to read my opinion pieces. I know my blog has recently gone from motivational and self-affirming to being hopefully a more thought-provoking blog on your personal rights.  At first blush, these two topics may seem worlds apart: peace, love and Zen vs. law, debate, and structure. But with some thought, I believe you will see that you can not have one without the other.

I am a natural born American. For generations, my family have been born in America and enjoyed all the benefits that this great country was founded on. We’ve been cowboys, musicians, scientists, service men and women, housewives, teachers, business owners and farmers. Just like your family, we’ve enjoyed the freedom to pursue our own dreams, speak our minds, protect our country and families and numerous other freedoms.

Almost every day I am reminded by the mainstream news of the influx of immigrants to the great United States of America. I hear their stories of fleeing tyrannical governments that control their very breath. These immigrants have no voice, no ability to choose, no ability to pursue any quality of life in their home country. Some of them have risked their very life to come to America, not for handouts but in order to work, to provide themselves and their families a better life. I also have heard, second hand, that these same immigrants are very concerned with what is happening with their new government, our government. I have heard people are having flashbacks of what they escaped from, see patterns and examples of dictatorships they have fled and can not understand how the American people cannot see everything that is slowly being taken away.

I’ve been investing a good amount of time thinking over their statements about the changing requirements around voting, the mandates around COVID-19, the movement to strike down Roe vs Wade, putting one segment of the population over another. I’ve researched how stagnated the Congress is due to partisan politics and special interests. I’ve looked into how being a politician is no longer a privilege and an honor but a career. This is a career with a big paycheck, a fancy car, a cadillac insurance, crazy perks and Congress gets about 4 months off a year. Virtually nothing gets accomplished in the course of a year. Plus, when a new member to Congress is elected, eager to do the right thing, the powerful career Congressmen run right over them. But this is a whole other story.

And that brings me to the actual topic of this article, The Un-united States of Apathy. Since before the states were even named, the freedom loving people of this nation set their differences aside and fought together against a common foe for the betterment of all and freedom from opression. And this continued over the years. Whenever a threat to freedom or a person’s God given right to be treated as a human raised it’s ugly head, the American people would set their differences aside and join together under the stars and stripes.

I’m afraid the United States is no longer united. A good portion of our Nation appears to hold their needs, their private causes and agendas above all else. A good portion will not even entertain listening to another person’s point of view. They find no need to participate or even pay attention to local, state or federal government. With their blinders on, they happily revolve in their own little world, oblivious to what may be coming. There is a serious case of widespread apathy when it comes to government. A good portion of the American people are not interested, are not excited and just plain don’t care when it comes to the government’s daily activity or any agenda they may have. Everyone appears to be so engrossed in their own little world, that as long as the government hijinks and overreach doesn’t directly inconvenience or impact them in a negative way, they let it slide. They do not consider it important, relevant or even changeable.

So, as we keep our eyes focused on our own little worlds, quietly behind the scenes our rights are being stripped away. One day the immigrants will be lining up to leave the United States and Americans will be scratching their heads asking why. One day Americans will not understand why, when they go to the doctor’s office and because of their class or status, they can not get the treatment they need. One day Americans will raise their hands in disgust when they can not go to their favorite coffee shop because the government has deemed that shop does not supportive of the current government view. The American public will not understand when one morning they open their eyes and their life and the lives of their family will be controlled by government mandates that they may or may not agree with. Unfortunately, by that time, it may be to late.

I have opened my eyes. I have chosen to start paying attention. I am looking beyond my own little world at the bigger picture and am beginning to understand the intricacies of what is going on in my United States government. I am beginning to understand how it will affect the American people and the world. It is a big, overwhelming puzzle most of the time. It does have a lot of moving parts, but I now understand that I need to make my presence known and my voice heard before my choice is gone forever.

If you are an American in these United States, if you are enjoying the freedoms provided you by the Constitution and the Americans that died to preserve your freedoms, please take the time to evaluate the current situation. Our world, both domestic and abroad is changing and the direction is not good. Do your research and make a conscience choice on what you want to do. There will be no mulligans. May the un-united become United against a common foe. May the apathy running rampant through America turn back into pride.