America needs to start over
I started my adult life as a strong conservative and registered Republican. It was the 80’s, Ronald Reagan was President, and the country was starting to have hope of better lives for all. I was young, likely too idealistic, and willing to trust the GOP to get the country back on it’s feet and running smoothly in a post Vietnam America. I never took a deeper look at society, preferring to surf along the top of the water. I stayed this way for the 12 years of Republican leadership. I ignored those parts of the party platform I didn’t agree with. Like I said, just surfing along.
Then comes the elections for 1992. George H. W. Bush was running for a second term. Bill Clinton was his Democratic opponent. There was a division of thought for me at this point. I wasn’t thrilled with George H. W. Bush. At one time he’d been the head of the CIA. I’m no fan of the James Bonds of the world, though I understand it’s necessary to have them – unfortunately. I was souring on the GOP, so in the end I voted for Bill Clinton and switched over to the Democratic Party. I stayed there for four years.
I voted for Clinton the second time too, but I stepped out of party politics and became an Independent. I saw garbage in both parties and started on the road of picking who I felt could do the job better, regardless of party affiliation. I became very tired of the two party lock on the government. The two party system was pushing the country to the same outcome, with just a little variation on how the country gets there. They are still doing so and won’t stop. It’s become a political cold war in the US.
Now here I am in the year 2020. George W. Bush had two terms in office, then Barack Obama had two terms as well. GW Bush pulled the country into an unending war with Afghanistan, as well as Iraq. Barack Obama, our first Black American president, continued allowing the wars to continue. He has, to his credit, shown Americans a different face to politics. But, alas, we then get Donald Trump as president.
Under Donald Trump we have become a very fractured nation. A deadly pandemic, social unrest and protest, an economy that has crashed, and a “dictator” in the Oval Office. What shall become of America? I don’t know.
I will tell you this, the last 3 1/2 years have slowly changed my political outlook. I see the deep systemic racism in the US. It’s always been there, but the murder of George Floyd by four Minneapolis Police have brought into very clear view of all of America. Protests hit cities all across the country, demanding change. Demanding their rights once and for all. Many White Americans, myself included, support the movement for Black Americans to obtain ALL the rights due them as an American. This and the reactions of the government and President Trump have pushed me, with the help of two young citizens, into a more radical left point on the political spectrum.
I think it’s time to tear this old shack of a nation down and build a new house. Not all at once, but piece by piece. We can do it now at our choosing or do it when it is thrust upon us all at once. What’s your preference?
Until next time
American Dystopia 