The entire planet seems in upheaval, most especially our nation. Riots and protest marches larger and more inflammatory than anything seen in the 1960’s. Each day brings a new headline of misery, confusion, or negativity in some form or other. We are being hammered each day with virus numbers that don’t seem to be improving, even though they are, rather dramatically. 

Our social media pages are filled with vitriol against the current President, while past Presidents, including the often maligned George H.W. Bush are praised as though they were never lightning rods of controversy. 

Members of our government are actually defending China. Imagine that, defending a communist dictatorship that imprisons people in order to “re-educate” them, tortures them, and commits more human rights abuses in the name of self-preservation than almost any other nation, save North Korea. Yet, politicians and many other “influencers” refuse to denounce their actions, preferring to focus their ire on their own nation. 

Speech is being regulated and censored not only on social media but in everyday life. The mere act of speaking one’s mind against the current social justice flavor of the week is enough to get your business “cancelled” or you fired from your job. In many ways, the current environment is worse than the McCarthy era of the 1950’s, as “cancellations” and firings were more contained back then. Today’s destruction is mainly due to the massive influence of today’s social media platforms, of which we seem unable to exorcise from our everyday life.

Universities are packed to the gills with one political point of view, and while they espouse diversity throughout their campuses, there is a significant dearth of diversity of thought, the very reason for the existence of universities in the first place. The result is the churning out of foot soldiers that we now call college graduates, who are, in many cases, little more than drones carrying forth the message of their professor overlords, most of which center on Marxist or anti-American ideology. It’s not much different in the other levels of education either. Destruction from within is the surest form of destruction ever devised. The effects from weapons can eventually be repaired and societies put back together, but when the soul of a nation becomes corrupted or co-opted, there is little hope for its continued survival.

None of the above sounds very appealing, and in truth, re-reading it myself fills me with dread. There is no hope, at least according to the above paragraphs, and if that is so, why stay in the fight? In fact, why write this at all? 

Try this. Take a moment away from this writing. Just one moment as I’d like you to continue to finish my effort here when you’re done. Take a moment and go look out your front window, right now. I’ll wait. There. Did you see it? I’ll wager it was nothing. Now, take a further moment and imagine that you’ve divorced yourself from social media in totality. No more news headlines, no more Twitter or Instagram nonsense, and certainly no more Facebook. Think about those you interact with on a daily basis. As many people as you can think of. Do that now, I’ll wait. How many of those interactions were positive, productive, and without malice aforethought? I’ll bet almost all of them. No thought of race, religion, ethnicity, or any of the other social justice dogma being force fed into our collective consciousness. I’ll wager that for those few moments you felt pretty good, maybe even relieved, casting off the weights that social media can place on your shoulders. 

See, this is the point of this piece today. Maybe a bit Pollyannaish, but true. For the vast majority of us, our immediate circle, and maybe just a bit wider, is not full of hate, ruination, or hopelessness. There are individual circumstances like that, to be sure, but even in the darkest times, those that wish to see light will. It’s what keeps us putting one foot in front of the other each day. The nation is not falling down around us, despite what the thought mongers of newspapers, television, or “movement leaders” wish you to think. Generally speaking, life is lived in a small circle, consisting of our family and those in our immediate vicinity, and very little else. I’m not suggesting that there should be no concern for the rest of the world, or for those in our very nation or community that need help, to the contrary. It’s the best of America that reaches out and helps others. We are the largest donor of foreign aid in the world. That’s not counting our charitable donation, be they public or private. It’s our way, always has been.

However, do not subscribe to the fact that because Donald Trump is the President, or that the news media and social media are pumping headlines at you that are negative (and almost always get the story wrong – intended to generate clicks, and money) that our nations is about to implode. It isn’t, at least not in your immediate circle. Not now, not at this moment. Remove social media and the news from your life, and most will realize that the impending doom dissipates, save local taxes, and the occasional argument over a parking space. 

So, for today, take a step back. Relax. Enjoy the day and unencumber yourself of the world’s problems. Things are not as bad as they are made out to be. Take a deep breath. Today. Now. 

Besides, there’s always Monday.

©️Mike the Writer 8.9.2020