USA! USA! ... USA?

Okay. I have to admit that I've been a non-political creature for most of my life.

In my teens and twenties, the world of government was like another planet. What they did had very little to do with my life, and I was happy being mostly ignorant about it. I was dealing with people on a face to face basis, and I really didn't believe in anything that controlled the way people lived their lives, as long as no one was doing anything to hurt anyone else.

However.

I have watched and listened to media become progressively more conservative, promoting a message of self-righteous anger, contempt and intolerance.

I have seen the outlets that control what information we receive become absorbed by a few large corporations.

I have seen a government that promotes legislation to favor corporations, permitting sometimes criminal methods, repeatedly taking actions to reduce corporate accountability.

I have been witness to a steady chipping away of the rights of common people, and the destruction of all programs that support the common welfare.

I have watched the right wing visciously attack the left, and repeatedly attempt (often successfully) to not only overpower, but if possible, destroy their opponents.

I have heard the people in charge of our country make it clear that they do not trust us with the truth. They do not wish to be questioned. They do not allow dissenting opinions. And I have never seen them, under any circumstances, question their own motives or admit to any mistakes.

I know they began by fighting for what they believed to be true. But they have learned to fight for it in ways that destroy the truth.

What will result from this?

Germany fought to change what they believed to be an intolerable situation following World War I. How, in trying to make things better, did they make themselves into monsters? Were they a different species? Did their entire population go mad? How did they cross the line that separated them from the rest of humanity? How did they convince themselves that they were doing the right thing?

I want to try to explore what is wrong with the way the current administration is handling the power they have been given, using as much factual information as possible. I feel that the pendulum has swung too far in one direction, and the force of it threatens to break the entire mechanism.

I see a movement on the left to challenge the bullying behavior of the right by matching it in intensity. Perhaps this is necessary to pull the pendulum back into balance. I hope that this is a healthy anger, and that the forces pulling in the other direction will have the wisdom to know when to let go. I certainly do not see that in the behavior of those now in control.