The United Selfish States of America
"United We Stand" - Bullhonkey!
Don't believe me?
Keep reading then.
Keep reading then.
"If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month."
- Pres. Theodore Roosevelt
The last few months have had a lot going on in the USA. Same-sex marriage ban has been ruled unconstitutional, #BlackLivesMatter movement, sexism, police shooting/corruption cases and Confederate Flag removal movement have been blasting all over the news, social media and even in our daily discussions at work, home and in public places.
In fact, when I have been on Facebook the last few days I've seen memes along the lines of "My Facebook is a war zone between the Confederate Racists and the Skittles Factory Police". (I'm not implying things FYI, I just grouped words together so don't misunderstand my groupings for anything more than just BS).
Let me make one thing extremely clear before I go any further. I'm not here to bash any particular group/persons or state my specific opinion on any of these issues. I'm not hear to change anyone's mind on which stance they should take. As far as I'm concerned, there are bigger fish to fry. Those are just the "minnows" of issues so to speak. I'm also not going to be very nice, and I'm going to figuratively "smack" every American in the face.
"Why the heck are you doing that?" or "WTF is this idiot talking about?", is what I can hear coming from the internet right now. Honestly, looking around at America and what it has become in the recent months, it is EXTREMELY clear that many if not most of us (Americans) have had blinders put on them, by themselves because of our extreme sense of selfishness. We are so blind that I would be surprised if we can see past the end of our own noses and it needs to STOP.
So now for the deep stuff. I hope your brought your waders, because the crap is about to get thick.
For the grammar police, please let me know what I've done wrong. I would love to fix it! :D
We are all citizens of the United States of America are we not? Good, so say it with me. "I am a citizen of this great country, The United States of America!" Good! Don't you feel a sense of pride when you say that? Now follow me again. "As a citizen of the USA, I have become divided, selfish and I have a stick up my rear end." Phew! I'm glad you were able to admit that, now we can move on to the next portion of this therapy session.
Think about the title of our country. The United States of America. We are The UNITED States, it literally says "United" in our title. We are not the Confederate States, Gay States, Straight States, Black States, White States, Racist States, Police States of America are we? At the moment we are. We are being torn at the seams across the nation. We have become so blinded to everything around us, maybe we should become The Separated States of America or as I would personally rename it, The Selfish States of America.
We have become so accustomed to "Me, Mine and screw it if you think it's Thine" kind of mentality. Demanding things are perfect, that they happen immediately have taken the quality of life down for us. Instead of working hard, we think that we should hardly work at all and just be given everything on a silver platter.
Our opinions have become so important to just us that we cannot open our minds that other ways may be better for our country and are so focused on individual rights that we have lost sight of what the Constituion covers. It covers every man, woman and child. Regardless of race, sex or religious beliefs but we are so caught up that things don't match for our race, sex or religious beliefs that we fight in court and among ourselves and we don't give up until everything meets our expectations with no willingness to compromise or consider others around us or long term impacts.
"Speak softly and carry a big stick, you will go far", - Pres. Theodore Roosevelt
Would you tell them that their definition of a cookie is inherently flawed?
That Snickers is a candy bar, not a cookie?
What if they told you that chocolate chips in a thin cake shouldn't be called a cookie either?
I know that this isn't probably going to divide you, although the discussion could actually become heated and other things might be said that could cause a rift between you and this person that would stop you from becoming friends or at least minimum, acquaintances. Who cares what one person's belief on what a cookie is? That's their belief/opinion. It doesn't make it wrong. It doesn't make them a bigot of cookies or candy bars. That's simply their opinion. Why not merge the two and get something even more delicious? Something you could share?
The same can be said for the situations that are facing us today. Gay-Marriage. You know what, if that's what the people want, then fine. That's what the system is for. However, because someone believes that same-sex marriage is wrong and maybe that their religious beliefs state the same does not make them a bigot, ignorant and stuck up person. They are following their beliefs! Same as you are following yours! Same goes for the vice-versa. If someone believes in same-sex marriage is a normal thing, that's their opinion also! Have constructive discussions, but don't belittle one another. That is what is dividing our Country!
Next, can someone please please please tell me what is going on with this racial movement?! Why do we continue to put labels on one another? You're "White", you're "Black", you're "Asian", you're "African-American" and you... You're a "RACIST"!
Remove the labels! Everyone claims that racism isn't dead, that's because we continue to use labels to separate ourselves from each other.
Why can't it be, A Police Officer from _________, shot and killed another person from ______. Who cares what race they are? Who cares if they're African-American, White, Asian, Latino etc. If we live in America, we need to just be called an American. If a person visiting is not American, then we say "a citizen from _____". If someone does something wrong, then we have courts, we have laws that take care of that. Quit pushing the racial agenda's in order to push one race above another. We are just Americans gosh dang-it! Let those things define you or influence you in your culture and things you do with your life and traditions. But don't allow them to become a barrier for you.
I could go on for days about each and every one of these issues. But alas, no one would read my post if I did that. I have three remaining items, solutions or thoughts. Because what would criticism be without solutions or thoughts to offer up? It would be disrespectful. It wouldn't be constructive. It would be demeaning to the people who don't have those blinders on and are trying to make a quiet difference in the world.
First: for those of you old enough to remember.. 9/11/2001 or the Boston bombing?
Probably the most recent reminders of when America had a shock that a nation came together. Men and Women rushed in, regardless of everything else going on. Nothing mattered except helping others. Many people died, they gave or risked their lives to protect others. Military members fight daily that we can live here without risk of our basic human right being removed or threatened.
How did you feel on those days? Would you have rushed in to save whoever it was that was at risk, even if you didn't like them for whatever reason?
Second: We need to be United once more. This time not due to terrorism or violence. We need to be United so that we are not torn asunder. We cannot allow ourselves to become divided and separated. We need to fasten our stitches, tighten our belts and stand side by side, as equals. The main keys we need to take away from being United are:
U - Undivided - We must stand together every day, hour, minute and second. We cannot allow things to split us apart.
N - Nice - We must be kind to everyone. We must respect opinions and not allow ourselves to think others opinions make them less than ourselves.
I - Intelligent - We must be able to wade through the crap that is swirling around us, threatening to drag us down. We need to think things through and provide solutions, not arguments.
T - Thoughtful/Trustworthy - Being mindful of others and being able to put our trust in one another, even though we may be different. Many puzzle pieces fit in a way, but can come together to form a beautiful picture. Even if a few pieces may be missing.
E - Excellence - Do not allow ourselves to become anything less than excellent. If another's rights are threatened, even if we do not see eye-to-eye.
D - Determined - If someone else's rights are threatened, we must not give into laziness to watch idly as it goes by. If we do not agree with that they say, we must still stand together and find a compromise if necessary.
Lastly. What this country truly needs is SERVICE. I'm going to apologize for the caps for this word. It is such an important word and action. It is what brings us together more than ANYTHING! When we help another person, not matter how big or small, we stand united! If we allow those moments to pass us by, we become separated.
If everything negative seems to be swirling around and sucking us into despair, into a pit full of crap. Find someone to serve! You will be automatically pulled from those pits of darkness that threaten to consume every one of us. Lastly, remember. If you or someone else is getting lemons from life.
-Fin-
