Something Strange is Happening in America
Who Will Save the World?
Americans have truly morphed into something rather odd.
Have you noticed? The 21st century used to sound so space agey. I never believed that I’d live to see it.
What a disappointment it has been so far.
I expected to experience a Star Trek world by now, but instead, I get a mixture of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery and the ancient practice of bloodletting by leaches and drinking one’s own urine.
All the social and technological progress made in the last century has had the complete opposite effect on the minds of many modern citizens.
My grandmother was superstitious. I loved her dearly but even as a young woman, I knew that she was shrouded in a cloak of ignorance due to the time period she was born into and a lack of education and opportunities. She only completed the 8th grade and was married to my grandfather by the time she was fourteen. She hadn’t even had her first period yet.
Bless her little heart.
She once suggested that my mom put urine in my younger sister’s ear to heal an earache. I kid you not! And, my mom tried it. In the end, of course, after my sister wailed and cried for hours, earaches suck, they took her to the doctor and he prescribed an antibiotic. Within 24 hours she was better.
This morning on instagram there was a short update about monkey pox in the U.S.
Talk about a divisive topic. Apparently 24 cases have been identified. The article made a point to mention that there was nothing to worry about at this stage. The spread of monkey pox in the U.S. and other western countries is being monitored by health organizations all over the world.
This has been standard protocol for years in an effort to hopefully manage the spread of disease.
There was a long string of responses all of which were uncomplimentary in nature. Lots of name calling. Accusations of fearmongering and disparaging remarks about Bill Gates.
No one seemed to think that being informed held any value.
Here we are living in the most technologically advanced era in the history of humankind and people poo poo it all. They put their hands over their ears and yell nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. We live in the age of information, but hate information. I honestly think most people want to remain ignorant.
Ignorance is bliss, don’t you know.
Then there’s the people who want to ban books, oversee curriculum and control teachers, because they aren’t deemed trustworthy or capable enough as the experts to do their job. Yet, these same people will turn around and suggest that those inept professionals strap on guns to protect their classrooms.
I mean up is down and forwards is backwards these days.
I can’t seem to make sense of anything any longer. I realize that trust is at an all time low. I mean all of the systems that make a country a country are suspect now, under the microscope and ridiculed. Universities, scientists, professors, teachers, the U.S. postal service, health organizations, doctors, banks, it’s all seen as part of a grand conspiracy to destroy America.
When there’s no one to turn to, however, then here comes the charlatans and scammers.
You can count on it. And the more superstitious a person becomes, the easier they are to sell a miracle cure to or promote a product guaranteed to heal anything from in-grown toenails to hair loss and infertility.
Was it always like this?
I remember the awe that Americans felt when we brought modern appliances into our homes. I’m old enough to remember people in my rural Maine community who used outside toilets. I remember my grandmother’s wringer washer and her singer sewing machine.
When I think about the campaign to build roads across America, the space projects, or the development of the internet, I’m overwhelmed.
When I recall that the 20th century still had children working in woolen mills in Massachusetts and no laws in place to protect workers from losing limbs, eyes, even lives on the job, I’m amazed that we were able to fix so many things in such a short span of time.
I mean we fixed that shit not long after my mom was born. It was THAT recent. We’re not talking ancient history? Wow! Look what we accomplished once upon a time.
That kind of progress has come to a standstill.
We’re suddenly regressing into stone-age aptitudes. Seriously! There is so much denial and sheer stupidity on display every damn day that it leaves me exhausted and despondent.
I want to care, but I’’m drained.
To make matters worse, quite frankly, the whole world appears to be tilting in the same direction. It’s easy to point fingers at the boss, the U.S., the supposed world leader, but frankly, I don’t detect an emerging leader with better ideas to offer. It seems highly likely that if America steps down from or is pushed off its pedestal, there’ll be no one waiting in the wings to facilitate the kind of massive change that took place in the 20th century.
We need world cooperation more than ever, but I don’t see it happening.
This planet with its fake boundaries may not survive another century of disinformation, greed, and competition. The extinction of our species is a constant threat.
Show me someone, anyone, anywhere who has a plan to save this planet from the most invasive species, the human species.
Unfortunately, even if that leader emerges, and I haven’t detected any truly qualified possibilities at this point, the world will most likely put their hands over their ears and chant at the top of their lungs …
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!
Teresa Roberts is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
