If You Think America Was Ever Better Than This—You're Wrong!
There have always been marginalized and exploited groups, that's not new just because you're among them now
The United States of America is a complete disgrace. It bullies its allies. It celebrates its enemies. It exploits the oppressed. It oppresses the vulnerable.
This is nothing new.
I get a lot of people who complain and say, “Don't lump us all together, we didn't elect that jerk.”
But first of all, it doesn't matter who you voted for. You don't get to demand an exclusion for yourself. That kind of entitlement is what got us into this mess. A hundred years from now, when the history books are written, there will be no asterisks that say, “Except for the people who didn't vote for him.”
Our president's shame is OUR shame.
He has disgraced the nation, and he has disgraced us. We live in this time, so the responsibility to forge something better falls on our shoulders.
Second, I'm not only referring to the last election. I'm talking about the whole history of this country.
The United States of America has always oppressed and exploited and marginalized the innocent. This is a nation that was built on genocide, theft, and human slavery. Did you think everything was perfect and then 2024 just hit us out of nowhere?
If that's the case, you've probably been a beneficiary of all the exploitation instead of a target. That's how injustice works. It's really easy to ignore until it happens to you. Then, people start to squeal.
A whole lot of Americans are squealing now because they're finally getting to experience the reality of America that's been true since the inception of this country.
“Land of the free?”
Bullshit.
This is a land of, by, and for the rich, and it always has been. The lives of poor people don't matter. They never have. The Untied States of America cares nothing for human life at all. If it did, we'd have universal healthcare and universal education.
But we don't.
We don't even have honest conversations about the benefits of such things.
On November 4th, 2024, women did not have bodily autonomy. We don't have the right to privacy. Businesses don't pay fair wages. We don't have access to health care. We don't have access to education.
Students are crippled with loans while corporations get billions of dollars in free hand outs. Immigrants with advanced degrees who increase the education level of this country by crossing the borders are referred to as “rapists” and “criminals.”
Those that best lie, cheat, and steal are celebrated. There are statues built to honor the legacy of traitors. Hospitals and military bases are named after murderers and serial abusers.
The rich get richer.
The poor get poorer.
That's the United States of America.
I look around and all I see is theft after theft after theft. Right now, billions of dollars are being handed over to the richest people in the world. They have access to our Social Security numbers. Sure, they'll likely steal our payments, but it doesn't end there. With those numbers they can get into our bank accounts, they can steal our homes, they can steal our identity.
They're after everything because that's the way it's always been. They want us to work until we die and then they'll dump the body in a burn pit and begin the exploitation of our children.
That's America. That's the way it's always been.
If you complain, they'll slap you in the face and tell you that people in other parts of the world have it worse and that you should be grateful.
They'll tell you that you have freedom of speech even as they cut out your tongue.
When the Russian asset was poised to take the throne, I was in tears. I turned to my wife and she was completely unsurprised. She's an immigrant, so she's been the target of unjustified American hatred and lies for the whole time we've lived here.
“I knew this was going to happen,” she said. “This country has always treated me like shit. This country will never change.”
I asked my friends in the Black community too. They were all resigned. “We are resilient. The only thing this country has ever done is try to exterminate us. We've been through worse. We'll get through this.”
You guys acting like now is something new are just not being fair to history. Maybe it's because the United States of America so effectively censors history. It burns the books that tell the truth about the crimes this nation has committed. We burn the brain cells that contain those memories, and implant new ones built by some tech billionaire designed to make us happy little workers with a phony Plasticine smile.
“Happy, happy, happy little workers! We're so lucky to live here. People in other countries don't have any freedom at all. We've never been there, but we trust the billionaires to speak only truth!”
The United States used to allow people to get lynched.
The United States used to have members of the KKK in congress.
The United States put Japanese Americans in concentration camps.
The United States denied the GI bill to Black soldiers who fought admirably.
The United States did nothing about the AIDS pandemic because they thought it only affect the LGBTQ+ community.
The United States did nothing about COVID because the president didn't believe in science, and refuses to acknowledge truth.
I'm sorry to break it to you, but this country has always been a disgrace. We need to rip the blinders away and recognize reality.
The undelivered promise is never going to come. The oppressors and the exploiters keep kicking the can down the road. They stand in front of huge crowds and talk about “hope.”
Folks, you can't eat hope! The can has gotten too big. If you try to kick it now, you're just going to break your foot.
So don't whine and complain and tell me this country isn't a disgrace. I'm sorry to hit you with such a hard fact, but IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU! Go ask somebody from a historically marginalized and exploited community. They know. They know this country has never cared for them. This country has always lied to them. This country has stolen from them and given the profits of their labor to the people least deserving of it.
We don't celebrate integrity here. If we did, a career criminal wouldn't have been elected to the highest office in the land. This country is a disgrace. It always has been.
Once we recognize that, we empower ourselves to do better. But please, please, please, stop holding on to the lie. It's time we stood up and demanded accountability.
Let them finally deliver the undelivered promise. Talk is cheap. We have to let the tyrants know that we'll no longer be united only for their benefit. For the first time in American history, we'll accept no less than prosperity for ALL. That's what united means. Lies are disgraceful, and that's all Americans have ever known.
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Well said, Walter! Take the blinders off, indeed!
We, the people, allowed all of this to happen. Since the beginning…the choice has been to take from those who seem most vulnerable and least capable of fighting back. Ask American Indians. Take, take and take some more. Sign treaties then break the agreements when convenient.
A minority of Americans chose differently. Abolitionists come to mind. Abraham Lincoln. Both Roosevelts.
The self perceived superiority of white people leads to blindness.
It’s very sad, but you are right. Americans are so limited in their view; they have no idea about the rest of the world. People in Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada are just as free as we are but also live better lives, no worries about healthcare, have more free time etc.
We have a horrible legacy of hate and racism that persists today, and now we are in the process of becoming a dictatorship.
We didn’t make it to our 250th birthday.