America, we can do better.
“What is honored in a country will be cultivated there.” — Plato
As our country struggles to redefine itself, I was going through some old notes as a way of self-reflection and a mental escape from reality. And I stumbled upon a quote I wrote down some time ago — “What is honored in a country will be cultivated there. “ — Plato
It dawned on me, and I started to question — What are we honoring as a country? What are we cultivating for future generations? What foundations are we setting? What do the American people stand for?
Nationalism. Entitlement. Selfishness. Arrogance. Greed. Murder…
This is America — “Home of the incarcerated. Land of the arrogant.”
Police brutality. Political divisiveness. Fraudulent stock market. COVID epicenter. Social defiance & injustice. Gaslighting.
Our sense of belief and values are based on the pseudoscience taught by the media and social influences that we seem to be warping our judgment of reality. Facebook. TikTok. CNN. Fox News.
America is at war with itself.
War Against COVID-19
The entire world is at war with an invisible enemy that we are still learning about, fighting to save and protect ourselves and fellow humans. However, America is now the epicenter. Europe has banned travel from the US.
As daily confirmed COVID cases hit new highs, troves of young people rush to bars, restaurants, and beaches to get their social fix (with no masks or social distancing) as if the virus never existed or disappeared.
Bars are packed. Beaches are crowded. Campaign rallies are booked. Streets are flooded with protests.
In recent years, I’ve done my best to refrain public opinion and simply converse among close friends, but my fellow citizens… We are lacking common sense and have an ungrounded sense of entitlement because we believe our civil liberties are being violated by stay-at-home orders.
Instead of taking necessary precautions to protect ourselves, friends & family, and fellow citizens, we are driven by our self-interest with complete disregard of public health. This not an attack, but a fact, and it’s shameful. We are essential carriers of a viral contagion that can kill another person.
Not to mention. The “leader” of the free world has claimed multiple times that the virus will “disappear” without any smart, proactive measures to slow or stop the spread. Pure lunacy. As of this writing, there are 2,817,620 cases and 129,575 deaths in the US alone.
My uncle, who works as a nurse in LA County, is seeing more and more COVID positive patients. We see massive spikes again. How can we say we support our frontline healthcare workers when we have a blatant disregard for their safety and family? Are we so prideful and ignorant that we put others at risk?
Stay home. Learn how to cook. Drink at Home and invite a small group of close friends.
America, we can do better.
War for Basic Civil Equality
George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Stephon Clark. Alton Sterling. Walter Scott. Tamir Rice. Michael Brown. Eric Garner.
Racism is gaining courage.
We are in the decade of watching black people die from police brutality on the media. We are seeing videos of Americans yelling racial slurs to Blacks, Mexicans, etc. Once again, fundamental civil equality for black Americans has resurfaced.
Social media is flooded with arguments against the Black Lives Matter movement, arguing that statistically more white people are shot and killed more than blacks and Hispanics, claiming all lives matter, and that systemic racism does not exist.
Adding more fuel to the fire: the “leader” of our country is holding rallies in places and on dates that have a history of racial significance and is still building his famed border wall.
What’s worse is that Nazi symbolism is being used for the re-election campaign. At this point, it’s more than a series of coincidence and unfortunate events.
Here’s the problem: no one sees the real issue, and many often stand firm for what they believe in — classic cognitive heuristics.
We are blinded by how we were raised, how we are taught, and the media we watch. Our world is an echo chamber of confirmation bias — Rarely do we question what might be wrong with our values and beliefs.
Because we didn’t grow up as a Black American, we would never understand their social injustice. Imagine the fear of being pulled over in a traffic stop, being stopped and questioned in a community because being out of place, or being treated differently in a liquor store if your card was declined.
Black Americans have to work extra hard, give the best performance, and be at the top of the class to make it in this country. It doesn’t help that community development makes up such a small percentage of a city’s budget, whereas police budgets are massive.
We need to educate ourselves and see the real issue.
America, we can do better.
The US is falling from grace.
We have become a pariah state. With all the information and knowledge at our disposal, somehow the powers that be have succeeded in keeping us numb, dumb, and divided.
Education has failed us.
The government has failed us.
Big business has failed us.
The justice system has failed us.
The media has failed us.
I love my country. I am grateful that my parents immigrated so that my siblings and I can have a chance at a better life. I wouldn’t live anywhere else. The United States will always be home because there’s no other place like it. I accept all of its flaws and imperfections.
But, our country is actually on fire, and no one is coming to save us… so how are we going to save and re-educate ourselves?
America, how can we do better?
