Welcome to the New America Where You Can Expect Anger, Hatred, and Violence Wherever You Go
Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart
I’m old enough to remember when the news contained some
positive and even uplifting stories. Of course, that was more than 50 years ago.
Today’s television news would never report something which does not contain
sensational stories, bringing emotions to the surface, guaranteed to increase
advertising dollars.
This story is not entirely about domestic terrorism and the
gun violence which accompanies these tragedies. It is about a new atmosphere of
anger, hatred, and violence which dominates our daily life and therefore
television news.
Like mass shootings, we hear about the commission of hate
crimes almost daily. Before Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017, the
Southern Poverty Law Center reported an 80 percent rise in hate crimes
committed against minorities, various non-white ethnicities, non-Christians,
members of the LGBTQ community, and women. In 2021 a rise of 12 percent from
2020 was recorded with 65 percent of those crimes committed for reasons of nothing
more than race or ethnicity.
This weekend, a 23-year-old man, Travis Ikeguchi, was shot
and killed in Cedar Glen by police after he allegedly murdered the owner of the
Mag. Pi clothing store, and tearing down her ‘pride flag.’ Lara Ann Carleton
was 66 years of age, the mother of nine children. Ikeguchi proceeded to flee
from the scene, shooting at patrol cars, before he lost his own life when
officers returned fire.
Hundreds of political leaders preach violence based on
hatred every day. If you fail to agree with their fascist, distorted views of
our nation’s future, you are the enemy. This means that the majority of our
nation’s 330 million American citizens
are opposed to right-wing politicians and their vision of our nation’s future.
I will be completely honest here. One entire party supports
racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, and
anti-Semitism. They are all supporters of Adolf Hitler and his agenda in 1930’s
Germany. This is an irrefutable fact. It has been this way for a very long
time, but they only became open about their beliefs between 2017 and 2021.
It is unsafe to leave your home in 2023. The United States
of America is the most violent nation in the free world, and domestic terrorism
will destroy our nation if it is not seriously addressed by our corrupt and
incompetent government.
Every extremist on the right-side of the aisle uses tactics
of falsehoods and baseless conspiracy theories to support their efforts to win
elections.
Throughout history, leaders controlled their nations through
fear combined with extreme nationalism. These are the primary precepts of fascism
and the basis for an autocratic government. A subset of these tactics is the
division of a nation. This effort has proven successful. Our country’s division
is irreparable in my lifetime. The basic premise of “The United States of
America” is no longer a possibility.
If our nation’s people continue to exist in an atmosphere of
fear, there is no hope. Fear is a primary emotion. No great man or woman was dominated
by their fears, and no nation can claim to be great and respected if fear is the
predominate emotion.
Today’s fake Republicans survive on fear and hatred. Emotions
are the greatest weakness owned by mankind. They prevent intelligent thought,
and diverse opinions. This is why America in the 21st century is the
most ignorant nation in the world. Ignorance is not normal, it is a choice.
Trump’s cult chooses to be misled and will continue to offer him their
allegiance until their dying day.
It's your choice, our beloved America can continue to exist
or be replaced by a fascist dictator supported by plutocrats. I choose freedom
and the protection of human rights.
Op-ed by James Turnage
Sources:
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/14/1163290897/reported-hate-crimes-increase-2021-new-fbi-data
Find my nine novels here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/James-Turnage/author/B00LOCJ2Z2?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
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