There were failings of epic proportions during the day of the Capitol Attack but let’s not forget that there were egregious statements and actions taken by people every day leading up to this moment. This wasn't unexpected. Not in the slightest.
This has been over 50 years in the making (at least). My studies so far point to multiple converging points of growing division on every meaningful metric from back in the 70s. Things were going in a shockingly positive direction in the 60s, and a series of assassinations then changed our course forever. It started becoming reality with various decisions of government and the revelation of our flaws to the populace as a whole.
We've been falling apart for 50+ years.
What's really challenging with this time in human history is figuring out how to identify and manage problems. We also need to recognize that our current understanding of the magnitude of these problems has blurred.
It used to be easy to know what was a local issue, a statewide issue, a federal issue, and a global issue. Information naturally filtered itself so that the farther the problem was to the community you regularly preside in, the less you knew about it. Especially on a short-term basis. We don't actually need to know most of the news in this world, definitely not on a daily basis. It doesn't provide any value, it just exacerbates our problems. And local news has died. In its place are millions of citizen reporters with no dedication to a set of organized standards and expectations.
In general, we've become a way more sensitive and intolerant society on all sides In America and across the globe. We're taking morals and applying them as if they are ethics.
Furthermore, the special interests have been able to further manipulate political representatives, the news media, and social media with an unparalleled level of efficiency. Their power has amplified.
There is no sideline. Ignorance is no defense. Americans need to wake the fuck up and take some Goddamned ownership of the situation we now find ourselves in. This is the fault of the intolerant on both sides. This is the fault of free reign corruption and special interests. This is the fault of bad politicians who were voted in because good people didn't participate in our election process. This is the fault of our economic inequality. This is the fault of our prejudiced society. This is the fault of so many things I can't even begin to describe.
"The Kingdom gets the King that it deserves." Something about this quote really makes me ponder.
What does it mean?
I don’t know where I first heard this quote but it never sat right with me, not when I was an idealist. Millions of amazing people are just out there trying their best. They are inherently and truly selfish. They know that true selfishness shapes itself as purposeful interaction within the communities we preside. A truly selfish person wants to be appreciated within their community. They want to be acknowledged for work well done. They want their family to have a good name to carry forward into the future. All of these wants of the truly selfish require behavior that is recognized as kind and beneficial.
As a realist I look at the behavior of individuals online, the ever increasingly polarized political climate, the ever blurred line between fact and fiction, the rising lack of trust between the common folk and the experts, and the overwhelming response of America that decried the temporary economic hurt over the massively permanent loss of human lives… as evidence that we are a nation that deserves the likes of massive corruption and cruelty.
Trump was the populist who poured more gasoline than anyone since Nixon but every president, every congressman, and woman.. they've all played a significant role in the demise of our country.
But the people who take the cake are the ill-informed electorate that consistently makes the same foolish mistakes and decisions out of weakness.
We claim kindness, we claim strength, we claim superiority, we claim righteousness, we claim that we represent all of the best things about this world…
But that claim is false, was false, and will continue to be false until the basic member of the electorate is expected to be all of those things.
We applaud men and women like McConnell and Loeffler for doing the (partially) decent thing, finally. We applaud Romney for his staunch defense of our constitution (a thing he has historically trampled on many times). We excitable cheer on Pelosi as she holds onto grudges and prolongs the suffering of countless people because she didn't get "enough". We celebrate the people who do the bare minimum and our bars are only going lower and lower.
This is the America we deserve.