These are not good times for someone like me. I love nature and the outdoors, and as we speak our national parks are being dismantled by our President. Raped for their natural resources, I’m watching in real time as one protection after another is being rolled back in the name of greed. Clean water protections are also being rolled back, in a day when areas like Flint Michigan still haven’t recovered from their enormous dilemma. Hibernating bears and their cubs can now legally be shot, and people can import animal trophies from Africa. Gay and Lesbians are being targeted all over the country, as hate crimes rise and legislation which legalizes discrimination is being passed. Separation between church and state is no longer a thing, as evangelicals influence our President, while simultaneously screaming for satanic pregnancies to be aborted. Children are being sexually abused while in US custody, and guns are everywhere. The concept of a “well regulated militia” as described in the Second Amendment seems to escape those defending it. The line between fact and opinion has been removed, and truth has become entirely relevant. Almost half of the people reading this post will consider it complete lies, despite there being documentation and facts to back it up. And then there’s the ones that will agree with me, but say it’s been also done by the leaders I supported, never mentioning that it needs to stop or is morally unacceptable. Apparently “she did it too” or “what about what she did” is an acceptable defense or reason for allowing all of these things to continue, without attempting any kind of remedy.

This nation is extremely divided and no one wants to budge. There are those so eager to prove their point and defend their side, they are willing to turn their backs on members of their family and own community in the process. One would think that if your loved one was being placed in any kind of danger or harm by a political party, you would withhold any kind of support. Yet families with gay and lesbian members seem to have little or no issue with the ramifications of legislation that would directly affect their LGBTQ brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. This is actually occurring within my own family as I’m writing this, and I’ve found myself comfortably disconnecting myself from them without regret. Even members of the gay community have turned their backs on their own, stating publicly that they deserve it for their outspoken behavior. I have a gay friend that literally stated our community deserves this President, and sited as an example, the way they dance on parade floats. I wish I was being facetious, but I’m not.

When friends and family members are turning on each other, it’s obvious that doing the same to neighbors and co-workers is a no brainer. After all, they don’t share a fraction of the emotional investment. And then there’s strangers…. who are they anyway? We’ve seen this in play so often on the news, as many Caucasians are calling the police to report African Americans for nonsensical issues, such as walking in their neighborhood… banking on the racial friction and disparity being experienced currently by law enforcement and people of color. When you start viewing people as less than worthy or even human, simply because they don’t support your elected leader, there’s a huge problem. And it’s happening everywhere and getting worse on a daily basis. One can’t help but to draw parallels to Nazi Germany, and revisit a time in human history where neighbors turned against neighbors, and reported those hiding Jews. Not unlike the way immigrant neighbors without proper documentation are being reported to law enforcement today. Being pulled over in a vehicle for looking Hispanic and being asked to prove your citizenship, is something we only saw in fictional movies up until now.

Scary times for someone like me. It seems that everything I believe in is under attack from those pretending to protect it. I fear for the future of this country, I’m not sure how this level of division is sustainable. While we fight and argue over caring for own citizens with programs like universal health care, our rivals are growing more prosperous and stronger… because they actually provide for their population. As a wise friend recently explained to me, the age of telling your kids “there’s starving children in China” has past. The starving kids are right here and we’re being left behind on the global landscape. We’re so busy fighting, proving we’re right and concerned with what the Kardashians are doing, that we don’t realize we’re in the slow lane and everyone is passing us.

Time to get our shit together.