Ring the Bell
It occurred to me yesterday that millennials, gen x & z will come to power in the United States soon. At that moment, I had a dream, a day dream actually. I had a dream that we get to make our country what it should be. I believe the U.S., the generations after the boomer generation, will be able to implement societal changes that we all know we need: money out of politics, a government that actually functions, a police force that serves the community instead of serving drug cartels or the incarceration machine (modern slavery — I'll explain below), social safety nets that protect our most vulnerable individuals & protect us all so we can work with dignity.
We can change this country if we stop clinging to a past that isn't working. Shed the boomer mindset. Keep what actually works about our system — the checks that keep tyrants out. Get active, stay informed, show up. That's it. That's the whole ask.
We can compete in the 21st century and let people live with dignity. A manufacturing economy and an information economy, not one instead of the other. Train Americans for both instead of chasing cheap labor overseas. Rural doesn't have to hate urban. Urban doesn't have to hate rural. And schools can be more than daycare, more than brainwashing — they can actually teach.
I believe that freedom can once again ring in the streets of our colonial cities, in city halls across the country, & in state congresses. But it will only do so if we ring the fucking bell. Ring the bell of freedom, ring the bells of capitalists who insistently take more and more as their boards get older and older, ring the bells of the politicians who are merely walking through the motions, who spread division & hatred among us as they take millions from corporate America. We 👏🏻 can 👏🏻 ring 👏🏻 the 👏🏻 bell.
But before we do, we must survive the baby boomer death throes. (I've literally been told by several baby boomers that if I can't find a job I should d1e or go to pris0n.)
Let's explore my bold claim of modern slavery as a reminder of how bad things are outside our bubbles. My home state leads the nation & most of the world in incarceration rates — interesting, right? It just so happens that the 13th amendment allows you to be placed into slavery (we can remove that, btw, we just don't... because, you know, evil) & my state constitution fleshes it out further — but instead of using the word "slavery" like the 13th amendment does, we use the term "involuntary servitude." Coincidentally, this state was also the leader of slavery & GDP in its heyday. So, now you've learned the civil war didn't solve too much. It replaced one form of slavery with another. This is one example of what could change in the coming decade or two if we keep focused & most of all keep hope.