u/mekinger

This isn’t really about elections.

It’s about power.

America is a failing society.

Not because Americans are inherently bad people.

Because the weight sitting on top of ordinary people has become almost impossible to move.

This goes much deeper than counting votes and pretending everyone who is hurting, exhausted, alienated, disgusted, manipulated, broke, angry, frightened or simply checked out walks into a voting booth.

They don’t.

They still fucking matter.

It is about American power, psychological conditioning, exhaustion, the assassination of progressive leadership in the ’60s, our descent into reality-show leadership, Fox News hosts becoming Cabinet members, and our inability to substantially alter an otherwise remarkable framework handed to us by Washington, Madison, Franklin and their contemporaries 250 years ago.

An architecture that has repeatedly left hardworking, deserving, once-hopeful Americans fighting uphill and demoralized.

For 250 years, America has been conditioning its people.

Religion.

Race.

Class.

Patriotism.

Fear.

Money.

Status.

The myth that enormous wealth proves enormous merit.

The myth that poverty proves failure.

The myth that capitalism and freedom are the same fucking thing.

The myth that someday, somehow, if ordinary people just work hard enough and wait long enough, the system will finally work for them.

Meanwhile, the working class gets more tattered and worn out while wealth, political power and corporate power become more concentrated.

That isn’t an election result.

That’s America.

The people holding the power understand power.

They understand fear.

They understand repetition.

They understand belonging.

They understand grievance.

They understand religion.

They understand money.

They understand media.

They understand that if you can control enough of what people fear, what they hear, who they blame and where they belong, you don’t have to convince everybody.

You just have to keep everybody else fighting uphill.

And we are.

America was not built to do her best.

She was built for eternal struggle.

Every once in a great while, something genuinely good breaks through.

Then watch what happens.

Negotiated.

Watered down.

Monetized.

Privatized.

Lobbied.

Lawyered.

Corporate-fucked.

Eventually somebody figures out how to make a fortune from the solution to the problem they helped create.

And Democrats?

They used to be able to sell the tease.

And I mean THE TEASE.

Not the goods.

Vote.

Wait.

Donate.

Hope.

Compromise.

Vote again.

Maybe next time.

That shit is exhausted.

So spare me the happy talk about how “people are tired.”

Of course they’re fucking tired.

They’ve been tired.

Their parents were tired.

Their grandparents were tired.

Their great-grandparents were tired.

The American working class has been promised tomorrow for 250 years.

Tomorrow keeps getting bent over.

And after 250 years, tomorrow is getting pretty fucking tired of it.

So when somebody tells me America is finally waking up…

I hope they’re right.

I really do.

But after 250 years of watching who gets richer, who gets stronger, who gets heard and who gets told to wait their fucking turn…

Are you going to bullshit me for another 250 years?

Maybe many of us are not failing after all.

Maybe we’re actually grinding to find clarity inside systems optimized to manipulate emotion, provoke outrage, keep us confused, and ultimately leave us exhausted with nothing left in the tank. 

Perhaps peace of mind itself has become "bad for business."

If calm people consume less outrage, ask better questions, and refuse to hate their neighbors, perhaps keeping us angry and divided is not accidental.

Where do you find peace when chaos feels never-ending?

Maybe many of us are not failing in our pursuit after all.

Maybe we’re actually grinding to find clarity inside systems optimized to manipulate emotion, provoke outrage, keep us confused, and ultimately leave us exhausted with nothing left in the tank. 

Perhaps peace of mind itself has become "bad for business."

If calm people consume less outrage, ask better questions, and refuse to hate their neighbors, perhaps keeping us angry and divided is not accidental.

Where do you find peace when chaos feels never-ending?

Watching Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal recently made me think about a broader question.

How do organizations honor greatness without allowing greatness to dictate the future?

This could apply to sports, businesses, politics, entertainment, and even families.

At some point, every group faces the same dilemma:

How do you respect the people who built something without preventing the next generation from building what comes next?

Curious how others think about this.

I tried to explain French Bulldogs to people who don’t own one. I’m thinking Frenchie owners will understand 😳

Prince Hartman remembers every house where a dog barked at him because French Bulldogs keep enemies on file forever.

During walks he stops at those houses like Jimmy Hoffa returning to the neighborhood to see who’s still dumb enough to make eye contact.

(Prince) Just checking.
Seeing if anybody still has ‘a problem.’