State of the Union

My fellow Americans,

Between social media, television, streaming services, newspaper front pages and just about anywhere else, we are being inundated with swarms of controversial issues on a daily basis. We get to see all manner of inciteful events happening all around our country, and the world, in real time. It's exhausting and I can't help but feel it is largely by design. If you watch closely, you'll find almost all of these events are followed with a call to action, usually in the form of a monetary contribution of some type. Politicians, celebrities and corporations immediately capitalize on every natural disaster, accident, terrorist attack or social unrest by feigning worry and resolve and telling you what link to click to empty your bank account and make you feel like youre doing something meaningful.

Now, I'm certainly not saying there's anything wrong with giving a platform to the plight of suffering people (or animals, ecosystems, etc.) in order to exact change. And I'm definitely all for donating to a cause that is near and dear to your heart, however, the incessant movie reel of hot button issues is not only exhausting but can even be desensitizing and ultimately yield the opposite results than what one is trying to accomplish.

It is also dividing us in ways never before seen in the history of this country (and we had a revolution AND a civil war!). We're seeing brother turn against brother, neighbor against neighbor. Parents and grandparents unable or unwilling to hug their kids. Churches expelling congregants and pastors without the discernment to protect and lead their sheep. I've been shocked, disappointed and disgusted by so many people in the last 5+ years, and it gets worse everyday. People are getting more hard-hearted and losing their grip on reality. They just want to be in step with cultural trends that support their worldview. We see it on both sides of the aisle although its exponentially more prevalent and violent amongst the liberal left fundamentalists.