America was once the greatest country in the world, anyone who didn't live here envied anyone who did and spent their entire lives trying to get themselves and their families here. Just four years ago in Europe I met a young group of men that were so fascinated with my friends and I and thought it was the coolest thing that we were from America. Each and every one of them shared with us that it was there dream to be able to come to America. People don't envy us anymore, we aren't superior, and we are the greatest country in the world anymore.
As a country we've over come so many amazing things, so many men and women have fought long and hard for the freedom we have today, many gave their lives to protect us, and we're at home tearing ourselves apart. We don't deserve what these people have done for us anymore, and I'm ashamed to say that.
Police officers also dedicate their lives to protecting our communities, putting the bad guys away, and taking drunk drivers off the street. After a few different incidents of African Americans being killed by police officers, we've decided that police officers, (especially white ones) are out to get anyone with dark skin. To prove that 'black lives matter' we're killing police officers, blocking off streets, holding riots, what are we actually proving here? We're showing that police officers lives matter less than your own. If you think standing in the middle of the road blocking cars from passing is going to prove the point 'black lives matter' it won't. Police officers are just like any African American, or anyone else that has been killed, they have lives, they're mothers, and fathers, and sisters, and brothers, aunts, uncles, friends. They matter too.
When Target released that they were going to let transgender people use the bathroom they felt most comfortable in, we fell off our rockers. Instead of being concerned about actual predators, (who if they wanted to, would come in a bathroom and assault someone regardless of the sign on the door) we're worried about a 13 year old girl, who was born a boy, using the bathroom labeled "women" when you wouldn't actually know she was a boy unless she told you so herself. This doesn't put young children and women at any more of a threat than they were at before. While worrying about the Target bathrooms, we ignored that every Target will have at least one 'Caroline's cart' a cart designed for special needs children that is easier to maneuver than a wheel chair and shopping cart both.
When a little boy fell in a gorilla cage at the Cincinnati Zoo, and the gorilla was throwing around the young child, the gorilla was shot, and we all went crazy about this. This was 3 year old, he probably couldn't write his own name, let alone know how to strategize with a gorilla to save his own life. Of course killing the gorilla was awful, and if there were another option it wouldn't have been done, but this boy was three years old. Let's not forget that. We blamed the child's parents for not watching him. Any parent knows that so much can happen even looking in the other direction for 3 seconds. Having to kill the gorilla was tragic, but a three year old boy's life was at risk, what if that was your child?
We're losing mothers, brothers, fathers, sisters, and friends to this drug epidemic our country has found itself in the middle of. Northern Maine has stopped selling Sudafed products over the counter in pharmacies because of the extreme drug problem. Too many people are getting bad doses of heroin and dying, along with other drugs. Drugs have been a problem for a long time, but the drug problem we currently have is disgusting. We're carelessly drinking and driving, killing ourselves, and others.
The amount of young girls, and especially college girls being raped is disgusting. Brock Turner especially. This young woman had the courage to come forward, (not very many women can even get themselves to do this.) and she is publicly and even nationally embarrassed due to the fact that not only did this young 'man's' family make social media accounts to support Brock and bash this poor girl, but Brock got 6 months. This is why young girls are afraid to come forward, young women are afraid to come forward for two reasons, embarrassment, and people not believing them. This case proved both to be true.
Social media can easily be to blame for making these issues a lot bigger, and worse than they originally started out being. Social media makes it easy to comment, share, any post and act as if you were apart of the actual event. As silly as this may sound, its powerful. We're believing anything and everything we see online and it is destroying us.
We aren't the greatest country in the world anymore. We have destroyed the country so many gave their lives to protect. We're killing people who are supposed to protect us, we care more about bathrooms than a little boy's life being in danger, and we care more about drugs and alcohol than our families, and other peoples, and that raping young women, (or men) is okay and is only a slap on the wrist. We're destroying our country. As you watch all of these things happen, and contribute to some of them, just remember, we were once the greatest country in the world.
