I want to talk about the mean-world syndrome and how it is affecting my actual life. Thank goodness I live in America where my voice can matter, but that, unfortunately, means that other entities like Fox News exist. They are fear mongers, agenda setters, and big fans of sexual harassment. The only way to stop Fox News is to have every advertiser pull everything until they are left with nothing. It is a liberal dream of mine, but enough about Fox News, today I want to talk about how the mean-world syndrome affected my own parents. My parents don't watch American television, but they watch Pakistani television, specifically Pakistani news.

The articles I have been writing about on The Odyssey have been on a bunch of different topics but have been a bit more political due to the insane amount of Trumpness in the air. Sharing this work with my Muslim parents got a less than traditional response. I was expecting a pat on the back and a "keep it up", but instead they asked me to stop. They're reasoning is that as a "profiled" individual, I would be more susceptible to the silencing of media and that I might get killed or kidnapped because of my expression of thought.

My first thought was WOW. Then I thought, what about the first amendment? Are we really at the cusp of losing the single greatest asset of this country through this administration? What about the fact that no one reads my articles? I have gained less than a thousand views on all my articles COMBINED, not including the last. I also only have one comment on any article at all, and it's one word: Dumb. It's short, sweet and hilarious. I also reacted by thinking about all the other Trump naysayers, what about their kidnapping and murder? I mean you can count 'em on one hand, right? Oh wait, it's a majority of America. There are also plenty of other critics that are better contenders for crimes against the first amendment Trump can commit aginst, there's Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and let's not forget... Kathy Griffin. Hasan Minhaj roasted the President at the White House correspondent's dinner... while he wasn't there. He's Muslim, and was pretty much taking the President's chance to talk and blasting him for it. It's also fun to joke about he might go through a V For Vendetta situation where he gets kidnapped in the middle of the night with a bag over his head... or is it?

Now the mean-world syndrome basically shows how my parents are thinking the way they are. Pakistan is a way more dangerous place for journalists and those who write opinion pieces and that might have created the growing concern for my well being. Perceptions of reality and perceived reality get switched and create behaviors like this.

Now I understand there was a target that was painted on my face when I was born but am I really the priority here? Trump is busy mopping the floor with paint tracks on his shoes. He's always trying to clean up the mess he made while making another one at the same time... Wow, even an analogy where Trump does chores sounds funny. What I'm trying to say is that the Trump man gets tired after three days into a foreign trip. He's got too much on his plate than to worry about what a twenty-three-year-old American college student in the middle of Illinois has to comedically and politically say about Tump and his cronies.

So what if I do get silenced, then I win because of the constitution. So what if I get killed, well murder is a crime and I hope these articles are the proof you need to convict your honor.

I am here to say that yes, I am afraid. I know I have every reason to not be, but having your parents fear for your life because of the way the country is heading can rattle one's cage. You know your parents say they're right because they say so, well I usually trust their judgment, I just feel like I can't stop, because that gives room for them to be right and I hope they never are.