You know what I'm most tired of, regarding Trump's America? I'm sick of the constant fear of everything. I made a comment last week on a Fox News Twitter post where I dared to state that I'm a gun owner who does not feel the need to be armed when I go out to get burgers, and I had at least a few dozen people jump down my throat for it...granted a good number of them bots and Russian trolls (Seriously, ask yourself, conservatives, who does armed anarchy in the United States really benefit?) But, around half of them were just plain old stupid American gun nuts, emphasis on the nuts.
How did we ever get so many people who are so afraid of their fellow citizens and their neighbors (I don't believe these people when they say they're afraid of crime or terrorists) that they feel the need to go about armed, in their own country, when there is no identifiable threat present 99% of the time?
Perhaps, more to the point, why in the hell do a lot of these people invest an inordinate amount of trust in and provide full-throated support to a President and political party that are derelict in their duties to defend our nation?
Unless of course, none of these people believe in that nation anymore, but I digress.
I saw the other night that Ving Rhames had been held at gunpoint in his own home. Or, more technically, answered the door to find a 9mm pistol pointed at his face because some dumb-ass racist neighbor called the police on him for going in his own house, thinking he must be "breaking in."
I'm curious, what the hell kind of a raging racist dumb-ass thinks that black people (especially well-off black people who are on TV a lot) don't have houses?
Oh, right, the Klan-curious neighbor probably just didn't think a black guy lived across the street from him? No, seriously, what kind of raging moron doesn't at least make some effort to learn a little about, or occasionally speak to their neighbors...if only so they're not stressing about the normal comings and goings of the neighborhood?
As I've learned from having a co-worker and friend who is epileptic (Oh, and he was also Black) or an old white neighbor lady with serious heart problems, sometimes an ambulance, paramedics and occasionally even firefighters or police showing up to assist or take down medical information can be routine at your workplace or apartment complex. Is that something to be afraid of? No, but it's a good thing that previous life experience taught me to keep a cool head in a crisis.
It's also something that's served me well in dealing with the moral and political crisis that America has gotten itself into.
But if there's one thing I can't get over it's how fearful and stupid other Americans are, especially those who are...by dint of knowledge or training...supposed to know better. It seems to be a thing that people have gotten into worrying excessively about other people's kids whenever they appear to be unsupervised.
Whatever happened to "Mind your own business?" That was something that was a part of conservatism as I was taught it. I might make a moral judgment call here and there, but since I've never seen it as my job to police the universe I'm not going to call the cops about it and usually something has to be pretty bad, or a repetitive problem, before I'll even say something.
Of course, as the linked article surmises, this is likely just an extension of America's ongoing war against kids, women in general and mothers in particular, especially mothers of color and poor mothers.
And of course, none of these fearful busybodies gives a good goddamn about the possible safety of brown immigrant kids, or their parents, for that matter. It's tempting to ask "When did white conservatives become this racist, selfish and stupid?" But trust me, these fucking people have always been this fucking stupid. They're just going hog-wild because they think that our government and society will let them get away with it. This kind of vicious stupidity has always been there, under the radar and most often when I was coming up (just like all-too-often still) all this kind of performative moronism does is cost these people their jobs, get them beat up or land them in jail.
I've been saying since all this crap started that it was going to be hell for the Trump Supporters when this bullshit was over, except this bullshit isn't even close to over and they already spend an inordinate amount of time squealing like stuck pigs. Conservative white people voted for Trump to advance and/or preserve whiteness, but in the end, all Trump has really done is accelerate the retreat.
You know what might help? Do you know what might turn the current Republican political control and brooding sense of looming disaster into actual victory, rather than temporary gains that will be undone whenever somebody else grabs power by its nether regions?
Stop. Being. Afraid. Accept change, embrace diversity, work and network with like-minded people of color and people of other religions, and don't abuse and hate people simply for being brown-skinned. (Anybody that tells you that current US immigration policy is anything else is either a fool or a liar.) Learn to roll with things, accept that you're going to feel old or outnumbered every now and then. It's not an attack on you personally, it's just people being themselves and they're going to do that no matter what you do.
Stop watching Fox News and any other media outlet that tells you to be afraid all the time. Fearful people lose conflicts and wars. Collaborators get swept from power and hanged, and no amount of temporary political power is worth selling out your country to another. It's just that simple.
As a child of the later Cold War, I'm here to tell you it's downright stupid to hate and fear other Americans more than the Russians. Just because somebody is white or otherwise looks or acts pleasing to the eye doesn't mean they're your friend. In point of fact, as the case of Maria Butina demonstrates such is often the perfect gambit for an enemy looking to fuck you over.
Perhaps more to the point...and I'm looking at you, fellow white guys...if you want to preserve your own freedom, now is the time to stop being afraid. America is changing and becoming more and more diverse by the day. Nothing is going to change that. No amount of guns or harsh political edicts will make that go away. All that force or racist laws or anything of the sort will do is actually make people hate you. I don't give a damn if that feels uncomfortable to you. It's never bothered me, but then unlike you I was taught right and I'm not stupid. I've never called the cops on somebody that was just doing something normal like going in their own house or barbecuing.
All that all this fear and crazy right-wing performance-art bullshit is going to do is make the fall of white privilege that much harder when it comes. If you wanted to avoid that, you should've picked a smarter old white man. Sorry, but it has to be said.
The key to survival, and to success in a changing world, is to stop being afraid all the time. Try talking to people instead of regarding them as a threat. Instead of carrying a gun, carry yourself in a way that doesn't make you look like a fearful bitch. It's just that simple. I've never needed to carry a gun just to go to the damn grocery store.
As it just so happens, the last time somebody got in my face it WAS a black dude and I got right back in his face and yelled right back at him. It was over a work dispute, he'd messed up my area and I told him to clean it up. It got resolved just fine, if not entirely to my liking because our supervisor said I had to help him clean it up. We're Facebook friends now and we get along just fine. I'm old-school enough to believe the argument was probably necessary. No guns were needed to bring about this detente, we are men, and we acted as men and made our peace with each other when the matter was done.
You know what part of being a man is, according to what I was taught? Being brave and facing the world with courage. Respect is not an entitlement, it is earned. Respect is earned by every action, every day, by sustained and superior performance, and by considering the needs of all people equally and thinking of others before you think of yourself. There's no shortcuts, that's just how it is.
Fear is something to be conquered, not something to be indulged.
Ultimately, we're all dead men. Sadly, we cannot choose how but, what we can decide is how we meet that end, in order that we are remembered, as men. ~Proximo, from the film Gladiator.
Part One
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