Born Down in a Dead Man's Town!!
Today is a day. Specifically in the country I am from it is independence day. the fourth of july. but i don't think i'm alone in thinking that it is quite the peculiar time to celebrate our country.
Which is quite the damn shame. It's tricky to navigate really. I want to be proud of my country. i want to tell someone i am from the USA and be proud of it. but our politicians and government seem to be doing everything in their power to not let that happen, be it braindead geriatrics or braindead geriatrics that are also fascists.
It feels like i am on a long highway and at the end of the highway is a massive fire and my car is barrelling towards the fire and the car has no brakes.
What i try to tell myself is that my country is not my government. it's not the egomaniacs or the billionaire donor class or the war hawks or the authoritarians or the.. whatever other buzz words come to my mind in times of hopeless frustration.
My country is the folks who work their asses off all year to provide for their family. the folks who stop their car after an accident to rush over and help. the folks who wait for hours to donate blood in dire times of need. the folks who spend their days in the annals of local government to aid their local communities. our veterans, our healthcare workers, our food service employees, our farmers, our train conductors. we are a country of hedonists, bathing in air conditioning and sugar-fueled diets and endless highways. we are also a country of people who look out for each other, just trying to surivive.
I'm rambling, and i know everything i'm saying sounds edgy or uninformed. but i'm trying to parse my thoughts as i type and hopefully some of this resonates with someone out there. or maybe it just resonates with me. but screw it!
It is so incredibly easy to don the doomer hat and hate everything about the USA. I don't really blame anyone for feeling that way in this day and age. At the same time, doomerism can easily slide to hopeless complacency. and that is absolutely the last thing we need right now.
The USA is pretty freaking awesome at the end of the day.
Jazz! comic books! movies! apple pie! baseball!! clam chowder! national parks! Tex mex! the ability to take your car, start at one ocean and drive till you hit another.
Reject hate and prejudice and authoritairans and blind patriotism and racist losers and nationalist freaks and... ok now i am actually rambling. Wherever you are in the world I hope you have a nice barbecue or just even a nice evening sitting on a porch with people who are close to you. At the end of the day, what more can we ask for?
That all this shit our president has got us in will go away
While we strive to figure out a way we can survive
These trying times without losing our minds
So if you wanna burn yourself remember that I LOVE YOU
And if you wanna cut yourself remember that I LOVE YOU
And if you wanna kill yourself remember that I LOVE YOU
Call me up before you're dead, we can make some plans instead
Send me an IM, I'll be your friend
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