IM: WHUSDJ
CURRENT SHOW
Red House
What did America do for us?
They told us we could believe whatever we wanted about God, Jesus, Allah, or anything else, and we could practice our beliefs in anyway we wanted as long as we didn't hurt anyone. Then they made laws so you couldn't run for office with the wrong beliefs, but it was okay because at least we were free to believe what we wanted. They said that we could say what was on our minds, but then they told us when and where we could say it. They let us say what we wanted in peace, and then they shot killed 4 Americans at Kent State for it. They told us that we could own whatever was needed to keep ourselves and the ones we loved safe, and then they told us what was and wasn't acceptable protection. They promised to keep soldiers out of our houses, so they put barrels in our faces. They gave us privacy, then found reasons to tear it down. They promised to keep the laws just, and to keep the innocent out of cages. They gave us systems of fair trials, and manipulated them to work against us when we needed them most. They promised fair consequences for criminals, and made the innocent bear the load instead. They told us we were free, and everyone believed them.
They broke their promises left and right, but told us it was for our safety, and that most others had it worse. They told us we had more freedom than anyone else, when what we wanted was the freedom we were promised, the freedom to decide for ourselves with no persecution of any form. I'm not saying paradise is lost, but that it was never found.
Still some hold on to what once was so real. Still people believe that what you see in the grade school books is what the world is. It's why people close their eyes on a roller coaster, and why slaves would sing in the fields. It's why abused women defend their abusers, and the 70 year old clerk smiles at the checkout counter. Most people try to see the best in life, and even when it's all gone wrong, someone will tell you to look on the bright side. Like a person smiling at their family to their dying breath while suffering from a terrible disease, to help others hold on to whatever slight glimmer of hope they can for just a little longer. However short a time that may be.
I'm not trying to put down those who see the best when in reality there isn't even the slightest good. I understand why they do it, why they choose to live in a pleasant lie rather than struggle in an unpleasant reality. But it still doesn't help those of us in the real world, a world where realism is pessimism by default, where the only bright side is that you can slip back into that fantasy given to us long ago. The only bright side is that you can go under the covers and close your eyes, and if you try real hard, will yourself to believe that the monsters aren't really there.