Proud to be an American?

As I sit at my desk, nearly a year after my last blog post, I cannot help but reflect on the last year of my life. Since the last time I posted, I have moved into my first apartment, gained and cultivated some of my most cherished memories and friendships, dealt with national and international chaos, started two new jobs, and watched my family change and adapt in many ways. While I am incredibly grateful for where my life is right now, I know there are billions of people around the world who cannot say the same.

The current national and international political climate is one that is quite toxic and scary for a majority of the world. With Russia declaring an unjust war on Ukraine, countries in the middle east still dealing with civil unrest as they have for decades, and the far right waging war on fundamental human rights right here in the United States, there has been a lot weighing on my empathetic heart recently.

While I hold tremendous pain and recognize the suffering of those overseas, I am extremely furious with the state of affairs in my own country. Right now as I type this, millions of people are losing their fundamental rights to choose what to do with their own bodies. Thousands of people are dying due to gun violence at the hands of people who should not have even had those guns in the first place. Members of the LGBTQ+ community are being scrutinized for simply showing who they are and who they want to be. Those in the BIPOC community are fearing for their lives as white supremacy continues to go unpunished. Inflation has increased the cost of gas, milk, rent, and many other necessities of life. And in the middle of all this chaos, I am supposed to just go to class and work and pretend like everything is fine.

I am TIRED of pretending like everything is fine. I am tired of politicians offering their thoughts and prayers. I recognize that those on the left/liberals/progressives/democrats, however you want to label them, have their own issues but the conservative far right party in this country is destroying democracy as we know it and there is nothing that average citizens can do. While I can vote for people whom I know will better this country, I can call my representatives, and I can speak out for what I believe in, all I can really do is hope that those in power will do what is morally best for the country and not what will keep them in office longer.

The far right continues to undermine the fundamental rights afforded to ALL Americans in the Constitution. They are making the Supreme Court another political tool for them to just use at will instead of it simply determining the law of the land. They are filibustering many laws that would save thousands of people from dying from guns. They refuse to recognize the facts and run away anytime they get called out for being wrong. And they are making it very known that their ideal country is one that only has straight, white, conservative males in it. And to be quite frank, that is NOT a country that anyone would benefit from living in. It is shown that diverse atmospheres can be very beneficial to communities.

While I have great hope for my generation, I am scared that the country that I love so much will not even be here long enough for my generation to make any sort of meaningful change. I am proud to be an American and I would not want to live anywhere else but this country is turning into one that I do not recognize. So I will continue fighting the good fight and speaking up for those less fortunate, but I will not forgive those who have destroyed this country that I love.

Despite this crazy political atmosphere, I will never stray from being authentic, ambitious, and aptly adventurous.