We Are Groomed

We are groomed. From our toothpaste to our choice of presidents and everything in between we are groomed. From blue to pink, trucks and dolls, prince and princess we are sold a way of life that we accept. 

The unity that everyone is suddenly seeking is not a unity of plurality. It is a unity of homogenization. 

Pundits and tricksters are clever at finding weaknesses and preying on the vulnerable. We are still falling for the “pick yourselves up by the bootstraps” mentality and we are willing to line up behind those who tell us they have succeeded. 

We’ve stopped teaching our children about universality and wisdom. We teach right and wrong and demonstrate that wrong is often right. 

We brag about our exceptionalism, salute the flag and honor those who died for our freedom, but are quite willing to sacrifice those same freedoms to someone who willingly admits he would be an autocrat.

And of course, the flip side of the coin holds the same empty rhetoric but is geared towards those who fear evil – but not enough fear to really want to see change. 

Because what would change mean?

Change would mean finding ways that work for all of us. It would mean building communities, not tearing them apart by militarized police.

Change would mean understanding we are part of a global humanity and the family of man is faced with consequences of climate change and wars that are causing migration the world over.

Change would mean recognizing that capitalism and empires have wounded us so we may begin to actively and consciously dismantle those crippling enterprises. While we’re at it, let us begin with defunding Israel and demanding the end to its apartheid regime. 

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” Camus