The United States of America is a multi-race, multi-ethnic, multi-culture country. Diverse in its people, beliefs, and lifestyles. A robust stew. Not a melting pot. Its flavor, not defined by only one of its ingredients, but by them all!

Because some refuse to believe that, it bears repeating. So, I’m going to write it again!

The United States of America is a multi-race, multi-ethnic, multi-culture country. Diverse in its people, beliefs, and lifestyles. A robust stew. Not a melting pot. Its flavor, not defined by only one of its ingredients, but by them all!

For far too long, we have allowed the ambitions of power-hungry politicians, party politics, right and left-wing extremists, religion, and slanted media platforms to manipulate and divide us and foster the belief that our differences make us enemies. Then use our anger to allow them to justify their attempts to discriminate against and disenfranchise the groups they target. All under the same mantra: We are losing our country!

Since January 1, 2022, to date, there have been close to 200 mass shootings in America. The senseless killing of American citizens. By American citizens! Men, women, children. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends.

And for what? To protect our tribe? To instill our fears in others? And because of what? Not electing political representatives who first ask, what is best for America instead of what is best for my party and me? The influx of social influencers propagating misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories? Or is it highly paid media voices sitting safely in their studios, promoting so-called news stories that encourage listeners to believe that they are being replaced with the ceaseless flood of immigrants pouring through America’s porous borders? Which is it? All of them? Some of them? Or is it us? Yes, us!

We don’t have to believe the big lie, the misinformation, and the disinformation. We don’t have to buy into conspiracy theories. But because many blame others for their shortcomings and what they lack, instead of themselves, many do!

The Christian Nationalist narrative on persecution, for example, is a red herring. If not an outright lie! There is not one government agency in the United States persecuting Christians. Nationalists or otherwise. Instead, Christian Nationalists and other Christian organizations have successfully lobbied their congressional representatives to enact more and more legislation to ensure and enhance their ever-growing bevy of “religious rights.” Which has given them a perpetually expanding cache of outdated laws. Allowing them to discriminate against minorities, disenfranchise members of the LGBTQ community, and marginalize other groups that don’t believe as they do.

In America today, it has become profitable for politicians to be obstructionists in any form or manner. From climate change deniers to big-lie repeaters to conspiracy theorists. The more outlandish their claims, the greater their opportunity for fame.

To harass and disenfranchise certain groups, ban books, prevent the open discussion of racial injustice, and block legislation intended to aid and assist the poor and the middle class have become lucrative checkpoints on the road to being elected or reelected. And who elects or reelects them? Us! And after we do, who forgets who they work for? Us!

So, if we want a better republic, a better America, and genuine change, we’ve got to fix some things. America’s infrastructure, the weaknesses in our system of government, supplementing the salaries of America’s workers to ensure a living income, protecting the rights of all, and much more. Okay, so it’s a lot of things. But first, we should start by fixing the main thing; the primary reason we are not making positive forward progress and living as a united people. Us!

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Acting Against Our Own Best Interests