An angry America

An angry America

It's really kind of sad the mess we have gotten ourselves into. Little by little, we as Americans and even those around the world have been allowing circumstances to steal the joy and happiness out of just being alive. Suicide numbers are increasing rapidly. The number of murders and wanton acts of violence around the world has seemed to grow alarmingly. Unreal acts of violence are happening to those wee ones clear on up to the elderly. Some are preying on the elderly who have lost their sharp minds and their suspicion of individuals. It is as if individuals have lost their sense of decency or that place in their heart that says it's wrong.

All of America, or a good deal of America, seems to be on a low boil all the time. About every time I listen to the news or read the newspaper or view the news online, there are reports of violence of some kind or another. Just in the past weeks, there was the incident where two high school players purposely hit a referee during a football game. Or the incident where a player pulled the helmet off the opposing player and then hit him in the head with the helmet. And the list goes on with someone assaulting and even killing another over almost nothing.

Road rage is just one example of what I call an angry America. Drivers become enraged because someone maybe cut them off or is driving too slow or for some other reason. It is as if the individuals are either at the boiling point or really close, and something trivial sets them off. There are fights at the ballparks, fights at the football stadiums, fights at Little League games, fights at gosh knows what, and the list goes on and on. Something which is really trivial can become a major eruption in a brief instant.

But why? I'm sure the psychologists would come up with a whole laundry list of reasons. I'll bet the psychologists would say a definite reason for problems with our youth and many young adults is the homes they came from. This probably is true. Far too many of our youth are growing up in one-parent homes. The home life as a child has a lot to do with who we end up being.

Some would say it's the environment, which is true as well. I'm sure growing up in an inner-city neighborhood where crime is rampant affects how we end up as adults. My growing up in a rural environment has definitely affected who I am.

Other reasons might be the schools they attend, the teachers, the police, their jobs or lack of jobs and the list goes on and on. Probably included in this laundry list is the vocation of the parent or parents. I'm not sure of the numbers, but I'll bet many of our youth have grown up in homes that rely on government assistance.

But the thing is, this angry America seems to also be made up of normal, average citizens, as well. It seems to include Jack or Jill or Tom or Hank who works at the grocery store or at Pizza Hut or Subway or wherever. Good, normal, run-of-the-mill Joes just seem to walk around with a chip on their shoulders.

First of all, I truly believe many Americans have little, if any, hope for the future. Many believe our best days are past and what appears to be the future is not that pretty. We live in a fractured society with little, if any, bonds between them. There are the haves who are mega rich. Millionaires are pretty frequent. Now there are multibillionaires. There are the have-nots, who exist from day to day. And between these extremes are countless small groups of people who range from getting by to doing quite well. Many, if asked, would say they aren't doing as good today as they were years ago.

The second thing I've noticed is there seems to be a negative atmosphere in our world today. I stopped at Food Giant in Chaffee and asked the gal waiting on me how her day was going. She said that up to then, "It wasn't very good."

If you listen to the news, out of 20 minutes there may be 18 minutes of negative news, and hopefully 2 minutes of positive news. I listened to two interviews recently. One was of Donald Trump and the other was Putin. Virtually the entire interviews of both of them were what I would call confrontational and negative. The whole Ferguson issue was negative, both the actual events and the reporting. Almost without exception, news reporting about police officers is negative, or at least was negative until just recently. Negative political advertising seems to be the way today. No real issues are discussed. Just slam the opposition.

So how do we get above the whole mess, for want of a better word, and find a peace that circumstances or people or events or conditions or even our health wants to steal from us?

Limit the negative and add more positive. We may have to cut out things that bother us or that we can't handle, like the news or Facebook or music and so on. This can include friends of ours who are so negative they poison our attitude. Read feel-good books or articles, which includes the Bible. (I'd skip books like "Mein Kamph" by Hitler, which I thought I had to read back in the day.)

Do something good for someone without them knowing you did it, or even letting anyone know. You can also just do something good. Go to the Veterans Home or a nursing home and visit someone you don't even know. Call someone and visit, even if it's just about the weather. Have a positive attitude as you work. Feed that inner self. If you are a loner, then make sure you have time alone to recharge. If you are a people person, go to the mall or somewhere there are people and recharge. I guess what I'm saying is be thankful for half a glass rather than sad because it's only half a glass.

Have a good one,

Until next time.