American Dirt: the Schoolyard Fight Effect

You’re all acting like 12 year olds. No, not you. You either. Individually, it seems that all of us realize that something is wrong with the American public. Yet, as pigs to the slaughter, we run each other over not realizing everyone is heading for the axe.

The God believers, the atheist-scientists, the LGBT community, and the US government are all herding each other towards imminent destruction. Why? So that one group can, finally, prove that they were right all along? For superiority? To sing and dance in the street (cause generally you can do that anyway, I’ve done it)?

There is a lot of flap going around that the US government is using the stereotypes, fears, and economic failure to keep the current generations upset and less concerned with what the government may be doing behind closed doors. If that’s the case, then there is little surprise as to why these other three groups are fighting. If it isn’t the case, well, the US government isn’t helping things resolve, either.

Living in this modern world, as an adult and parent, feels a bit like this: I have to be the epitome of adult-ness, i.e. pay taxes, work, follow the law, follow every new politically correct term presented so I don’t offend anybody, raise kids, ‘fess up to my mistakes, and generally go to extreme lengths to make everyone else happy. 

In the meantime, I’m pandering to assholes like you who are still adults but, because you’re a serious member of one of these four groups, get to act like a fucking 12 year old kid.

I realize that you are passionate about your beliefs. That’s fine, I’m passionate about mine too. I also understand that, to some effect, some beliefs are rather ridiculous when thinking about them from a logical standpoint. That’s also fine, to a point. It’s long been held that new ideas push a civilization forward. It helps us mold the world, make it better, make it…livable.

But pure, unfettered resistance to the old guard doesn’t produce a better world, it makes it volatile. So does sardonically holding onto old beliefs without room for new ideas.

Let me put it to you this way:

Two kids are playing kickball on the playground. Bobby believes in God, Gus is an atheist.

Suddenly, Gus tells Bobby he’s an idiot for believing in an “Invisible Man.”

How is Bobby going to react? Peacefully? Would you? Not if you have any pride in yourself, or in your beliefs. Let’s turn it around:

Bobby tells Gus that, no matter what kind of proof he has to the contrary, the world is only 6,000 years old.

How is Gus going to react? How would YOU react? If Gus has at least two scientific conclusions stating otherwise, he’s probably going to call Bobby an idiot for believing in the “Invisible Man.”

And the schoolyard fight begins.

Both boys being backed by several people holding the same beliefs as they do, opposite those whom hold separate beliefs. How long can the argument stay grounded when the ripples of like-minded people extends beyond the playground, beyond the school, beyond the city, state, and country? How long before fists start flying and flaying words are used to cut the other person, not to prove anything other than one is better at insulting than the other?

That’s where we are at, you 12 year old bastards. Cat-fighting like pre-teenage girls instead of the adults you purport to be. You’re not even trying to make the world better anymore. You just want to be right. How much energy have you wasted arguing with someone over matters of the past when you could PUT THAT SHIT ASIDE and work together to make today, and tomorrow, better for everyone?

Calling names, beating someone down with words, is not going to fix the problem, only exacerbate the situation. Stop acting like you know it all, and go prove it. Fix something…I don’t care if you’re an atheist-scientist fixing the global warming problem, a priest settling a person’s soul so they don’t feel ousted and in need of drugs or killing or violence, if you’re in the government creating a system of healthcare that is built around curing people instead of money, or an LGBT member with an idea that will show married gay/lesbian couples won’t destroy American morality (what’s left of it, am I right?). Stop telling me you’re the better person. Go out there, do something with your life that isn’t gutting the opposite sides, and prove your worth not to me, but to all humanity.