Removing Impact Blinders Archives - Revolutionary Misfit

Is Everything Really Meaningless?

December 13, 2020 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

Meaningless! Meaningless!
Says the Teacher.
Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 1:2

Those were the musings of perhaps the wisest of all men.

But why did he write that everything is “meaningless”?

I was reading Ecclesiastes one morning years ago and the question really had the gears grinding in my head.

Solomon later writes that “man has no advantage over the animal.” The same fate awaits them both.

Pretty dreary perspective, huh?

The way I look at it we’re all given a pre-determined time interval to occupy – it’s called life. It begins the moment you are conceived and ends the moment of death.

When your life begins you are a clean slate, a zero starting point…

How you apply your energy during the time interval either accumulates positively or negatively to your impact.

I wrote long ago that “who you are” really is simply a mass of swirling atomic energy, just like all other matter that exists in the universe.

What do I mean by “impact?”

Well, viewed from a religious perspective, it is the effect on eternity stemming from the application of your energy during your particular interval.

All major religions of the world basically espouse that our actions in this life have such an impact.

But how about from a purely secular perspective?

How we apply our energy during the interval can also have an impact on the world we leave behind.

Let’s call this our legacy.

It seems that King Solomon was depressed because he just couldn’t grasp the “meaning” of life from any other perspective than its enjoyment in the interval. In other words, why should I care about “legacy”, since I am not going to be around to enjoy it?

Moreover, how can I be sure that the idiots that come after me won’t simply ignore it, or abuse it (my legacy, that is)?

Why be concerned with anything other than what I can experience during my interval?

Well, looking at it selfishly, the extent to which we are concerned about our legacy – that it is a positive one – could in fact make life more enjoyable during your interval, from a motivational perspective…couldn’t it?

So from that perspective Solomon was dead wrong…

Everything really isn’t meaningless.

Because the more one is concerned about impact, the more one is going to engage him or herself in activities that do in fact bring enjoyment during the interval!

I will readily admit that at times life does seem meaningless.

Maybe Solomon was just having one of those “days” when he wrote Ecclesiastes.

The problem is that as soon as we try to apply our energy in a chosen direction, we immediately encounter resistance from opposing energy forces.

It could be within our own heads, or it could be “out there.”

But if we keep that concept of “legacy” at the forefront of our consciousness, it helps to push through, despite the resistance.

In fact, that resistance can strengthen us and thereby make our own force more impactful.

I guess I’m just not buying Solomon’s theory that “everything is meaningless.”

Caring about my impact, both on the world I leave behind and on my position in the one that potentially could exist in the hereafter, should provide deep meaning to my life…my interval.

#MAUA – Make America United Again

November 16, 2020 by costaricaguy 1 Comment

The 2020 election is history!

Well, sort of…

It was definitely one for the record books, having been conducted in the midst of a raging pandemic with record turnout, much of it before election day!

Despite claims to the contrary, it appears that Joe Biden has won and will become the 46th President of the U.S.A. He won by a healthy and still increasing margin, both in the electoral college and even more-so in the popular vote. Biden won in the popular vote by almost 6 million votes, twice that of Clinton’s margin over Trump in 2016.

Nevertheless, for many in the country (over 70 million many) the election is not over. They are clinging to this conspiratorial idea, perpetuated by Trump, that the election was “rigged.”

It wasn’t.

I can remember Trump saying the same thing about his 3 million popular vote loss in 2016. He even appointed a commission to investigate. They found nothing.

Even though the election is “over”, the political division in the United States isn’t anywhere close to being over.

What will it take to make America united again?

As if it ever really was.

I was thinking this morning about what foments this division. Obviously the two sides have different ideological ideas. Much of that is centered on a disagreement about the proper role of government in American society.

I’m not going to get into that discussion in this post. I have in many others.

What interests me more is what is really causing us to hate each other with ever increasing intensity and how can we escape that cycle?

Isn’t it true that when we get angry at someone over a disagreement, or a perceived slight, and take action on that anger to exact some level of revenge, that it only perpetuates a cycle of more anger, retaliation, and damage to both sides?

Generally, such cycles end in either of two ways…

One side gains dominance and is able to intimidate, or suppress, the other from further retaliatory action, or
Ongoing reciprocal retaliation eventually results in both sides being totally annihilated.

Well, I guess sometimes we’re able to forgive and make up. However, that requires one side to fess up and admit error. With respect to the current ideological division in the U.S., I don’t think that’s going to happen.

I am late to the series Sons of Anarchy on Amazon Prime. I have been binge watching it lately and currently I am on season 5. The series glorifies the biker life, especially via the experiences of Jax Teller. However, what is evident to me in this tale of violence and revenge is that violence and revenge only results in more of the same. I’m not sure how close I am to the end of the series, but I can already predict what’s going to happen…and it’s not going to be a positive result for Jax, or his beloved SAMCRO.

What I don’t want to see happen is for the rival “gangs” of Republicans and Democrats to suffer the same fate…mutual annihilation!

Trump has been a scorched earth President like none we’ve even had, including Nixon. And he seems intent on leaving the White House, the Presidency, and indeed the entire country, well, scorched!

And he’s got millions of followers who agree with him and are urging him on!

Of course, to be honest, the other side hasn’t been very kind to Trump, or his followers…

And therein lies the issue that I am trying to get at…

We seem to be locked into a cycle of disagreement, anger, and retaliation.

Sure it’s going to be hard to make America united again, when it really never has been. However, I am old enough to remember a time when we could at least disagree without hating one another and seeking the destruction of the other side!

In a democracy the majority does have the final say. We like to say about Presidential elections that “America has spoken” and we (the collective we) must accept that result.

However, that doesn’t mean that the minority, who don’t see things the same way, should just be trampled over. That’s what foments the anger that leads us into cycles of incivility, like the one we seem to be trapped in now.

Social media has certainly played a role in perpetuating the division. It allows us to retreat into echo chambers of like-minded opinions and alternative facts that support those opinions. And with the advent of new social media options, like Parler, that cater to our preferred tribal propensities, social media will likely only make things worse.

I believe the answer lies in less ego and less desire to be right. Neither side has a monopoly on rightness.

Like I said above, you can boil down a lot of the disagreement to the proper role of government in our lives…

Certainly there is some happy medium that we can all live with!

Government is not “our” enemy. When it is functioning properly, it should reflect “our” collective will. Maybe, we should argue less about the role that a “dysfunctional” government should play and focus more on ways to cure the dysfunction!

A government that truly reflects the will of the people will be one that both sides can have greater trust in and thus we might have an easier time agreeing about. Don’t you think?

This election and even this damned pandemic will soon be distant memories. Donald Trump will fade away, trust me. It might take a while, but life will go on.

We can either learn to live together, or we can continue to hate, continue to exact revenge, and overpower and that cycle will go round and round until, like SAMCRO, we annihilate each other and our country in the process.

I believe that it is possible for us to make America united again…

But to do that we have to escape the cycle and re-learn how to disagree agreeably.

And that means the ability to keep an open mind, accept alternative viewpoints and compromise without resentment, anger and desire for ultimate revenge.

Otherwise, I am afraid to tell you, our country just ain’t going to work, for anyone, anymore…

That’s not a good result for America, or Americans, or the rest of people and planet.

#MAUA

Slouching Towards Autocracy

September 20, 2020 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

The late Robert Bork, failed Reagan nominee for a U.S. Supreme Court seat in 1987, once wrote a book entitled, Slouching Towards Gomorrah. In it he attacks a variety of social, cultural, and political experiences as alleged evidence of a U.S. cultural decline and degeneracy. Among those noted are affirmative action, increased violence in and sexualization of mass media, the legalization of abortion, pressure to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia, feminism and the decline of religion.

Bork was the former U.S. Solicitor General who ultimately carried out Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre” firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox.

Bork, like the current U.S. Attorney General, William Barr, was widely criticized on the left as an advocate of disproportionate powers for the executive branch of the federal government, arguing for what seemed to be executive supremacy.

Even though Bork was unsuccessful in reaching the Supreme Court, his extreme right-wing conservative ideals prevail under the presidency of Donald Trump. I am quite certain Bork would likely have approved of the autocratic Trump in many ways.

Which brings me to the question of today’s post, namely, what exactly is the vision conservatives have for America?

What exactly is the “again” in Donald Trump’s infamous campaign slogan, “make America great again?”

That is, if they have their way (which they just might come November 3rd), what will America look like?

We’re about to complete four tumultuous years of the extreme right-wing struggling to have their way, only to be met with fierce resistance from a middle left majority. This struggle has led to a level of political division never seen before in American society.

But if the far right could completely have their way (and another four years under Trump could in fact give it to them), what would America look like?

More than likely women would be far less empowered and certainly deprived of power over their own wombs…

People of color would be forced to accept the unfair abuse suffered under the current prison-industrial complex, lacking the voting power to really do anything about it…

The wall separating church and state would be chipped away to non-existence, giving rise to a theocratic state in which a right-wing christian evangelical ideology would reign free to indoctrinate, as well as emasculate competing world views…

The scourge of a gun-toting society, which requires our children to undergo frequent active-shooter drills, (and all too frequent live situations), when they should be free to learn in a protected and peaceful environment, would only grow larger and more uncontrolled…

The constant scapegoating of immigrants, blaming them for economic problems and increased crime, would continue unabated an certainly even more unabashed…

The unspeakable ravages we face under the threat of climate change will only become more of our day to day experience of reality…

Our cherished freedoms of speech and press would be further diluted, as those in power seek to silence competing views…

Any president wielding executive powers to further solidify the above listed features of right-wing autocratic rule would be granted the deference of a monarch, as Trump has been granted in many ways by a willing and complicit U.S. Senate…

Trump-era conservatism seems to be slouching towards autocracy, or a system of government by one person, one party, and one ideology with absolute power.

Trump recently made a comment that betrays his view of America and how it should be governed. At a White House press conference Trump suggested that if you excluded blue states, America’s high number of Covid-19 deaths wouldn’t look bad compared to other countries. Specifically he stated, “If you take the blue states out, we’re at a level that I don’t think anybody in the world would be at.”

Overlooking the abject falsity of the statement, it does seem to betray a worldview of some sort of conservative utopia in which liberals simply don’t exist at all, or are at least completely subservient.

It seems that Trump (and his supporters) really believe that their actions are what’s best for “America”, as long as that America only includes them, or at least only matters for them…

But it doesn’t.

A President may get elected on a party ticket, as either a Democrat or Republican. However, once elected he is the President of us all.

Trump just doesn’t seem to get that. And, again, neither do his supporters.

Believing that they know best for all of us, they, with Trump as their leader, are more than content to impose their brand of conservative ideology on the rest of us.

And they are more than happy to give Trump unfettered power to do so.

That, my friends, is what autocracies are made of and we seem to be slouching towards autocracy with ever increasing eagerness and velocity as each day brings us closer to November 3rd.

This week we witnessed the death of the beloved liberal Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, aka, RBG. RBG has probably done as much or more to empower women as any woman in our nation’s history…

And with just a little over a month to the November 3rd election, and within moments of news of her passing, Trump and his senate majority leader crony, Mitch McConnell, vowed to fill RBG’s seat with a Trump nominee, one who will surely not see eye to eye ideologically with the late and great justice, nor with a majority of the American people.

And they propose to do this even though they denied Barack Obama the opportunity to do the very same thing with his nomination of Merrick Garland to the Court in 2016. A nomination that was stonewalled by McConnell and ultimately filled by Donald Trump.

That level of shameful hypocrisy is mind-boggling, to put it mildly…

They could care less, however, because, after all they’re doing what’s best for the country, or at least their conservative version of it.

Or, so they think…

The nation is at an important crossroads. The results of November 3rd will forge the direction we take for the foreseeable future…

And that will be one of self-governance for the good of all, or autocratic rule for the good of less than a majority.

If we continue slouching towards autocracy then those with power will be completely willing and able to impose their version of what is “good” on the nation.

I don’t believe that’s really what “we” want, now is it?

So, what are “we” going to do about it?

I have a hashtag solution for you…

#VoteThemOut2020

Clinging to Capitalism

September 6, 2020 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

I watched an interesting video recently addressing the question of whether the U.S. is currently experiencing the end of capitalism…

That is, whether we are currently in the throes of “late stage capitalism” and must either usher in something different, or see the system collapse under its top-heavy weight.

What exactly that “something different” might be, the video did not pretend to know.

Why are some of us clinging to capitalism, tooth and nail, while others can’t wait to see this economic system, that has truthfully raised standards of living for most human life on earth, go the way of the dinosaur?

I believe that for many capitalism has become a religion, or at least synonymous with religious ideals, often grounded in evangelical christianity. That’s sort of odd when you consider that the person the religion is based upon, Jesus of Nazareth, was anything but a capitalist.

It seems that many of us believe our democracy depends on capitalism and vice versa.

But capitalism is just an economic theory, nothing more. It is not god-ordained and our democracy was not founded upon it. In fact, when our democracy was founded there was an entire segment of our society denied access to the market and instead bought and sold as chattel on that very same market!

Capitalism is not an “American” concept, having originated in Europe. But it took hold and took off in the U.S. like wildfire…

And most of the creature comforts that we enjoy today, like this laptop I’m writing on, came to us by virtue of capitalism.

So, why, you ask, would we ever want to do things any other way?

Because capitalism, as laudable as it might be in many respects, is in others an increasingly destructive economic system.

It depends on destruction for its very existence…

Old products are replaced by new, weak competitors are ousted by the strong, and the quality of life of the workers whose blood, sweat, and tears actually produce all this fancy stuff is constantly sacrificed on the altar of higher profits.

The end result of capitalism, its late stage, as the video refers, is a society in which the vast majority of wealth is concentrated in the hands of a tiny percentage, while the rest of us grow economically stagnate…

In other words, pretty much the situation where we find ourselves in the U.S. in the year 2020.

In 2016 we had an opportunity to make a change, a drastic change. I’m not talking about HRC, but Bernie Sanders. The astounding level of popularity his campaign experienced just wasn’t enough to lift him above the establishment, who are of course clinging to capitalism like no other segment of society, well, save for the evangelicals…

Of course they would do that, since their jobs depend on support from the class that has benefitted the most from capitalism run amok. As for the evangelicals, I really don’t understand their die-hard attraction to a system that would be anathema to their professed savior and lord.

So, back to 2016…what did we do instead?

Well, of course, we elected the most monstrous example of capitalism run amok we could find – Donald J. Trump…

A man who is so wedded to the transactional ideology, that he can’t even understand why the soldiers under his command would ever sacrifice their lives for the good of country.

Is that really where we want to go as a society? Do we really think that a transactional approach to life is the correct one?

Donald Trump sure does!

He believes that there are two types of people in the world, winners and losers. The winners are the ones who are better at gaming the system for their benefit at the expense of the losers and suckers.

Those poor men and women who believed in an ideal of patriotism…that they should dedicate their lives to a greater good…they’re all losers and suckers. Those who survived the attempt and now stand as stunning examples of the potential costs of sacrificial service, well, they should be kept hidden from sight as bad examples.

I like capitalism. I like the idea that economic prosperity can come to those who work hard and to those willing to take risks that have the potential for great reward. I believe our society and those the world over have enjoyed great benefits as a result of men like Gates, Bezos and Jobs.

However, I also believe that the dark side of capitalism must be collectively tempered.

Clinging to capitalism, even the brand that has run amok as of late, because of this ideological notion that any idea to the contrary is socialistic, communistic, or just downright demonic, is the type of thinking that might actually lead to our end, that is, the end of capitalism and democracy as we have known them for the last 200+ years.

2020 gives us another opportunity to turn the corner. Once again, good ole Bernie was turned away for a more establishment line of action. And that does not bode well for what might lie ahead.

America can be great again. The last four years have borne witness to an America in decline, in the eyes of the world…and in the eyes of many citizens who are appalled at what it has become under the leadership of this zero-sum, transactional and lunatic ideology we now call Trumpism.

The truth is that electing a President, any President, is not what’s going to make America great again…

What will make America great again is for its citizens to take control and sacrifice ideology and tribalism for the greater good…

What will make America great again is to stop clinging to capitalism, or any ism for that matter…

And inspire a new generation to truly believe in the still exceptional spirit of America…

The spirit that has lifted us out of dire straights many times in the past…

And can do so now, but only if we will believe in ourselves and have faith in the promise of America…

A promise made to all of US, regardless of race, religion or ideological tribe…

The time to act is upon us!

Freedom is the Unifying Concept

August 16, 2020 by costaricaguy 1 Comment

Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.
Alexander Hamilton

Most of us are principled to some extent. That is, we have things we believe in and will fight for, if necessary…

And that’s a good thing.

However, fanaticism can be defined (or, at least I would define) as ideological rigidity in the face of clear facts to the contrary.

However, these days “the facts” are in dispute…

What facts, you ask?

Well, all of them!

I remember back during the 2016 political campaign, I was more than happy to engage in heated debates (on social media, of course), defending my ideology as the “factual” one that had to prevail over all others…

In fact, it got so bad that it started messing with my peace of mind…

So, I decided to step away from the fray.

Oh for sure I’m still a consumer of politically related social network content. I just tend to stay on the sidelines as an observer, rather than a participatory combatant. It’s a whole lot less stressful that way…

I still tend to think my way of thinking is the right one. But am I SURE about it?

Well, no…I’m not at all…

So, I don’t feel the urge any more to impose or implore my way of thinking in an attempt to help others see the light.

And what exactly is “the light?”

That, my friends, is the question we should all be asking ourselves.

From an optimistic viewpoint, the light is that all-encompassing truth that we should universally embrace…

As if there could even be such a thing!

Most of us would probably agree that said light must have something to do with freedom…we all yearn to breathe free. In other words, freedom is the unifying concept, or at least it should be…

Wouldn’t you agree?

Conservatives are freedom lovers. And so are liberals.

In fact modern conservatism is a political viewpoint derived from classical liberalism, which promoted liberty from government oppression…

When you boil it down to that, liberals aren’t very different…

Conservatives would just put more emphasis on “economic freedom”, whereas liberals might tend more towards “social freedom” with economic equality.

Let’s just focus a bit on that word, freedom.

If freedom is the unifying concept that we can all agree on, then why are we at each others throats these days?

Simple answer is that we simply can’t agree on what makes one legitimately free…

Now that’s a legitimate thing to disagree about!

But can’t we do so in a way that doesn’t detract from the very thing that we all agree on – our FREEDOM?

Can’t we also agree that all people should enjoy a similar degree of freedom…that some should not, in general, be “freer” than others?

Granted, there are ways in which we can lose our right to be free, usually by illegitimately denying it to others in some illegal or violent way.

Haven’t we already evolved to the point of collective agreement about universal freedom, after witnessing the horrors that have been suffered, historically, as a result of disagreement on this now (pretty much) settled issue?

So, let’s not go there again!

If we can all agree on freedom as the unifying concept, then why can’t we also focus on solutions to our problems that promote that concept?

Couldn’t that be a point of alignment that cuts through the petty crap we are at each other’s throats about?

In other words, couldn’t freedom as the unifying concept be the point of connection that calms the waters?

And yet we’ve lost sight of this simple point of alignment. We’ve done so by making the less important points of misalignment drastically more important. We’ve elevated ideological rigidity, along with the tribalism that bolsters it, over the simple and straight forward truth that we all just want to be fucking free!

Admittedly, I don’t generally agree with anyone who supports Donald Trump. However, I can still support their right to be free to do so. And due to that support I can seek to try to understand their motivation for doing so…

I can seek first to understand before demanding that my disagreement be understood…

I can listen and agree to disagree, without the need to insult or defame…

Folks, I believe we are going through an evolutionary phase in which we’re either going to learn to embrace the freedom we all want, albeit in varying ways, and promote that connection over division, or else we’re going to suffer dire consequences…

In fact, the consequences flowing from our divisiveness are already beginning to rear their ugly heads, aren’t they?

As I sit here writing this on August 16, 2020, I have no idea what’s going to transpire…

with respect to COVID-19…

or the November 3rd election…

or the myriad of other potential calamities we face as a national and global society…

But I know this, that we are all connected as humans and desire the same basic thing…

FREEDOM!

And that includes both the freedom to _________ and the freedom from _________.

I believe we can all learn how to fill in those blanks without killing ourselves over the content!

I’ll close with this morsel, or, er, food for thought…

Government imposed equality is NOT freedom…

But neither is market imposed inequality…

Perhaps there’s a happy medium?

Fodder for a future post…stay tuned…

COVID-19 is Accelerating the Descent into Madness

May 17, 2020 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

A recent interaction on my FaceBook profile page leads me to believe that COVID-19 is accelerating the descent into madness among my fellow Americans…

I post a lot of stuff that interests me on my page. I post music that I like and find provocative, especially by the Grateful Dead (surely to the annoyance of many of my unenlightened friends). I post pictures of family and the beauty of my adopted country, Costa Rica. Occasionally, I will post a political meme, but I really don’t like those, as I find them lacking in nuance and usually intellectually insulting. I post books that I’ve recently read. I do that because I’m always on the lookout for good reading suggestions, so I like to offer a few myself for my friends to consider. And I post articles, some of them political, but only after carefully reading and vetting each. I try not to post anything that I find to be conspiratorial, or factually inaccurate.

I have FaceBook friends (some real and some virtual) with varying and often contrasting political ideals. I have quite a few friends who are conservative Trump supporters. After all, I hail from the Carolinas, which by and large is an area supportive of Donald Trump. So, a lot of my old friends from back home disagree with much of what I post. And I’m perfectly OK with that. In fact, I welcome the engagement of healthy and heated debate, as long as it remains respectful.

However, what happened recently on my page was definitely heated, but neither healthy, nor respectful, …

I posted a thoughtful article by Ezra Klein on the abject failure of the Trump administration in responding to the pandemic. I read a lot of Ezra’s stuff, books and articles, and I frequently listen to his podcast. I find him to be an intellectual worth listening to. However, he is predominantly of a liberal leaning mindset. And I don’t always agree with him. I would say that I’m decidedly more on the progressive side compared to Ezra.

Almost immediately upon posting this article I had a Trump supporter offer a comment on my post (I am quite sure without ever having taking the time to actually read the article). The comment basically said that by posting this article I would surely lose 50% of my real estate client base…I guess assuming that 50% of said base would take issue with the article to such a degree as to “fire” me over it…

If this “friend” was actually trying to “help” me by offering business advice…that ain’t the way to do it. And furthermore, if making money means that I can’t express my political views, peacefully and respectfully, on my own FaceBook page, well then I guess he’s right…I’m headed straight for the poor-house!

Suffice it to say that I responded to his comment in a way that I don’t respond very often. To paraphrase, I invited him to quickly exit my FaceBook page and go straight to hell!

I take political positions on my page. It’s my personal page. I think I’m allowed to do that. In fact, a quick perusal of my former friend’s (he unfriended me after this encounter) page confirmed that about 90% of the content is overtly political and usually insulting to anyone of a contrary viewpoint. Nevertheless, I refrained from any reciprocal trolling.

I have another page dedicated to my real estate business and I do not post anything remotely political over there. I don’t think it’s the place to do so and fans of that page do not want to see political crap, but rather content related to Costa Rica real estate and expat living.

So, what gives a Trump supporter the audacious idea that he can attack a person in this manner just because he disagrees with a political post?

Isn’t the whole concept of democracy predicated upon peaceful political debate?

If you want to eradicate all political debate and do so by threatening opposing views with financial (or, worse, physical) repercussion, then aren’t we converting our system to something far less than democratic? Doesn’t that sound a lot like what takes place in, say, Russia, China, or North Korea? I thought conservative Trump supporters were staunchly against totalitarianism of that nature?

You see, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t make America great again and at the same time try to make it a place where everyone marches in lockstep (or “goose-step”) politically.

Is that really the world you want to live in, or want your grandchildren to be borne into?

And what does a virus have to do with all this? Why is it that COVID-19 is accelerating the descent into madness, as opposed to everything else that’s happened over the last three years?

COVID-19 is exposing some dark truths about American society. As we are standing out as the most exceptional nation on the planet, in terms of COVID-19 cases and deaths, the gross excesses of our overly materialistic society are rising to the surface like a plucked Phoenix from the ashes. This unseen enemy (as Trump likes to call it) has rendered our mighty and invincible economy incapable of even providing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for the essential workers on the front-lines, exposing themselves while fighting to keep the rest of us safe. Can you imagine a response like this in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, or 9-11?

When it comes to blowing up other people in far away lands, we always seem to find the means to do so. But we can’t seem to find those same means to provide adequate testing and tracing to try to contain this “Chinese” pathogen, or at least not for the most vulnerable among us.

And as the economy shrinks under shelter in place orders, the gloves come off and the AR-15’s are taken down from the truck racks. People are fighting mad and someone has to be blamed for this mess…

And while we are blaming and threatening each other, spitting mad, the virus spreads, people die, and the great American economy further collapses…

And the COVID-19 descent into madness accelerates.

#VoteThemOut2020

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