It's time to recognize what's happening in America

Jimmy Kimmel is the latest sacrificial lamb for corporate greed.

I can no longer stomach how my country is becoming more and more like the country my grandparents left. The only palatable outlets for keeping up with what’s happening are through comedy. There’s only so much one can take before mental health starts declining.

The truth is that legacy media lives and dies by the Golden Rule.

The rest of us, however, have a choice.

Interesting Times

Every single person that writes on social media is now a David in the fight against the Authoritarian Goliath that is slowly consolidating its power through America. Again and again, I am reminded of this quote:

I don’t want any part of what’s happening right now, but as a writer and a child of immigrant parents, I have a choice and an obligation to speak up. The risks are now higher than ever, but doing nothing—watching as we come full circle after a century of struggling to rise above the demons of society—is an even bigger risk.

How do the Germans who stood by and watched during and after World War II face the fallout of their inaction? One word sums it up very well, according to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

They were “Bystanders”, either indifferent to the horror of what was happening around them or helplessly watching due to fear for themselves, their families, or social pressure. It was also a catch-all term for varying degrees of silent protest. As the article summarizes at its conclusion, it was more of a convenient way to refer to those in the middle—the majority either tacitly supporting or opposing. Whatever you thought you would do in times like that, you no longer have to wonder…

You’re doing it right now.

The Pieces are On the Board

The truth of the matter is that there is no “true” neutral ground. We are now at a point where we are now facing our own 1930’s Germany environment. We’ve become MAGA and ICE, completely supporting the destruction of what this nation was founded upon, “Bystanders” who are either too apathetic or too caught up in our own struggles to help, or the resistance actively filming, sharing, and speaking out against it all.

Regardless of where you stand, we are now living in a different nation even if you never set foot beyond its boundaries.

I’m in the “Bystander” category, but if you’ve read this far, then you know that I’m far from a supporter of what is happening. No matter how small it may be, you still have a choice, a choice to signal that you are not OK with what’s happening. In all likelihood, we will survive the chaos that is unfolding. But historically, it can take decades to recover lost ground. While the overall trend for the world has been towards democratization, there has been a reversal in trajectory since the turn of the century.

So what does this mean for you?

The difference between now and a century ago is that everything is documented digitally. What goes on the internet, stays on the internet. Unless there is a catastrophic meltdown and collapse in technology, a digital footprint is virtually impossible to erase from existence.

In the short-term, history can be warped and perverted to suit the message of the moment, but its memory endures far beyond that.

As legacy media continues to be consumed by its need for money and power, there is a parallel and independent media that is growing in the abandoned space. Those who have been forced out are finding new positions. Colbert has secured a deal with Netflix for a short time. Others have turned to social writing platforms like Substack.

Until there are better ascriptions, the uncomfortable truth is that we fall in the onlooker/bystander category of history. But I must stress again that we all have a choice. Every moment up to this point and beyond has, is, and will have consequences in what we do.

The pen is mightier than the sword.

What will our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren say about our generation?