Disillusioned Dreamer

The more I see the news and people posting on Facebook, the more my faith in humanity is lost. I'm truly starting to feel that, rather than going forward, we are regressing and heading toward segregation all over again. This isn't making America great again. It's 2016. We shouldn't be having the arguments we have today. Yet here we are, arguing over who can marry who, what religion is right, where people should go to the restroom. 

For the longest time, I've held hope that we will eventually be a nation of equality, but I'm starting to see that we are more divided than ever. I'm becoming disheartened. Some days, it makes me wonder why I fight. Why do I fight for equality? Why do I fight for the rights of others? 

It seems like, since a certain presidential hopeful came on the scene and started spewing his hatefulness, the world has taken to his platform and made it their own. People aren’t afraid to say what they think anymore. They don’t care for the feelings of other people, just their own thoughts. It’s heartbreaking to see the road we are heading down. 

There is so much hate and I know there always has been, but it seems like now, it’s even more evident than it was before. I’m truly terrified of the world my children are growing up in. What kind of world are we leaving for them? A nation where it’s okay to hate your neighbor because they aren’t the same race, religion or sexual orientation as you? No, that’s not the legacy I want my kids to have.

A great many lives were lost in the battle to gain just an inch of equality. Those lives no longer seem to matter to this generation. The lives of our fellow citizens don’t even seem to matter. Our young people are killing themselves because we’ve become a nation of bullies, a nation where it’s okay to say “You’re not right because you aren’t like me”. It’s encouraged even.

It’s not about us no longer being politically correct. What happened to just being plain courteous? What happened to us living by the old adage of “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” or “Treat others the way you want to be treated”? Why are we teaching our kids that it’s okay to hate a person for not being like we are? 

I’m becoming jaded and I hate that. I hate it because I feel like I’m a solider in this battle for one love among everyone and it’s a battle we are losing. 

I hate it because I don’t understand why.

If we want to make America great again, then we need to bring back love. Because that’s the only thing that can truly fix us.