Divided We Fall:  America's Crumbling Pillars Of Strength

     We are all seeing the stress cracks and signs of bigger problems to come in America's pillars.  By America's pillars I mean the institutions that all of us were taught to believe in and depend on; our news media, our first responders, our health care system, our education system, our military, our justice system, and our democratic system.  These pillars are what hold this country up and it doesn't take an engineer to see if the pillars fail then the whole country comes crashing down.  So, what is causing the damage and how do we repair it?

     These are not Republican problems or Democrat problems; they are American problems that affect all of us.  Yet, it seems that it is our political and social divisiveness that is causing the most damage to our great American pillars of strength.  We are all being rocked back and forth by these two powerful political parties and their armies.  As a nation we live in constant turmoil, and it has taken a toll.  

     Think about it.  One political party comes into power and passes a law and in no time at all the other party comes into power and repeals the law.  Our tax system is changed every time the balance of power shifts.  So is our education system.  The American people can hardly keep up with the constant changes.  But hang on, haven't we always had a two-party political system?   Why is it just now, after more than two hundred years, causing our institutions to fail?

     The American people are being spoon fed division, rudeness, and disrespect by the media every time we turn on the television or open our phones and computers.  Today's media, in all of its many forms, has been successful in turning the American people against each other.  If you tune into MSNBC their commentators are likely to make you think Donald Trump is the devil.  If you tune into Fox News their commentators are likely to make you think Joe Biden is running a crime family.  This is just two examples, but they all do it.  And it isn't just restricted to news channels.  Movies and sitcoms seemed to be programmed to push one political agenda or the other.  It's not just that our media promotes divisive political agendas, but they do it in a rude and disrespectful manner while turning us against each other.  The media tells Americans what to think, what to say, and how to behave.  Like children, the American people are mimicking what they see and hear even when they don't realize they're doing it.  This has had a negative impact on our society.  

     Not enough people want to work in the service industry anymore because people are so rude and disrespectful.  Not enough people want to be police officers anymore because no one wants to be disrespected and attacked by the media or the community while risking their lives.  There aren't enough doctors anymore because no one wants to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on an education and then have to work twenty-four- or forty-eight-hour shifts to patch up a bunch of people who are trying to kill each other.  Not enough people want to join the military because they have seen America dragged in to countless conflicts that never seem to end or end badly like it did when America withdrew from Afghanistan.  Small businesses are being squeezed by taxes and regulations so fewer of these small businesses are succeeding long term.  American farmers are disappearing and more of our farmland is becoming foreign owned.  So, America is suffering because of a divisive and toxic media that fuels two broken political parties inside of an ever-growing bureaucracy.

     The crazy thing is, we could stop them if we wanted to.  There are three hundred and thirty million of us, so if we stick together, we can accomplish anything.  That's probably why they work so hard to divide us.  United we stand, divided we fall.  It's time for the American people to put these two political parties and the media that serves them back in their places before it's too late.  Think about that the next time you dial 9-1-1 and no one answers.