It’s Always Been You

There is poison in the bloodstream of our nation, and it has concentrated to the point that it might just kill us. No, it won’t destroy the United States in form, most likely. This kind of poison doesn’t kill outright. This kind of poison is like arsenic. A little at a time makes us sicker, and sicker, as our organs slowly give in. First, we see the superficial signs, like splotchiness on the skin, and then maybe we have a little tingling of the skin. This is the stage when, for our nation, reality starts to blur and citizens begin to struggle determining reality from fiction. This is when people turn away from science in droves, choosing home remedies over scientifically proven vaccines.

We’re past that.

The next stage is when organs begin to fail. Organs of the state are attacked by the poison, starting with the easiest targets: the media. There’s eternally something in the media one would disagree with, so it’s not hard to brand them as evil, especially when the technology giants are making them all but obsolete. And when the press are sufficiently maligned so that there is no longer any truth to be found, then you know the poison has made its way to the other organs. Self-control begins to falter as the skin hardens and the organs begin to seize up. The ability to react to change becomes more and more difficult, and cancers begin to spring up where none were before.

This is where we are. A nation unwell, and we are being held hostage by the poison that is killing us. But here’s the silver lining: up until this point, we’ve only been speculating—because a few skin lesions can happen for multiple reasons. Sleeping on the wrong side of the body can sometimes cause tingling in arms or legs. Many other symptoms, like the hatred that so many United States Citizens seem to have, have been with us for a long time. The poison isn’t new. It’s the same poison that we’ve been able to tolerate at lower doses, so it hasn’t been easy to see it building up. But now… now it’s undeniable.

Today, those of us who been calling the fascist movement a truly fascist movement, have been vindicated in the worst possible way: by seeing the ensuing and increasingly undeniable steps away from freedom and toward servitude taken, while around a sixth of our citizens cheer the actions on, despite that we know this will kill us. Those of us who were called alarmist, or worse, troublemakers, liars, and riff-raff, are free of the labels.

Nobody thinks we’re wrong now.

The people who have taken our government show less and less reserve as they now openly discuss something that we collectively swore would never happen again: sending people to concentration camps. Oh there’s wordplay, like people who think that there have to be actual nazis to have concentration camps, or those who still maintain that nothing bad has happened here. There will always be those, and we’re used to them. We know how it works, and we see them now.

This is the silver lining: we, as a nation, can no longer deny what is happening in the United States. It’s damn near impossible when people in or near your circle are being targeted and in many cases spirited away without a trial. We also know now that the corporations are not on our side. It’s insanity to think that’s the truth, because corporations are made up of United States citizens, many of whom work hard and are hurt by the actions happening right now.

Those people don’t speak truth to their power. Why? Because if they do, they might lose their jobs. It’s the same reason large corporations bend the knee. They fear for their existence. But it’s a false fear, and a distraction because if we don’t stand up, then their doom is all but certain anyway. After all, the impoverished can’t buy goods and services. A corporation that’s losing money can’t pay for employees. These are connected with the isolationist leanings of fascist dictators everywhere, who want to control their states.

In the face of this spreading sickness, then, what are we to do?

Activate the white blood cells. That’s you. That’s me. That’s everyone you know. At the national level, there is no power. The only power comes from the people who, for fear of their situation, bend to the dictator’s leaning. When justice is no longer enforced at the top, it must be enforced at the bottom, in every single decision we make.

Where do you buy your clothes? Are you in customs enforcement? Then refuse your unlawful orders. Are you in the military? Refuse to raise a hand against fellow United States Citizens. Are you in law enforcement? Then demand due process of law, even—especially—if it’s against someone you played a part in arresting.

YOU are the solution. YOU are the vaccine. YOU are the power.

And let me tell you a secret:

It’s always been you.