I’m tired.

I’m tired of listening to rhetoric that stirs up anger and fear among the people of this great country who have the most to gain from the change they are so afraid of. Freedom and liberty are not a pie where if shared reduces the size of the share. They are more like a wild bird – keep it caged and to yourself, it withers, goes crazy, and dies early. Set it free and it soars happily, living a long and full life.

I’m tired of the self-dishonesty of people who deny demonstratable facts, calling “fake news” or “biased” whatever doesn’t come from their chosen source of information, even when the information presented by their chosen source is repeatedly disproved as misleading, inflammatory, or extremely biased.

I’m tired of a default world view of “us versus other” where anything “other” is viewed “bad, evil, wrong” or “trying to take” – whatever it is that might be “taken”. The majority of people aren’t trying to “take” anything, they just want to live peacefully. Yes, there are bad apples, but with the “us versus other” mentality, the “us” quickly becomes the bad apples. This has been demonstrated throughout history. Yet here we are, repeating it all over again in a slightly different flavor.

I’m tired of a cheating, lying, manipulative, scared little man holding so much sway over my fellow Americans that they are blinded by their own bias, drowning in their own fears, angry at the world for their own mistakes, outlook, and situations, and tricked into believing what this man has to say, taking it as truth and gospel because his friends in high places say it is so. Dividing us, placing any that are not willing to fall into his trap into the “other” category.

I’m tired.

What can I do?