Where are we going? I mean, where are we going as a country? Forgive me if I expose some of my political beliefs here (is that even a bad thing?), I’m sure you’ll learn quite quickly that I’m into politics, but seriously, where are we going as a country? Are we flying down the highway in a eighteen-wheeler with no driver? Are we forced to listen to all of the other truck drivers on the highway screaming at us to stop, while being held back by the constraints of a passenger’s seatbelt that was installed centuries ago? We seem to have avoided the cliffs that we’ve passed already, but can we continue to be lucky enough to stop from careening into the jagged rocks below?

We have fail-proofs in place, so that the other truck drivers may take control of the wheel to save us from imminent demise, so where are they? They’ve been satisfied with the driving of the truck so far, so why should we expect them to intervene anyway? But, those in the passenger seat spoke, and decided that we needed different fail-proofs, but will those fail-proofs provide futile? What kind of country are we living in where one non-existent driver can continue to be in charge, despite the chaos he creates?

Why have I focused on only one driver, in one truck, when there are dozens of other trucks that are on their way down the pit, or that have already crashed? Shall I stop using this metaphor, to save it from becoming trite?

How have we allowed a tyrannical dictator to starve his people, bankrupt his country, and topple his own country’s democracy? Then again, who are we to intervene in another country’s matters? Are we morally bankrupt for ignoring the problem all these years? Or are we trying to exude power and influence over a vulnerable country, when we shouldn’t? Is the protection of fundamental human rights more important than stopping some sort of alleged neocolonial actions? Do the starving mothers and children in Venezuela really care about cries about America’s “neocolonialism?”

To zoom out even further, apart from countries, how are we going to sustain human life for hundreds of years? We’re slowly killing our planet, and does anyone in power actually care? With the proclamation of things like “clean coal,” are we going to continue to cling to the “glory days?” Are we going to finally embrace what this country needs: eco-friendly and sustainable infrastructure?

Zooming back in to our own country, what about education? We’re extremely lucky in New York to have access to affordable higher education, but what about the rest of the country? How are people without college degrees meant to excel in a world where a college degree is the new norm? How can they pull themselves up by their bootstraps, when their bootstraps were snipped off by poverty?

And immigration? Are we going to start building walls instead of bridges, like we’re in the middle ages? Or, are we going to return to a much darker period in our history, where we put human beings in cages and camps on account of their race? Or their religion? Or, are we going to return to the days when a piece of legislation called the “Chinese Exclusion Act” could be passed?

Sounds doomsday, huh? But, what if it’s not all bad?

On a federal level, what if I told you that the youth vote skyrocketed in the 2018 midterms? And that there’s finally a check on the executive branch? Or that there are more young people in the House of Representatives than ever before? And an incredibly high amount of women, and people of color? I could go on, but isn’t that inspiring? 

And on a state level, what if I told you that there is groundbreaking legislation being passed in the first two weeks of the legislative session? What if I told you that gay conversion therapy was banned, and that childhood victims of sexual assault could finally seek justice, and that it’s going to be easier than ever to vote in New York State? Isn’t that exciting?

So, isn’t it possible that we don’t need the traditional fail-safes in our eighteen-wheeler? Isn’t it possible that we can make our own? If we break off the dusty, decrepit shackles of the past, don’t you think that we could change the world?

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