AMERICANS DO NOT SHARE THE SAME SET OF FACTS AND VALUES

 

                              …The TOPS market and its memorial in Buffalo, N.Y.

 

We cannot come together for our problems, even though they are killing us

 

The victims of the last massacre in Buffalo were still being buried this week, when another young man, armed with an assault rifle, killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas.

So far this year, this broken nation is averaging 10 mass shootings of four or more people every week.  This same country recently passed 1 million Covid deaths.  This is far more than any other nation.

On top of that, tens of millions of Americans falsely believe the 2020 election was stolen, and that our democracy stands on crumbling ground, that item is correct

Sharply conflicting abortion laws is inflaming both the Blue and the Red states.  Even the supposedly nonpartisan U.S. Supreme Court is splitting at the seams.  The justices are openly expressing scorn and suspicion. 

These are all symptoms of an underlying disease called: “a lack of trust.” 

The reason that Australia had a per capita Covid death rate of one-tenth of the U.S. is just that trust.  The New York Times recently reported that Australia trusted their scientists, their government and each other.  All this while Americans definitely did not trust.  The reality today in the U.S. is probably that 900,000 Americans died of distrust.

Americans cannot trust that our kids can go to school without being shot.  We can’t even trust people to wear their masks during a pandemic, because so many insist they have a right to not wear one.  We can’t pass sensible gun-safety laws because some people believe they need weapons-of-war to defend themselves against what is false government tyranny. 

Many Americans no longer trust organized religion, corporations, capitalism, their employees, or the media.  We do not share a common set of facts and values.  We have self-sorted and retreated into our own worlds of social media, cable networks, and our communities. 

Separated by walls of tribal loyalty, we cannot come together to solve our problems, even when those problems are killing us.

The nation’s democracy is in serious trouble.

Copyright G. Ater 2022