Hello, citizens of the United States and citizens of other countries that have lost the plot.

Why does a country exist if not to benefit the people that live in that country?

The citizens of a country must obey the rules of the country in which they reside. The social and codified contracts that exist between citizens of a country should benefit the whole and not the few.

The United States is so far behind the curve on understanding the practices that make a country great that it’s absurd.

Let’s delve into some of the absurdity, shall we?

Financial Disparity

The one percent continues to profit off the backs of the middle class and the poor alike. I’ll spare you an enumeration of the big pharma, insurance, finance, and other industry insiders that continue to rake us over the coals. It’s a well-known fact that the wealthy, politicians, and other powerful people continue to fleece U.S. citizens regularly.

The primary reason financial disparity exists is a long-standing belief that anyone can be rich if they pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

These people keep voting for policies that redistribute the tax money they contributed to the military and the rich while voting against any policies that would help the masses.

God forbid the people pay into a system that gives them a return on their investment.

THE NERVE OF THESE PEOPLE THAT WANT A HANDOUT!

Self-Centered Assholes

When I lived in Europe, back in the late 2000s, I met a couple from the United States in a small local Austrian bar. I lived in a small town called Freistadt, where some people spoke English, but a significant percentage of the older population only spoke German.

While I was conversing with this couple visiting from the U.S., an older gentleman asked the three of us a question in German. In an unexpected turn of events, the man sitting next to me lashed out at this older gentleman. He said, “If you’re going to speak to me, speak to me in English!”. The older man looked confused but understood the tone, so he moved away from the table, and the American man continued talking as if nothing happened. This behavior disturbed me, so I departed, realizing it was time to disassociate myself with these people.

Mercifully, my co-worker translated for him, and we moved past the deli and finally ended up at checkout. While walking through the checkout, the asshat from Florida put his U.S. dollars on the counter. It was clear that he was expecting to pay with U.S. dollars while in a country that deals in Euros.

Later that evening, my co-workers and Florida boy went to dinner at a local restaurant. In Austria, it is not common for people to send food back even if something is wrong with it. Mr. America proceeded to send back his plate of chicken because, in his mind, he was buying chicken wings. The servers all looked confused, and my co-workers looked embarrassed by this behavior.

If this man had any shame, any sense of cultural nuances, or even a small amount of respect for the people of this small town, he would have asked questions about best behaviors. Instead, he railroaded people and acted like he owned the place.

These encounters with U.S. citizens happened on several occasions. Most U.S. citizens I encountered were rude, arrogant, and thoughtless of the people around them.

Long story short, several U.S. citizens are a nasty lot. It’s a sad reality that people can see quite clearly here in 2020. Make America Great Again, indeed.

No Respect

Rodney Dangerfield spoke for all of us when he said. “I don’t get no respect!”. Several U.S. citizens feel they can’t wear a mask to help prevent killing someone with a virus; this says it all.

Tom Hanks on wearing masks:

“There’s really only three things we can do in order to get to tomorrow: Wear a mask, social distance, wash our hands, Those things are so simple, so easy, if anybody cannot find it in themselves to practice those three very basic things – I just think shame on you. Don’t be a prick, get on with it, do your part. It’s very basic. If you’re driving a car, you don’t go too fast, you use your turn signal and you avoid hitting pedestrians. My Lord, it’s common sense,”

— Tom Hanks

I couldn’t agree more. It would be peachy if more people would use their hidden commonsense superpowers.

It’s common sense to give fellow citizens respect. It’s the right thing to do, and people will reciprocate when it is given in most scenarios. It’s a numbers game, do unto others, and all that old stuff.

We’re disconnected

Individualism has its place, don’t get me wrong, but pretending we are separate from each other is a detriment to society. In a single day, there are millions of people claiming that they don’t need anything from anyone to live a good life. Some will take it further and say they don’t care about you at all. It’s madness to believe that when the actions we take as a collective can send one another to the grave. COVID-19 has proven that yet people still live in a fantasy land where they believe their actions have zero consequences.

What to do?

If we’re already applying common sense, if we’re already respecting one another, if we’re doing our best to not harm one another, we’re on the right track. Let’s stay on that track and avoid feeding the trolls that flood our daily lives.

Feeding the real-life trolls, like the proud boys, will only make them grow in proportion to the feeding. It is not productive to engage with racists, fascists, and other trolls. It’s best to ignore them and watch them disappear, shortly after November 15th, when they start to fade into a very embarrassing portion of modern U.S. history.