AMERICA, YOU NEED AN INTERVENTION

America, we need to talk For quite some time now, I have noticed your decline. Until recently, it was concerning yet manageable I know that perfection is unattainable in this world. However, especially within the last decade, it has become more noticeable that your selfdestructive behavior is impossible not to notice America, you are killing yourself, and you need to stop Now

Let's begin with the environment Simply put, you are destroying it. The more conservative among you do not seem to understand the difference between weather and climate The weather is what you see when you look up, but climate refers to weather patterns that can affect life on Earth over a span of time Burning fossil fuels can over time so erode the climate that it can lead to more intense weather and other problems: floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, poisoned air and water, unlivable heat wavesbasically the Book of Revelation come alive. Scientists tell us that the trend that produces these weather extremes must be reversed by 2029 in order to have a chance at human survival I'm telling you, for your own good, you need to cut back on the gasoline

Almost as dangerous, America, is your tendency of late toward selfishness, intolerance, cruelty and authoritarianism. All the other ails - poor health, drug dependency, a lower standard of living, violence - stem from these four weaknesses

In the past, you took pride in what you called your rugged individualism, your ability to pull yourself up from your own bootstraps and make something positive happen for yourself Putting aside the fact that this attitude was always a myth, it has over time morphed into a belief that "what's mine is mine" and to hell with the rest of you. You feel entitled to all of the benefits that society bestows on you, yet you don't want to contribute to it, financially or otherwise, especially if it means that someone besides yourself benefits from it

It's bad enough that you want to isolate yourself from the rest of us, but now you want to look down on us as well. If we don't look like you, act like you, even "love" like you, you want to eradicate the rest of us from your life. How arrogant of you, Karen!

Thanks to cell phone cameras and social media, nothing is hidden anymore We see you abuse blacks, Hispanics, Jews, women, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, the poor and homeless, even the educated who think for themselves. We see you taking pleasure in displaying photos of a private citizen's penis to the world, turning a fire hose on a homeless person, laughing at a woman sexually attacked by a president and a Supreme Court justice, throwing a metaphorical anvil at some millennial busting his ass working five jobs just to make this month's rent, and on and on It's disgusting.

To add insult to injury, America, you want to be holier-than-thou and tell us what we should do with our own life Our life It may surprise the more conservative and authoritarian among you, but most of us want control over our body and our mind That entails whether we want to protect ourselves from a deadly virus, worship the God of our choice in the manner of our choosing, choose whether or not to adhere to the Bible or any other religious tract, love who we want to love, raise our children as we see see fit - or even to have children at all. Oh, and we get to decide whether or not to salute the flag and recite the

Pledge of Allegiance Most of us also hate hypocrisy and a system where some very privileged people get away with committing crimes while others who lack the money, power and connections do not. We also hate a system where the most is given to the few who least need or deserve it while the vast majority must suffer, largely due to misfortune of birth. Is it any wonder that disease, drug addiction and prevalence of guns is at an all-time high? That some people are so quick to shoot someone for knocking on their door to ask for directions?

America, your past is not pretty You cannot wash away slavery and oppression merely by passing a law that says you cannot teach it anymore. People know what you have done, and they have so many means to find out (such as BAVUAL). If you want the world to view you as exceptional, you must act in a way that makes you exceptional.

As any 12-step program will tell you, America, the first step is admitting to yourself that you have a problem You are drunk, Uncle Sam Drunk with ego, drunk with money and the greed that it produces, drunk with lies and falsehoods You are not the Shining City on a Hill that you imagine yourself to be, more like a heroin addict looking for his next quick fix and headed for an inevitable OD. Is this how you want to go out?

There is still time to turn it around There is still much good in you, America. It's just that somewhere along the line you lost your way You've seen better days If you want to see them again, put down the needle and the crack pipe, lose the arrogance, pick up a book and read it, and start treating all of your people with respect and decency.

America, you have a big decision to make, and little time in which to make it. Choose wisely.