*Editor’s Note: Elephant Journal articles represent the personal views of the authors, and can not possibly reflect Elephant Journal as a whole. Disagree with an Op-Ed or opinion? We’re happy to share your experience here.

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The madness continues. The hate continues. The anger continues. The violence continues. The cognitive dissonance continues. The division continues.

The sh*tshow that has become the USA continues.

I’m just a girl from Down Under, who, like the rest of the world watches on in despair, as people argue and tear each other apart. As people, so caught up in their beliefs forget that those beliefs are simply that, theirs, not necessarily fact, true or right, just their life-shaped beliefs.

And sometimes those beliefs, often limiting and unhealthy, are so blinding, there’s no room for nuance. For listening. No room for open dialogue and understanding different perspectives. No room for anything but bloody mindedness, fear, and hatred. The puppets controlled well by their masters.

It’s a frighteningly f*cked up chess game, where the pawns are being led in a tragic game of control and manipulation, and they can’t even see it. Surely, this is not any sort of country or world we want to live in because the reality is nobody wins but the masters. And if you think those masters will look after you, you are sadly deluded. The masters only ever look after themselves.

I go to bed each night after watching a day of what can only be described as untold f*ckery, only to wonder what disastrous news I’m going to wake up to.

Social media can be a horrible, negative, and bullying place at the best of times, and right now it’s a toxic wasteland of people behaving in the most appalling ways. It’s also fabricated too often with AI content, and the gullible are remiss to understand this. It’s true that we all have a right to our own opinions and beliefs, but we can also disengage from the bloody minded who will never see a different perspective. We can read, listen, reflect before deciding to spew angry vitriol and self-righteousness. And let me make it perfectly clear: this is exactly what the “masters” want. Everyone is doing a wonderful job of dancing to the exact tune they’ve been manipulated to dance to. Division is a powerful thing for those in control.

I’m not going to make this about Renee Good or ICE because quite frankly there’s enough horrid debate out there. I will simply say: when a civilian of a country is shot dead in her car by a masked man who appeared to be engulfed with rage, and subsequently walked off like it was nothing…and that man is considered some sort of law enforcement, the country is the USA, supposedly a leader of the first world, and the President voices his support of this shooting without facts or remorse, we as the world have a significant problem. We as the world should not only be disgusted, but we should also be on high alert. No matter which way this is spun, it’s unacceptable.

The day we normalise these types of acts and allow our strings to be pulled without question, without thought, without legal due process, and without a semblance of compassion is the day we, as human beings and as a society, have hit rock bottom.

I’m on the other side of the world, but I can’t escape the sh*tshow. And it shouldn’t matter what side of the political fence you sit. Or what religion you are. Because independent, intelligent, rational thinking humans with an ounce of care for future generations are taking a step back. Are looking at the whole picture and ensuring they are not being caught up in their fear or cognitive biases. They are being discerning and not letting their political persuasions or religious beliefs blind them to the facts or a different perspective. Or to the reality.

You see, we can support a political side or be part of a particular faith without being completely blinded. We can be cognisant. We can be aware. We can have enough insight to call a f*ck up out. We can find fault; indeed we should all be able to agree to disagree with one’s actions. We don’t have to indiscriminately agree with everything without question. It’s absolutely wild to me that some people have their one-sided glasses so firmly planted on their faces that they can’t see the madness unfolding. History is there for all to see should they open their eyes; instead we choose to repeat so many mistakes of our past without a skerrick of discernment. It’s not a political or religious movement when insight, judgement, astuteness, and shrewdness has disappeared; it’s a cult.

I can’t help but think all this imbalance, hatred, fear, and pitting people against each other is simply a distraction. A way to destabilise society and make them weak. Fill them with fear. Anger. Hatred for anyone who is not like them. Poison them that other people, other cultures, anyone in the LGBTQ+ community are to blame for all that is wrong in the U.S., whilst shouting “Make America Great Again.” Blame anyone and everyone without ever looking within or taking any responsibility.

Dysregulate everyone’s nervous system to the point there is no clarity of thinking. When you are surrounded by chaos and dysfunction, you learn to adapt to that. It feels normal. You believe this is how life should be. You search for it because it gives you a sense of familiar, just like any abusive relationship. You are gaslit. Fed breadcrumbs. Maybe even hoovered. Told lies or at best half-truths. You can’t believe the reality, so you create your own version of the truth. You can’t sit with your emotions and feelings, so you project them onto anyone who doesn’t look like you. Sound like you. Behave like you. Everyone who doesn’t fit in the cage you’ve created is the enemy. And there’s always a power imbalance. Some will fight. Some will flee. Some will freeze. But far too many are fawning.

Because there’s no calm. No reasoning. No individuality. No critical thinking. No open communication. Threatening people’s safety and even their reality. It’s been proven over and over again throughout history, hasn’t it? Open the books and take a look at the cruelty, injustice, and horror of our past. Yet, here we are again. Smart people learn. Indoctrinated people follow with their blinkers on. The fact some rapists, pedophiles, and abusers walk free and are hidden amongst every social structure is what we are forgetting in all of this. What’s in those files? What atrocities are we being distracted from? Masked men killing people in the streets. Waking up one day and deciding to take over another country. Honestly, sometimes I cannot believe this is real life. None of this is normal.

Everyone understands there’s no winners here, right? Regardless of your political persuasion, your religious beliefs, or anything else you tell yourself, nobody wins. This is not a boardgame that can be packed up and everyone goes home. It’s not a sporting event where one team takes the trophy home. This is real life and people are dying and whatever story you believe about a woman getting shot on your streets, none of it is right. None of this is justified. And the frightening truth is: it could be any of you. Don’t think for one minute that your patriotism will protect you. You have formed your own army of “masked law enforcement,” who seem to not follow any laws. Any due process. The word that sums this up is anarchy.

There’s no question the USA is a powerful country, but it’s not infallible. Indeed, it has proven repeatedly just how fallible it is. It also cannot function alone in a silo. The world is made up of diverse countries and cultures, with richness and resources, and each add value. The world was not created for any country to be able to survive in isolation. Any world leader knows this. Every person with a hint of education in history, geography, and economics understands this. Trade. Tourism. Natural resources. These things matter, and without them any country will be screwed. The American people, so blinded by the chaos, hate, and fear being projected, will sadly learn some harsh lessons, and if it’s not reigned in, inadvertently, so will the rest of the world. No one person has the power to control these things, as much as they may think they do.

I guess when it’s drummed into your head from an early age that “America is the greatest country in the world,” and you never pick up a book and learn about other places, travel to foreign destinations, immerse yourself in other cultures, have a wide range of culturally diverse friends, it stands to reason that you would be completely insular. I love my country and culture; do I think it’s the greatest? How could I? I’ve not travelled everywhere in the world. I also see faults and absolutely think we can do better. I don’t blindly affiliate myself to one political side because history has shown me there are always mistakes, disappointments, wrong-doing, and being blinded by what the leader of your country says, without question, without recourse, or without a voice is ignorance at best and dangerous at worst.

We can love and have pride in our country without ignoring its f*ck ups. We can vote for a leader and realise we’ve made a mistake and learn from that. We can support a leader but still see the truth of who they are; they all have weaknesses. We can view things through a lens of honesty and reality. We don’t have to blindly follow and end up in the slaughterhouse.

Put down the anger. Put down the fear. Open the mind a little and reflect. Stop indiscriminately believing what you’re told and following aimlessly like a sheep. Hate begets hate. Fear begets fear. Anger begets anger. Kindness begets kindness, and calm begets calm. We can choose the world we want to live in. And this ain’t it.

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