Raise your hand if you are literally emotionally worn out by witnessing the lowest-common-denominator, knee-jerk responses in human behavior?

When did humans become so ignorant to what is necessary to overcome our own personal hurdles, in order to overcome the world’s hurdles, together?

“American Entitlement” is at an all-time high. No, I am not referring to income-challenged single moms receiving Federal or state aid, for those of you who live your life from bumper sticker to bumper sticker.

I’m referring to good ol’ white, middle class American entitlement. You know—the reason France cringes when we walk into a bar.

We in white America have been so fat and happy on the breaking backs of our hard-working immigrant great-grandparents, and our WWII-generation grandparents who knew how to sacrifice for something larger than themselves, that we’ve utterly lost touch with our personal role in contributing to our local communities—even our own families.

We can’t find our purpose because we’re too busy being afraid, so we blame people of color for “illegally living off our taxes” or “ruining property values” or “taking our jobs”.

We whine and blame and whine some more.

White America has honestly gotten so soft, and so whiney, and so fragile… lord. Natural selection will take care of us, given enough time.

Americans in general believe we’re entitled to ANYTHING, from a bigger TV, to nineteen burgers a minute (referencing the insanity and fake news reported by Fox that Biden is going to “limit red meat consumption” which is not, in any universe, true), to not wearing a mask during the height of a global pandemic, to pretending racism isn’t systemic because white people have never experienced it—

—we just can’t be bothered by the untidiness of our own filthy closets—can we, America?

We can’t be bothered to have compassion for someone else’s journey, without a sanctimonious “but” at the end, just like this utter *drivel* that I’ve been loathe to actually hear in conversation:

“I feel bad that black people are treated badly BUT they have to see that not everybody is racist”

“I’m sorry for trans people being beaten up BUT they can’t expect people to think it’s normal.”

“I get that Native Americans have lost their culture over time BUT I didn’t take their land, and every country was overrun by somebody else, so they need to get over it.”

“I understand that gay people want to be married BUT they have to accept that regular people just don’t get it.”

BUT, BUT, BUT.

If you have to add a “but” to your “understanding”, you don’t understand.

In fact, if you have to add a BUT to whatever comment you’re going to make—just don’t make the comment.

Or, don’t add the “but”. Put a period after your thought and start a new sentence. Have enough personal dignity to own your opinion, good or bad, without the passive-aggressive disclaimer of a negating “but”.

I’m so worn-out on America hanging it’s BIG FAT BLOATED BUT out the ignorance window.

I mean, we have so much data that suggests the world is changing, the climate is changing, society is changing, and it ALL could use our best participation.

Instead, we get sucked into blaming. Sometimes it is one political side or the other (don’t post political responses to this. I’ll delete them in the spirit of removing the lowest common denominator.) Or, we use our one moment to bring change to instead deflect responsibility.

And dear lord, America—the long-suffering poor-me-ing coming from a social class of people who could use their time making the world a better place, is a national sport, at this point.

Humanity in America doesn’t seem to learn.

We lose hundreds of thousands of people to covid, but “its not real” and “masks don’t work”—nevermind the fact that now that most people aren’t wearing masks, colds and flus are off the hook. Whereas we had a year of no colds and flus during mask season.

Well, let me tell you a little something about any living organism that forces itself into a position of learning the same lesson, over and over again, without progression:

Eventually, nature will terminate the organism, due to the mathematical odds of the same obstacle being approached, and not championed.

In other words, take the saber-toothed tiger that refuses to learn that partially stepping in tar may trap it in the tar. It eventually gets sucked into the mire, to become part of the exhibit 10,000 years later at the La Brea Tar Pits.

Take the fish that just keeps hitting the same shiny lure. It eventually ends up in a pan.

Take the Romans who got so entitled, depraved and lazy that they sat back and expected their magical government to fix everything for them. Their magical government eventually fell as the lazy folk stepped away with participating in their communities while complaining that they weren’t “getting theirs”, as mobs then rushed their capitol all while a delusional, mentally ill nutcase was in charge of Rome. (Sound eerily familiar?)

Humanity in America, if you can’t hear this message from me, hear nature. It will take us out the minute we put our feet up and complain the ottoman isn’t high enough.

I’ve tried soft messages, gentle messages, loving messages, inspiring messages, and this one is coming through as it is—rough around the edges, because we are LOSING the battle with ignorance.

We are willfully LOSING it.

Because we are too worn out, or scared, or lazy, or want our opinion to be heard—who even cares anymore—to challenge ourselves to grow.

Easier to tune out, climb into our bubbles, and pretend everything will work out.

It’s not going to work out if WE don’t work it out.

It’s not magic. It’s elbow grease.

If you’re reading this and you can’t be bothered to assist those in your community who have the least resources, with even as little as *your compassion*—nature will take stock. And when you most need assistance, it won’t be there.

That’s cause and effect of both particle, and spiritual, physics.

It’s well beyond time for tough love. It’s time to cut away the crap. Because the crap is poisoning the lake.

If you’re a church that seeks only to draw people to YOU, to keep your bills paid, and your brand thriving—it’s time to close your doors. Churches exist to create community by serving community. They are not meant to be served. They’re not God.

If you’re a person who is so overextended that you can no longer even be kind to a stranger in a grocery store, consider why you’ve endentured yourself to that degree to a system that won’t even notice your demise. Change your life by putting your mental health first.

If you’re a business whose bottom line is far more important than the culture created by your business, you will be destined to fail under the physics of the interconnected world that must be created for us to survive.

If you’re someone who must cast blame on a demon outside of yourself, for *all* the ills in the world, consider why you are so terrified to let go of the illusion of the “one problem” to face the reality of endless chaos ahead of us, solvable only by the brilliance of eight billion minds emerging together, allowing room for each.

The downside of talking to angels is that they have no need to sugar coat anything; the angels in the Bible were actually pretty rude. I at least feel that I stay just *this* side of the line of being utterly terrible, in delivery.

Reality is whatever we perceive it to be. However, natural selection is a process which is not subject to the interpretation of reality. It operates and exists in spite of a willingness to believe it is real, or not real.

We are part of a larger biological system. If we continue to choose ignorance over humility, stubbornness over growth, self-wallowing over self-improvement, blame over accountability, looking out for number one over finding joy in looking out for the least of us, judgment over compassion, greed over giving, jealousy over happiness for others—if we continue to labor, numb, under the illusion that humanity is LITERALLY nothing more than the sum total of our most base instincts, our most vile impulses—

—then like Rome, humanity, our time is done.

Nature will continue on either way. The human race is optional.

Please understand this. Our time for tiny corrections over long periods of time has run out. We MUST grow, now. We MUST stretch, now. We MUST become something greater than we thought we could, now. Or our time of just coasting is not only over, yet so will we be.

None of us need to be a saint. We do however, need to be creatures of EFFORT, America.

Every little consistent bit helps.

Make a pledge to rid yourself of the need to “best” another with “facts”. At this point in the USA, people will believe whatever they want. Instead, gift people people kindness, or, simply leave the conversation. Stand up for those who are being BUTTED to death. When a lesson comes your way, demonstrate humility in learning it, rather than the knee-jerk narssicist reaction of demeaning another because we feel threatened, or “bested”.

Grow.

The world depends on it.

America depends on it.

We depend on it.

I depend on you.

We all rise, or we all fall.

Raise your hand if you are literally emotionally worn out by witnessing the lowest-common-denominator, knee-jerk responses in human behavior.

Now—start by changing that impulse in yourself.

Then step back and watch the world begin to change.