Is America Descending Into Madness?

When one considers what we have learned in the January 6th hearings and then witness as people who supported the coup attempts are now running for public offices, one has to worry about the mental health of our nation. Trump's over the top narcissism, along with the delusional beliefs of many of his followers, was bad enough. But what we see happening today is even worse. It is so bad that if Trump succeeds in being reelected, I plan to go to the Germany Embassy to apply for Mental Health asylum because my nation could be legitimately called insane.

And so the question at hand could be answered in the affirmative. With so many Trump supporters willing to overthrow the government because they have been the victim of being persuaded to believe some whopping conspiracy theories, of course America is descending into madness. We could also point to our gun violence problem. Despite having mass shooting after mass shooting, we still have too many our politicians who don't believe that any changes are necessary. It's insane.

But the madness started with neither Trump and his cult nor with over-the-top gun rights supporters. The recent John Oliver report on housing in America not only shows the dire straights some people are in, it shows a pervasive callousness on the part of many people who could otherwise help but they won't because they hear the siren songs of the free market.

Watching what many people who lack adequate housing have to suffer through, one has to wonder  why we don't have more violence and crime than we have in this nation. It's like watching a long line of commuters tailgate highway speeds and wonder why there are not more catastrophic car accidents.

Or take the denial of systemic racism still existing in this nation. Racism is seen in law enforcement, the criminal justice system, implementation of environmental policies, access to voting,  infrastructure resources, and obtaining jobs. And those are some of the areas in which Blacks feel the harsh reality of racism. Also, look at how our prisons treat prisoners and yet dare call themselves correctional institutions. And why are we surprised at prisoner recidivism when we see the difficulties that released prisoners have in restarting their lives. 

Look at our education system. Those privileged enough to attend schools in wealthy school districts have a chance to get ahead in the world. But those who attend schools in poor districts are being told by society that they don't count unless they can become exceptional at contributing to the wealthy. Look at how cities are willing to pour financial resources into sports and entertainment arenas that cater to the middle class on up at the expense of their schools that are already stretched for cash. In the end, cities are telling the students in poor neighborhoods that they don't count. Society is leaving many of them to rot in poverty without shedding a tear.

Or take our denial of climate change. Whether one blatantly denies man-caused climate change because admitting to such change would jeopardize their indulgent lifestyles or their political-economic ideologies. Or I look at myself as  being one who does believe that climate change is both a fact and a very ominous storm that has crossed over the horizon, but I can't help but contribute to man-caused climate change. Most of the products we buy contribute to human caused climate change or pollutes the world in ways that it will eventually further incapacitate the earth from supporting human life. Just to function as a retired adult, I automatically increase the size of my carbon footprint. And not only do I do that, everyone does.

Our economic system revolves around shareholders in general, and the wealthiest shareholders in particular. So many lives are being sacrificed to maximize their profits even though many of them already have more than what they know what to do with. So many others are left behind, ignored, and told to fend for themselves in a barren situation. Do we honestly think that a society that allows such conditions does not produce a great deal of bitterness and resentment? Do we honestly think that our society can last?

The American capacity for denying uncomfortable truths about both itself and the plight of its downtrodden is, in the eyes of some foreigners, what really makes us exceptional. But that kind of exceptionalism is not laudable. Rather, that kind of exceptionalism could categorize our society as being criminally insane.

So again, it didn't start with Trump and his supporters or the gun-rights people. They simply made madness more fashionable. They also gravely threaten what is left of our democracy. America has been descending into madness for quite a while. That's made evident by how we treat many of the vulnerable people in society. And we pretend that there will never be price to pay for abuse, exploitation, and neglect of the vulnerable. That is madness.