On Being Tired Of Things

 I typed out a super lovely essay on the fall of Republics.  I almost hit "Publish".  Almost.

But I did not. Even for my non-political stance here, it was a bridge too far.

Nothing, in my adult experience, separates people and sets them to fighting than politics now does (at least here in the U.S.).  Want to throw a hand grenade into any conversation?  Simply walk in wearing political gear from either Red or Blue party, make a supportive comment, and watch the sparks fly.

I know, I know.  Politics has always been a contentious business, and we have nothing on how the Greeks or Romans ran their elections.  I will admit that all of this has simply taken the wind of my sails.

Sadly, I am not a man made for this age.  I detest contention. I detest bad manners.  I detest every manner of embellishment, jargon, loud words, and images that has become the American Political System.  I come from a time - long distant now - that had arguments of reason and logic, not what we have today.

We have issues - significant issues - that need to be dealt with.  My belief that any of these will be dealt with has long since passed, because I have lived through the last 34 years of the political cycle.  It is somewhat hyperbole to say that "few things have gotten better, but many things have gotten worse", but that is my sense of the world today.  We are less resilient, less united, less capable, and less...free than we have ever been in my life (And not finger pointing.  Both sides restrict freedoms when it serves their interest).

If we have any kind of trust passed on to us by those that went before us, it is at least to pass down what we are given as good as we received it, if not better. I fear - no matter who wins - we will be unable to achieve even that.

I am tired - tired of the drama, tired of the hype, tired of the same group of people making the same promises that amount to nothing, tired of the inevitably bad outcomes that occur no matter what happens and the failure to make anything actually happen.  If there is a single thing I am grateful for, it is that my parents were spared all of this.  They would have understood it even less than I do.

The older I get, the more the world passes me by in these matters. And the less and less I have any hope of any improvement.