Acirema: The bass ackwardsness of America

The bass ackwardsness of America has reached such a dire point, it’d be appropriate to now refer to the country as Acirema.

It started when whites stole the land from Natives, yet we claim it’s the freest country in the history of the world. In addition to that, as we read the Ten Commandments – especially “Thou shalt not steal” – we contend this is a Christian nation. Oh, and these very immigrants who stole the land from Natives are now saying we should build a wall to keep out other immigrants.

We brought slaves in from Africa; “progressed” by referring to them as three-fifths of a person; and then “freed” them into a system which had already been stacked against them – again while shouting that this was the freest country in the history of the world.

In the so-called freest country in the history of the world, it’s commonplace for law to permit men to dictate what women can and cannot do with their bodies, yet not vice versa. It’s common for the richest among us to be provided tax shortcuts and loopholes, which result in them paying less than those without one car, let alone 9 or 10 of them. There has tended to be a legal double-standard for whites and non-whites. Members of the LGBT community are still prohibited from placing on uniforms and fighting for our country. If a self-described Christian goes on a mass shooting spree, he tends to be labeled a “disturbed” individual, yet if a self-described Muslim were to do the same, he’s branded a “terrorist.”

When it comes to elections, this freest country in the history of the world doesn’t necessarily reward the presidency to the person with the most votes. If Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice, over 50% of the judges of the highest court in the land (5 of 9) would have been nominated and confirmed by presidents who received fewer votes on election day than their opponents.

In the freest country in the history of the world, the president is doing everything in his power to suppress the vote – this while claiming to be spreading democracy across all other parts of the world. He’s attempting to strip healthcare from millions, while implementing more lax gun laws, for to him, while gun ownership is a right, healthcare is a privilege. Oddly enough, given this logic, the “president” is essentially saying, “If a person shoots another, that’s their right. Whether or not the victim can afford treatment, however, that all comes down to privilege.”

Confederates have seemingly risen from the ashes in an attempt to revise this country’s history, contending they won the Civil War. This “fake news” has become ubiquitous, but not in the same manner the “president” claims. Scientific studies are now often branded as biased, whereas debunked Russian propaganda and conspiracy theories are viewed as valid. Fact-checkers are dismissed, as they’re seen as part of the “lame-stream media,” while edited YouTube clips are labeled as “proof.”

Then there’s faux-patriotic symbolism. Just because one wears a shirt with a flag on it or stands for an anthem doesn’t make them patriotic, just as sporting a bumper-sticker with the message “eating animals is murder” doesn’t make one a vegetarian. I could shout to the entire neighborhood, through a megaphone, that I’m a vegan all I want. If I’m eating a filet mignon while doing that, it seems quite obvious my words aren’t genuine. Similarly, a person can say they’re “Christian,” “patriotic,” or that they support the troops, but if their actions run contrary to said rhetoric, their words would have been meaningless. Speaking of flags, in the U.S. flag code, it’s written that it’s actually disrespectful to sport the flag emblem on apparel, while it says nothing about kneeling during the anthem. Also, if a flag is in tatters, the recommended method of disposal is through the burning of it.

Peaceful protests should be allowed, but always trust a cop’s word over an unarmed black man’s, and if one protester gets out of hand at a Black Lives Matter march, all protesters are out of line and should be stopped.

All of these brainwashing techniques have been sadly rather successful in Acirema. People are doubting science; believing in debunked conspiracy theories; buying into Russian propaganda at the behest of American foundations and principles; and turning the alleged freest country in the history of the world into a parody of itself – a hybrid of a dictatorship and an Idiocracy. The only way we can prevent it from being such is by getting out there and voting. Do we want to follow through with an ideal vision of the USA or do we want to devolve into the USSR? Acirema has been the freest country in the history of the world for just one demographic – straight, rich, white, “Christian” men. Freedom that isn’t for all is freedom that is for none, so let’s make sure we utilize a freedom still in our possession before it slips from our grasp – VOTE!