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Hello, Everyone.
I've been debating whether or not I wanted to say something, particularly because I don't know how it will be received, but I feel like I'm morally obligated to at this point. I know plenty of those people who read here are not from the United States, nor do the politics of my country directly or even indirectly affect your lives, so you really have very little reason to care outside of a passing interest in world politics. With that said, however, I wanted to say something.
First off, for those of you that are possibly still unaware, there was a recent ruling by the United States Supreme Court that they have overturned a key case known as Roe vs. Wade. This case was a keystone that allowed for the safe practice of abortion and female reproductive rights within the United States, allowing for and providing protection of medical and bodily autonomy. However, due to the beliefs of a loud but strategically placed minority, those rights have now been stripped away from women across a majority of the United States, making them less of a person depending on the state where they might live. Worse yet, there have been multiple comments implying the intent is to try to actively ban these rights in locations where it is protected by State legislature as well as targeting the same for protections that exist for LGBT individuals as well as birth control methods.
I've been trying to think of what to say, to think of some eloquent or well thought-out means of portraying my thoughts on the matter and, candidly, my lack of ability to do so is the part of the reason I debated saying anything. However, at the end of the day, I'm fucking appalled by my country and the fucking dehumanizing policies that have been passed, and the only thing I can do at this time is to express anger and disgust.
Just to target a few of the early questions. No, I am not a female. No, I have not ever needed nor do I believe I will ever need these medical practices. No, I haven't even dealt with anyone within my friends or family groups that have even NEEDED these practices. However, that does not make this anymore appalling or infuriating as we, as a country, have been taking steps backward for many years now and this was a big fucking leap.
The atrocities that humanity may face are sometimes little and sometimes
big. Sometimes they're creeping, slow, and only seen when viewed in
relief against the shadows of the past. And sometimes they're plain as
day.
It's very often easy to think of the conflict within stories to be something that is there only for the drama of the tale. To think of villainous actors and the horrors and atrocious acts that they commit in the name of good literature to be relegated to some bygone era or to the exclusive land of fiction. However, we need to remember that the terrible things we love to hate in fiction are not exclusive to storybooks and these things often have real world examples or parallels. Likewise, while stories often have big, grand, and commonly singular heroes, life rarely plays out so simply.
We need heroes.
But, unlike books and stories, more often then not those heroes are not going to truly realize their impact. There are no knights in shining armor single handedly fighting a dragon. There's no sole survivor detonating the spacecraft to save the human race. There's not even a singular whistleblower that reveals the corrupt and malicious who are working against the people they are meant to protect and provide succor. There are only normal people.
For most, there is no singular view of success. There is no epic battle that your average retail worker is going to see. Your local plumber is not going to go on some grand quest and your neighborhood baby sitter isn't going to single-handedly dismantle the systems that are oppressing the American populous and trying to hand the power of the people to a select and privileged few. And, unfortunately, for many this will discourage them. They feel powerless. Unheard, unwanted, and enslaved to a life where they are nothing more than slaves to those in power. Fortunately for those in power, this is what they want you to feel.
Do. Not. Give. In.
All of the changes that have happened for the betterment of people have been the unification of singular people into a group who are unwilling to back down and unwilling to take anymore shit. Feeling divided and hopeless is what gives those forcibly stripping power the ability to do so. It is inconvenient, it is hard, and it is messy, but if you want better than you have, you have to fight for it. You must reach out to your neighbors, to your friends, to your family, to all those around you who are much more like you then they are different and say 'Enough is fucking enough.'
Many of us want life to be different than it is. For all the bad stuff to just disappear. We want to ignore things that are hard and we want it to just go away if you just turn your head long enough. And, in a way, it will go away. Freedom of choice will go away. Freedom of movement. Freedom of autonomy and the rights to free will and action. At this point, if we wait long enough, everything that made the country we live in great in any fashion will, indeed, go away.
So, I say again, we need heroes.
We don't need dragon slayers or heroes of fiction. We need people willing to do what is right in the face of the difficulties that will occur. We need unified, group action that says to those in power we are no longer going to be an easy mark and no longer going to let them rape and pillage our rights, our lands, and our lives. We need to act as one and say in one voice 'We don't need or want your version of history anymore.'.
I'm truly sorry.
I know this isn't what you would normally expect from my site, but unfortunately I haven't been able to write or think about much else. For those of you who are indifferent to this, well, here's hoping it's because you are not American rather than simply deaf to the suffering of your countrymen and women. For those of you who are scared and being directly affected by this, I am very sorry you must experience this and I wish I had the power to just make it go away for you. And to those of you sitting on the sidelines, I ask that you take a moment and look around. Look at the people who are inflicting this. Look at the people who are suffering. And listen.
Connect with people. Plan. And Push back. There are many non-violent but effective ways to make your voice heard and to remove those from power who would do us harm. Money talks, but its silence is heard loudly. Reach out to your neighbors and, I promise you, there are already those working against this.
If action is not taken, worse will occur. We can fix this and we can turn it around, but it requires the average person to take ownership of their own lives and the lives of their countrymen. We need leaders, yes, but we need normal, average people who are willing to stand up and say 'No. Enough is enough.'
Are you willing to stand up too?
Are you willing to stand up too?
