I meant to write something for the 4th, but I didn’t find the time for many reasons (hanging out with June and family, seeing friends, reading any and every take on how terrible And Just Like That is).

A video I think of often is this one - I saw it on twitter first, but I won’t link to that place and instead show this somewhat edited version - a take on the Galactic Federation Interviewing Earth:

The lines that I replay in my head the most are:

• “Does everyone have healthcare?”

• “Starving because of…logistics”

• “Oh, you have… big wars?”

• “Oh, you still have prisons???”

Also good: “You need to go to the bathroom? We don’t do that here.”

And yes, they are interviewing Earth, but in my typical US-centric way I tend to think of US, the USA. Especially lately, what with the Big Stupid Bill that is gross and immoral. We prioritized war, taking away healthcare, and imprisoning people over taking care of anyone besides billionaires.

I haven’t had the heart to write about a lot of this because it’s nothing that hasn’t been said by me or many other people and we’re all really tired of saying the same thing over and over again. I’m still disgusted by politicians and others gleefully posting in front of concentration camps and suggesting that feeding a large portion of people who live here to alligators would be good, actually. I’m disgusted both with myself and any politician who reduces immigrants to what they contribute to the economy, as in, our economy can’t function unless we have people to exploit.

And at the same time it all tracks because the more I learn about actual history the more everything lines up - this is what we do! Exploit for personal gain, treat people as less than, deny them food and blame them for their struggles.

I could go on! I won’t! You’ve heard it!

Some positive notes to end on:

• I will go back to this piece to reflect on how to move forward.

• Goldy Gopher Came to My Gay Wedding - a delightful read, and I highly recommend subscribing to Racket.

• Recently I had fun revisiting some silly media - we listened to the audiobooks of the Sideways Stories books on our road trip and also watched Mamma Mia! at our rented lake house. I am here for more absurdness in my books and movies. Let me know if you can think of more.

• June’s new favorite musician is KESHA (formerly Ke$ha) and 2010s me could not be happier.