Some Lyrics that Caught My Ear

I don't listen to a lot of country music. In fact, there's probably only two artists in my music collection that could be categorized as country. One of them is American Aquarium. they have one song, released in 2018 that has been on my mind since I've heard it.

When did the land of the free
Become the home of the afraid
Afraid of the world, afraid of the truth, afraid of each other
This ain't the country my grandfather fought for
Cause I still see the hate he fought against
Give rest to the tired, give mercy to the poor
Give warmth to the huddled masses
And I'll show you freedom

The song is The World is on Fire.

The lyrics make me reminisce about the country I grew up in and was told so much about. I was taught that we were this great melting pot where people from all over the world could mix together and be American. I was taught that we fought and won two world wars, and that in World War II, we fought and triumphed over the Nazis who pushed for a belief in white supremacy.

Obviously as I grew up, I grew to learn and understand that much of the less savory history was brushed over. Racism was and is still a thing. I was naive enough to think we were at least improving. As Martin Luther King said, "Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." I never expected the issues to get fixed overnight, but I never thought we'd go backwards so far, so fast.

We were the good guys in World War II. We fought the Nazis and won. Now, we have the Trump administration emulating the Nazis. We have the gestapo out on the street kidnapping people off the street just for not being white. We have them shooting people for daring to stand up to them. There's no accountability. Every time, the administration just comes out and lies about the victim. An American Mom protecting her community is a domestic terrorist. An ICU nurse helping a woman pushed down by ICE is a threat to the country.

I'm angry. I've known for quite some time that the US wasn't the idealized country we were led to believe it was growing up. I still thought we were better than this.

The last year plus has completely disabused me of that notion. I was wrong. We are nowhere close to that idealized country.

But we could be. We have the resources, we have the technology, the ability, everything needed to become that country. We just don't have the will. And that's probably the most painful part.

The what could be.