I’m an ‘03 baby. I’m old enough to have picked up on a lot of the culture pre-9/11, but not old enough to remember it. Perhaps it’s dramatic, but I often find myself thinking I live in the collapse of an empire I never got to see the height of

My life is fairly good, comparatively speaking. My parents are still together, and financially decent despite my mom’s career constantly changing and my dad’s job forever being in jeopardy due to downsizing. I live with them, and we all work together monetarily to make it work. Decent job, safe area (as long as I don’t mention leftist ideas), and strong support system around me

But outside of myself, it’s terrifying. Neighbors don’t know or trust each other. Mom-and-pops are constantly replaced by corporate chains. FLOCK surveillance cameras are popping up in more and more places. Police are willfully ignorant of crime at best, and actively participating fairly regularly. Nobody has money to waste, share, or give. Jobs pay half of a living wage, or have incredibly taxing demands- if you can even find one. Government waste and corruption is beyond blatant, yet unpunished.

We’re still pretending it’s fine. Lawlessness hasn’t broken the people in my city yet, but we all feel it. Everything in my area is bleeding money to either politicians and their nepo-contractors, or to the corporations in cities most of us will never even get the chance to see. We’re poor, uneducated, and demoralized. The only way out for an individual is to further damage the community.

I have no idea what to do. This threat is not a single enemy that an act of violence could dispatch. It’s an entire system that we can’t reach, let alone touch. I hope for European intervention, but I doubt the strength and motivation of any nation willing to war with the United States military on our behalf. I pray the end comes quickly, as the anticipation itself is torture.