HEARTSICK
- Karen Levi
- Jul 4
- 3 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
I feel a deep and profound sorrow that at least half of the voters--and their representatives--cheer an ill egomaniac in lieu of utilizing their common sense. The people--and their congressmen/women and senators--blindly follow a man who does not give a damn about them or anyone else. The bill that was passed on Thursday, July 3, 2025, will be Trump's template for the next four years and his mark on, at least, the near future.
All of the progress that has been made in the last fifty years--my adulthood--will be struck down, null and void. Yes--younger generations--Baby Boomer and Gen X'ers did not ruin the country. We tried and great changes occurred. We expected the next generations to take up the fight for equality and a better life for all, to improve and go forward. Unthinkable that in four, eight, or twelve years from now, the adults of the future will have to start from the beginning.
Progress has been made in civil, women's, LGBTQ, and disability rights. There is no doubt. The world of the 1960's does not exist. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, scientists have warned about the long term effects of environmental damage. Most sensible people obey rules for recycling, use of plastics, and composting. We have laws for pollution, trash disposal, and clean water.
Certainly, additional improvement is necessary. The country had begun to make changes. Institutional racism, discrimination of the disabled and elderly, the constant conflict to remove a woman's control of her body, and a food industry that promotes unhealthy eating remain issues resistant to change. Mental health is not valued; individuals with illnesses of the brain are devalued; and the life of the privileged contrasts starkly with that of our underclasses.
The president and his syncophantic assistants have chipped away at the laws that protect us since January 20, 2025. Now, there is a bill that will legalize what we have come to expect by defunding valuable programs. As I have written before, I become extremely frustrated at government programs that provide a miniscule amount of help to those who rely on such assistance. But what we had was a starting point. Various states had stepped ahead to provide more, for example, to children with learning problems of varying severity in the public schools. Now we will go backwards.
Somehow, a good many Americans have become drunk on a narcissistic leader who speaks nonsence and lies. They think that he is good because he is rich. What happened to our values about true goodness in a person? Trump supporters--though they would virulently disagree-- lost their ability to think. For example, statistics that counter MAGA talking points are ignored. These voters forget what our country represents--a land of immigrants who have worked hard and become part of the complex warp and woof of America. Our country has never been homogenous. Newcomers flowed in from the very beginning.
I do not want rapists and murderers of any color, immigration status, or socioeconomic level running around. Statistics not withstanding, people stubbornly continue to believe that only hard core criminals, who are undocumented, are being abused, imprisoned, and deported. Not true--Immigrants without legal status, who do not have criminal records, are carted away to unseemly deportation centers and prisons. Crime rates vary yearly, affected by illegal drugs and guns, poverty, mental illness, weather, cultural and economic shifts, and the increase of false news promoted on websites. Migrants from Central America do not have a monopoly on crime.
The recent bill and the current administration's disregard for the rule of law concerns me greatly. I heard a podcast which broadcasted a Munk Debate. The question was "Be it resolved, this is America's Golden Age." Incredibly, one side believed fervently that this was indeed the dawn of a new age. To me, 2025 is the opposite. Progress has halted abruptly, and cruelty has become more commonplace.
© Karen Levii 2025
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