What now? A few thoughts

I knew in November 2024 that July 4, 2026 would be a sad day for me. With him in charge, a milestone for the country would be desecrated. The president's sad attempts to celebrate are pathetic to say the least. The extremely thin crowds in Washington D.C. speak volumes of disgust and disinterest. Dismay in 2026 seems appropriate; disinterest to me is frightening. If one ignores the present state of our country, one complicitly approves. Bystanders collaborate with injustice.

This week, the media is demonstrating an interest in what average Americans think about the 250th birthday of the United States of America. They will not be curious next week, so now is the time to voice your thoughts on social media and with family and friends.

No doubt, as I have written countless times, Americans should be proud of what we have accomplished--increased civil rights for all minorities, among other inventions and developments in technology and science. I was born in a different social mileu. Thousands of pathfinders have shown us the way to a fairer, safer country. That is not to say we do not have a long way to go.

Fear mongerers, rigid, and distrustful Americans live side-by-side with more trustful people. That is not a new phenomenon. Some Americans are weathier, smarter, and luckier than others. That is life. So opinions naturally differ. Certainly during past crises, news reports varied. Nonetheless, the severity of the trust problem has increased exponentially.

I know that most Americans generally believed the same information until the 2010s. Then digital misinformation threatened truth at the viral level. Maybe we were not as sophisticated and worldly before the 2010s. But, the truth was the truth. If a tragedy occurred next door or across the globe, or if the president made a statement, we trusted that it had occurred. That faith is now shaky. Without a shared conviction, a country cannot exist as a viable Democracy. We are doomed to forever disagree and never come to a consensus for the common good.

I rely on the news that I read, primarily the New York Times and other well known newspapers, podcasts, and essays. However, my polar opposite maintains that I read fake news. If the information I glean seems plausible, I accept my sources. I do not affirm everything I read or hear. But my polar opposite would respond to a statement I made, "No that did not happen." (I have actually had these experiences.) This is gaslighting, as far as I am concerned. Not so, says my antithesis. So now the two of us are angered and at odds. Imagine this at the 342,000,000 level. No wonder our country is in deep trouble.

Fake news has existed for a long time, probably since humans have verbalized. Honest mistakes in news reporting happen. Trust has been eroding for generations. Social media and cable news facilitate distrust. Cable news outlets represent different political views which affect their broadcasts. There are other causes, namely misinformation often fosters fear or hope. Bad actors manipulate these feelings easily. Lying does not seem taboo anymore, neither does breaking rules.

For example, if someone says to me that there has been a shooting nearby, my adrenalin activates. I feel fear. My heart rate increases, and I feel hyperfocused. When I am fearful, my actions are quick and short sighted, not exactly the best for problem solving. Something akin to this chain of events has been occurring with frightening intensity and frequency in the United States, especially in the last ten years.

He instills fear. That is one of his M.O.s. If one is not prone to racist beliefs or jingoism, for example, one will reject the notion that a group of people are all criminals, or that America is the best. One reason racism has persisted so long: people near the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder feel superior to at least one group, be it people of color, undocumented immigrants, or the disabled. American exceptionalism may bolster someone's self esteem; however chauvinism only continues when one is blinded to reality. Bad actors exploit basic emotions--like insecurity or fear--to sway people to believe absurd notions, like Haitians eating pets. (The Springfield Pet Eating Hoax, 2024)

Who/what started the current skepticism concerning truth? The answer is complicated--social media, instantaneous news from around the world (too much information too quickly), challenging authority (which is not necessarily bad), and cable t.v. I do not use Facebook much anymore, primarily because the founder is a hypocrite. If I utilized Facebook as my sole source of news and the pulse of America, I would be convinced that everyone thought, more or less, as I do. My friends and I were so shocked by his wins in 2016 and 2024. In our case, we listened to MSNBC and CNN with regularity and forgot about other news outlets. We were bamboozled by one viewpoint. We forgot about our polar opposites.

I do not know the answer. Improvements in Artificial Intelligence have made certitude about reality more complicated. Now it is feasible to make a fake video of anyone. So how do we determine what is valid? Clues of faked pictures and videos are discernable, but will we take the time to look?

I suggest that belief in the common good would be a way to bypass the truth problem. That does not seem to be possible either. Some Americans believe, for example, that ICE acted appropriately in Minneapolis by killing innocent people. Certainly, the whole of society does not benefit when one group of people are singled out, in the case above, protestors and undocumented immigrants. Unregulated civilian gun ownership is another case in point. Years ago, I became convinced that it was absurd for individuals to own certain weapons, a no-brainer to my friends, family and me. I hear my antithesis proclaiming that anyone has the right to own whatever weapon they desire, the second ammendment, etc. Safety is considered a common good. However, too many times in the last 30 years, tragedy occurred due to the wrong weapon in the wrong hands. If we are not safe, what will become of our nation?

The country eventually must join together to agree what is true or not. Suspicion and doubt will not promote the common welfare. We must reach consensus about our shared beliefs and what is beneficial for all. Safety and some degree of equality--based on shared values-- are necessities, otherwise there is no United States. Americans must remember our original purpose. A simple solution exists for the majority of Americans. Think about one's ancestors, whether they arrived in the United States two hundred or fifty years ago. Why did they choose to give up their lives in one country and try to build a new one in a strange place? We are not about the richest, the smartest, the preetiest, and the billionarist. We accept the stranger to accomplish what our grandmothers did a hundred years ago. The United States is the haven for those who are in danger in their countries of origin.

©Karen Levi 2026