It is important that at some point along the way being American was conflated with destroying structures of care because we were required to prove our contempt for each other for our every basic need: health care, food&housing, education. Every person needs these things.

Only the rich can independently afford these things, and no one gets that rich without exploiting workers. So our recent national project of dismantling systems of care and shaming each other for our basic needs, is the manifestation of a deeply damaged character. And this

demonstration of a malignant character was required by Americans to bring this country to its knees, so we would no longer value truth & decency, so we would not see strength in kindness, so we would worship private wealth, and to train ourselves in the sensations of cruelty.

And through this practice of behaviors that has only served to erode us, damage our most personal understanding of integrity and dignity, and turn us into a thoughtless mob — we have arrived at the condition of being available for corruption, worthless but for our service to it.

It is humiliating to realize this about one’s country, but this is within our power to change. In fact, it is neither difficult nor expensive to change. It is with a change of heart that the people of this country can begin to repair its systems. We alone have this power.