I told you that Cancer has taken off the guardrails in terms of my boldness and how I perceive things lately so I wanted to use this blog as my State of the Union address for being diagnosed with cancer in the good ole US of A. Now this is not a blog to put down anyone’s beliefs, rights, opinions, political affiliations, etc. This is purely coming from my train of thought and how I feel about things and I respect all of the above for everyone and anyone.

It’s a weird time to be an American, maybe even a human being right now. We are living in a time where there may be more division, hatred, violence, and fear than we’ve ever seen or experienced in our country’s history. The internet will never be defeated when it comes to comedy, but it may also be the single biggest instigator of a lot of the problems we face today. The rise of AI makes misinformation/disinformation, free speech, and journalistic truth stand on some shaky ground and confusion for people. We see celebrities acting as megaphones for one party or another, who for the most part barely have one foot in the real world. After pursuing education as a Political Science Major (Economics/Math/Engineering was never in my future), am ashamedly still not as informed as I should be and hope to rectify that as much as possible going forward.

I recently was listening to a clip of a podcast by Chris Long where he talked about how we are living in a time on the internet where “clout” is considered the greatest currency. Anyone and everyone is trying to say or do the most controversial, jaw-dropping, or offensive thing just to gain popularity or because the veil of the internet provides some type of armor of impunity. Or maybe the internet has allowed people to be their truest selves, however ugly that may be…

I may be old-fashioned and certainly less than perfect, but I’ve tried to live my life following the Golden rule, paying it forward, and just generally believing there’s good in most people. Has that belief been shattered over the last several years with the varying degrees of anti-Asian, anti-Semitic, anti-Palestinian, and other displays of bigotry? No. However, it’s certainly made me question how a nation so divided can truly come together. It’s scary to think that the last time our country may have truly had any sense of shared pride, unity, and cohesion was after 9/11, and that unfortunately came with a rise in anti-Muslim/Arabic sentiment. Unity shouldn’t have to come hand-in-hand with tragedy or hate for any person or country different than us. I think the great player-coach-manager Jackie Moon said it best

I’ve been reading the book 1776 by David McCullough and even though it is a grind to get through, as any history book can be, it really does make you wish for a time where morality, character, and eloquence were some of the attributes you could and should find in your political and military leadership. Everyone can have their thoughts and opinions on Barack Obama, his policies, and his tenure in office, but I at least find it undeniable that when he spoke I would be riveted to the spot and listening with an earnestness I can’t remember having with other presidents.

Now all of this is to say that for a bit of time these last few months I had the mindset of “Who gives a fuck? Why should any of this matter to me now that I have cancer? Is either candidate truly going to affect my life on a dramatic level at this point or in the future? Am I going to be around long enough to worry about the effects of future policies by whoever is voted to be the next leader of the free world?” But that’s not the point is it? It’s not just about me. It’s about my friends, my family, their friends and their family. It’s about any possible children that I may (God willing) have in the future or my friends have now. I want to believe that we can build the world up better and leave it for the next generation with a sense of pride and accomplishment and not with shame and regret. People keep saying that this is the most important election in our history and who knows if the next one will be even more so or the one after that. All I know is that for people to think that not voting or voting for anyone other than the two candidates of either leading party is some kind of moral stance or justification will be the reason future generations suffer. I’m a big quote guy (mostly Chris Farley), but one that stood out to me and I’ll end with is this:

For one who is indifferent, life itself is a prison. Any sense of community is external or, even worse, nonexistent. Thus, indifference means solitude. Those who are indifferent do not see others. They feel nothing for others and are unconcerned with what might happen to them. They are surrounded by a great emptiness. Filled by it, in fact. They are devoid of all hope as well as imagination. In other words, devoid of any future. - Elie Wiesel