Desensitized  

      What a time to be alive, we're right in the middle of tomorrow's history lesson. We are eighteen years deep into the twenty-first century, and what kind of legacy are we leaving for ourselves? We've made technological advancements in my lifetime that my grandparents would have deemed impossible. We've come leaps and bounds in the fields of medicine and science. We've even changed how we view religion in this country. We've come so far in fact, that some people might say this is the New America, or are in strong favor of the idea of a new cornerstone of beliefs, ideals, and principles all together. However, I'm not here to address that hot button topic (at least not in this particular piece). I'm writing this because I feel like all of the advancements we have made will be overshadowed by our current state of self-destruction if we're not careful .

   
     We are a generation raised on MTV and skewed beliefs. We are the product of the highest divorce rate in the world. We were taught out of history books that were biased and shallow to keep us sheltered from the truth. We are overexposed yet desensitized at the same damn time. We are no longer the leaders of tomorrow, it's now our turn in the driver's seat, and so far our trial by fire is not going well. We are at a point of such political, economic, racial, and social unrest that it almost feels like we are a few horseman short of the apocalypse. This is a painful and undeniable truth that we are faced with every time we unlock our phones and look into the vast void of social media and news outlets. We see the problems, we tweet prayers and thoughts, but we sit on our hands when it comes to providing and executing a solution.  

   
     We seem to have seem to have watered down our empathy for one another so much that it just became apathy, from there it became nihilism, and then it erupted into violence when those who felt ignored refused to be silent any longer. When our streets and our homes were on fire or our neighbors and loved ones were caught up in this upheaval, this turmoil, we reached out and loved deeply, for a moment. Then we were forced as we always have been to take sides, and shun any of the middle men. There's no room for mediation when there's money to be made on either side. So we fight, and we fight, my side has a black eye and yours a bloody lip, but neither of our minds are changed, and with stomachs full of vigor we'll return to hash it out again tomorrow. 

    Divided we WILL fall, and believe me, we drift further and further from unity everyday. If we as a generation want to leave anything to our children besides bullshit philosophical ideals, and far-fetched notions of what being free really means, then its time to toughen the fuck up. It's time to look at the world we've inherited deep in its unrighteous and hateful eyes and fix it. No one has ever whined themselves into an effective solution.   

     I'm not here to preach the idea of world peace, because as long as the nature of man remains, then peace will forever be periods in time that are viciously fought for by those who truly yearn for it. I'm not here to say that we need to all come together and sing Kumbaya, for we there will always be people cut from different cloths. What I am here to say, is that it's time to remove the blinders and look out on to this mess we've made. Take a moment and reflect on our trail of beauty and destruction, let the pain of the mistakes we've made and the ideals of acceptance that bread hate touch our souls, then turn around and make it better.