'Twas an ill wind prevailing on the cusp of winter in 2018. Those that ruled the great land were of grievous disposition and quarreled mightily with the will of The People for, in the way that they saw it, they did not yet have enough.
Whether they be in government, or in business, they saw themselves as greater than the rest, many of them, these ones that had risen to positions of power and influence by working the system to their advantage, through a means they called 'cleverness'. Because they employed the ways of wile and others did not they thought themselves the victors over men, in a weird sort of way.
At the helms of their respective ships with minions under their command, it was they who determined what was enough for them, and so the pie was divvied up in that way, leaving Just Enough for the little ones.
This was good, they stated, competitive, fair, just, and reasonable. For the economy was such that others, vying for position, would overtake their respective ships if they could. Be happy with your lot, whatever it was, and wherever it was, be it in America, China, the E.U., or in the U.K., behind the potentially drawing isolationist curtain of Brexit.
Welcome to the Banana Republic
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Corruption spread like a malaise in America, a disease, oozing out of the dark places where the infected dwelled. Never Enough was the credo and those espousing it searched for more down every avenue, in every situation, with every favor granted, and upon every handshake gone unrevealed.
Christmas seemed to be over before it had yet arrived. Though The People still sought to celebrate it, their motivation was halfhearted. Perhaps this would be the last Christmas for them for the joy had all but gone out of it. Cardboard and hollow it was, like all the other so-called holidays celebrating events that no one realy cared about anymore- save for one. Easter, the holiday where many of the celebrated celebrated the resurrection of The One, the Master of Love they claimed to believe in. The other holidays were relics of the past for no one was really being memorialized, the day of the nation’s birth was hardly felt, labor had been diminished, and not many were giving thanks.
The news was filled with whack-a-mole stories. No matter how many times the law or social conscience or scandal struck a blow upon one, another would pop up wearing a smart aleck grin. Justice seemed to be truly blind and ordinary citizens could only wonder what was coming next, for all sense and reason had gotten lost in the swamp surrounding the capital.
The decades-long quest for clean air, water, and healthy food, chemicals that wouldn't harm us, and pharmaceuticals that wouldn't make us worse off or addicted seemed to be unraveling in an awful display of lack of foresight, one oblivious to consequence.
Science was replaced by the simple dismissal of it! There was nothing that couldn't be explained away. The rich got richer while the rest got by and only disdain and contempt were held for those not in the club. Santa cried while the nation died and the eagle soars no more.