Man of the Year?
It’s not Los Angeles by any means, just a small town, in middle America.
I heard tell that one of our most recently recognized “Man of the Year” title holders was once a police officer, right here in our own little town. Said ex police officer/newly elected “Man of the Year” apparently called in a bomb threat to Mr. Donuts, when he was still on the force. (Yes, I did say Mr. Donuts.)
This apparently was done with the intent to distract certain coworkers, while he robbed a vehicle (a van full of electronics to be exact) in broad daylight. Soon he was exposed for his crimes. Humiliated, scandalized, removed from the force in dishonor, how does said officer later become elected as our towns “Man of the Year?”
Apathy is a dangerous word. While you don’t often hear it, you do often see it. It runs rampant across America, from LA to small town USA. We the people-the supposed upholders of America’s values; the supposed watch-dogs of civil and governmental authority; we are empowered with rights.
Unlike so many suppressed nations around the globe, we retain the right to free speech, the right to protest, the right to assemble peacefully, the right to vote, the right to recall officials, to circulate protests, to become involved, to make a choice to put aside apathy, and choose instead to adopt some new term that best describes ourselves- why not live in actathy, or reactathy?
I think we need new words, to describe our population. If apathy is a word that describes our lack of action, or reaction, to events that should bring us out in droves, carrying signs and shouting for justice for all, then actathy, or reactathy, could become the newest adjectives in our dictionary, words that are used to describe Americans when we care, when we act, when stand up for our own rights, and for the rights of others as well.
The brutality that we see happening in LA is just an indicator of what is happening in Detroit, in Memphis, in small town America. It’s also a strange and vivid symbol of what is happening in Washington DC.
The people we put in power over us are running wild- our government, our police forces, our local politicians.
The truth is, we are letting it go on. While we are drowning in our apathy, we are
are giving away the rights others fought and even died for.
We sit and wait for the LAPD to “own up to excessive force” instead of acting now. We sit and wait for Washington to admit it’s dishonesty. We watch tv and are entertained by phony displays of governmental accountability, we laugh and joke about our politicians feeble attempts to lie their way out of their lies and deception, we feign our concern for citizens in Los Angeles, like we feign our concern over bomb threats made to Mr. Donuts and illegal acts carried out by supposed enforcers of law, still we say little, do less.
Isn’t time that we the people realized our power? Isn’t it time that we exercise our rights? We could stand a lesson from our history, those who demanded accountability in government, in the military, in the police force, our ancestors who from the time this country was formed, and through out it’s history, were not afraid to exercise their rights. We can stand a lesson in bravery, in courage, and in compassion. We could stand a lesson in actathy, and reactathy. Unless we make the changes, unless we take action, to right the wrongs, to demand accountability, to call for change and stand strong until change has come, the police will run wild, violence will grow. The government will ignore our voices, the politicians will rob us blind.