WHAT A STUPID TIME TO BE ALIVE!
America's 21st Century Alphabet of Axioms (updated September 11, 2024)
NOTE: The following blog was published July of 2023. My readers have asked me to share it again.
“What a stupid time to be alive!” Those aren’t my words, but a phrase shared by Kat Timpf, a regular on the late-night show Gutfeld! She is painfully accurate. This realization is tough to accept because I remember a time when common sense prevailed over extreme agendas. Before the secular progressives confiscated the principles of free speech , people could disagree civilly, families could gather for holidays without conflict, and elections could not change the fabric of our republic due to checks and balances espoused by our three branches of government. Today, those checks and balances have been diminished through a one party governing system. Sound judgement has been replaced with absurd ideologies which permeate our schools, media, and government. Truly it is a stupid time to be alive!
America’s 21st Century Alphabet of Axioms
Facts* Regarding These New Given Truths
*Please click on the appropriate links to view sources.
ABORTION is a constitutional right. In spite of bans, abortions in the United States increased in 2023. New findings from the Monthly Abortion Provision Study show that an estimated 1,037,000 abortions occurred in the formal health care system in 2023. That is an 11% increase since 2020, the last year estimates were available and a full calendar year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
BORDERS are not necessary. Border Patrol reported over one million migrant apprehensions in fiscal year 2023, with another six months still to go. In fiscal year 2022, there were 2.2 million apprehensions along the southern border, a record high (CBS News).
CHRISTIAN aka CONSERVATIVES should be subjugated. Christians are the most persecuted religion globally. The persecution of Christians is near "genocide" levels in some parts of the world (BBC).
DEBT should only be increased. Every president since Bill Clinton has overspent, with debt increases ranging from 13% (Biden) to 87% (Obama) (USA Facts).
EDUCATION is failing. Despite high spending, American students’ outcomes in test scores and graduation rates are often lower than those in countries like Finland, South Korea, and Canada (college.us.com).
FENTANYL cannot be stopped. Smuggling now largely occurs via Mexico through our open borders, with Mexican criminal groups sourcing materials from China (Brookings).
GENDER fluidity disputes sex assigned at birth. The U.S. sex reassignment surgery market was valued at $1.9 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow annually by 11.23% from 2022 to 2030 (Grand View Research). Gender-Affirming Surgery increased significantly, nearly tripling from 2016 to 2019.
HOMELESSNESS is on the uptick. Parks, sidewalks, and even airports shelter over half a million people. As of January 2023, the U.S. homeless population surged to about 650,000—up more than 12% from the prior year, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
ISRAEL is struggling for its very existence. The unprovoked attacks initiated by Iranian proxies is just getting started according to Raphael Cohen, writing on behalf of rand.org.
JUDICIAL SYSTEM no longer reflects the balanced scales of justice. Majority of Americans believe there is one system for elites/politicians and another for everyone else (The Center Square).
KNOWLEDGE is literally disappearing. American IQ scores have been declining for over a decade (Popular Mechanics).
LIES pervade main stream media (Harvard Business Review). According to CNN, President Biden continues to make false and misleading claims. Most obvious are the lies pertaining to President Biden’s mental acuity, as witnessed by Americans on the debate stage of June 27, 2024.
MARIJUANA is legal in 24 states. Approximately 35 million Americans use marijuana monthly, and 24% of 12th graders have used it in the past year (drugabusestatistics.org).
NATIONAL ANTHEM is considered racist. Critics tie the lyrics and history of the song to America’s legacy of racism (The Intercept).
OPIOD DEATHS have quintupled since 1999 (NIDA).
PHOBIC is the label given to anyone raising questions or concerns about today’s lack of a moral compass. A record-high 54% of Americans rate the state of moral values in the U.S. as “poor” while 33% rate U.S. moral values as only fair. (Gallup)
QUID PRO QUO is not only accepted in government, it is practiced without consequences. Political corruption has been normalized and legalized, particularly in the Supreme Court (Al Jazeera).
RACISM is often used to justify riots, crime, and pay-outs. With claims of systemic racism, the California Reparations Task Force voted in May of 2023 to make cash payments of $1.2 million each to eligible Black residents who have lived seven decades in the state.
SOCIALISM is viewed positively by 39% of U.S. adults (Victims of Communism).
TEACHERS’ UNIONS (in my home state of Colorado) blame capitalism for school issues. The union claims capitalism exploits children and opposes addressing systemic racism, climate change, and education inequality (Fox News). Today’s teachers unions are well-funded, highly politicized organizations that are hurting—not helping—the public education system in America and keeping even the worst teachers protected (prageru.com)
UKRAINE has received $175 billion in assistance through five bills voted on by the U.S. congress. According to the BBC: Ukraine could face defeat in 2024.
VIOLENT CRIME is rising while local police departments face budget cuts. Yet the FBI reports violent crime decreasing. According to foxnews.com: An independent group of law enforcement officials and analysts claim violent crime rates are much higher than figures reported by the FBI in its 2023 violent crime statistics.
WHAT IS A WOMAN is a question confounding many, including Supreme Court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
XENOPHOBIC is a label placed on anyone questioning border policies. However, these policies negatively impact the economy, schools, crime rate, and institutions (Reuters).
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT has a scarring effect. Nearly six million 16- to 24-year-olds neither have jobs nor are pursuing a degree. This disconnect can negatively impact their long-term employment prospects and lifetime earnings.
ZELENSKY has received $14 billion from the American government, mostly to support his government rather than humanitarian aid (Time.com). Ukrainian lawmaker claims that top officials, including President Zelensky should face criminal case regarding use of aid funds.
Bemoaning the pasts three and a half years is pointless. As a nation, however, we can start where we are and change the ending. It begins with education: our children and our adults! Education of the American voter is paramount. Voting party over policies and principles is no longer acceptable.
Why would a retired educator write or even care about America’s 21st century axioms? Every single A-Z directly contributes to the steady decline of our educational system. How you ask? Actually if you are dumbfounded over the correlation between the afore mentioned axioms and our educational system’s deterioration, I’m not sure I could ever change your opinion. But I am that retired educator who will continue to write and speak, believing one single person does have the power to change many minds.
