I feel like I’ve slipped into a crevice in the world today that certainly existed in other countries but never in the United States. And yet each and every day something has eroded( a new law being passed in any given state that takes one more freedom away from someone, another chiming up of words like “woke”, “DEI”, or “fake news” meant to create more of a chasm of us vs them or some other nonsensical act like sending ICE and a local police force out to round out and deport the “criminals, drug dealers and rapists”, when in reality they are just rounding up the colors that aren’t white and it has nothing to do with the reasons given on the daily news.

The world around me feels different and strange. If I look at first glance,I see everything turning and churning as usual- with all the ads telling me I need some new Medicine or that if I buy the next thing- I’ll somehow feel better about myself and life. If I look deeper I see other distractions at play- meant to pull my focus away from all of this administrations efforts to demoralize and destroy the lives of every day citizens. I see everyday folk looking at the cost of food and gas, rent, healthcare and other basic needs and wondering how the hell they are to afford it. I see student loan borrows in default about to have wages garnished. I know from my own experience that if they are in default there is a reason for it- no one wakes up and says “that’s it, today I stop paying my debts, unless they are out of money and have to make a hard choice.

In a day like today, when most jobs are still paying a less than livable wage given a person’s particular location, the idea of garnishing wages to collect on student debt; when ultimately the system has been rigged and many with degrees and experience have been forced into choices like- feed my family or pay my debts- seems unduly harsh.

And yet, here we are, in that crevice, sliding deeper into the chasm where we can barely hang on. Many of us can’t understand how if we did it a certain way and were promised a different outcome than this. Here we are- with a man many of us didn’t vote for who has tanked the markets, the economy and each day while destroying the people and the constitution that he vowed to uphold and serve- is making billions of us for himself and other grinches.

The American people are continually speaking out against this president, but I wonder…when will what he’s doing to us not be enough for him and what more does he have in store? If the press goes against what he says or if a citizen student of Caucasian race speaks out or if someone stands in the way of an ICE deportation- will they be shut down, silenced, deported without due process -shot and killed? When will it be enough and when will our everyday lives matter to republicans enough to stand up to this administration and say NO- THIS IS GOING TOO FAR!