America, This Is You (Patreon)

[Note: This post is personal and political. Feel free to skip it if that's not the type of thing you're here for.]

The above image is from a video by Alex Dzomba taken on July 4. It shows people in Philadelphia fleeing after an active shooter was reported (two police officers were shot). This followed a brutal attack in Highland Park, IL that resulted in the deaths of 7 people, with dozens more injured. 

The video immediately went viral as it contains a perfect visual metaphor: innocent bystanders running in terror while fireworks continue to explode in the sky. A country that can't even celebrate its founding without mass violence breaking out in multiple major cities. 

Meanwhile, I've been having the surreal experience of waking up every day and reading the news about how the Supreme Court is rapidly abridging the rights of the individuals (and of the federal government that's elected by them) to safely determine their own future. Women no longer have the right to decide what's right for their own bodies. States can't enforce bans on guns that would make us safer. Prayers must be allowed on school grounds, even when the coach is coercing players to make them. The EPA's power to regulate greenhouse gases must be limited. 

It's a dizzying amount of change and it really feels like the culmination of years, if not decades of Republican efforts to stack the judiciary, enforce minoritarian rule, and manifest a version of Christian fundamentalism in America writ large. 

The consequences are already being felt by the innocent.  

I'm writing about all this because it's on my mind a lot these days and my guess is some subset of it is on your mind. I know you've probably found my work through my writing and conversations around pop culture, but I'm also a person that's trying to live in this world and sometimes it's difficult to muster the energy to press on creating "content" when the world is falling apart. 

Please don't get me wrong: I'm enormously grateful that all of you who are reading have chosen to support me, creating the stuff I create and doing the things I love. You have opened up a whole new world of possibilities and allowed me to take some pretty big leaps. I will continue doing everything I can to honor your support. It feels weird to just talk about Westworld without at least some kind of acknowledgement of what is happening in the world right now. 

My experience of America these days is one of sharp dichotomies. Sometimes I can experience its profound beauty while also being exposed to its intense ugliness (occasionally on the same day!). I marvel at the freedoms we've been given -- the freedom to speak our minds, the freedom to create empires from nothing -- while I'm also saddened at the freedoms we may never have (e.g. the freedom from worrying about healthcare, or being gunned down in a mall, or when the next liberal supreme court justice might die). I find it hard to hope, most of the time. 

At the same time, I will tell you this story: The Seattle Times recently ran a story about a Ukranian man named Anton Kopytin who escaped to the US with his family. @joyonapping and I were deeply moved by his story and wanted to do something to help out, if it was welcome. Joy reached out to the man and made contact. She asked if there was anything specific they were looking for to build their household. She also made a Facebook post and crowdsourced a bunch of specific belongings from our neighbors that we could donate.  

Together, we made the 1-hour long drive down to their house with some much-needed household items. The family was so lovely and welcoming. They opened their doors to us. They served us borscht! (It was delicious). We were blessed to have intersected with their lives.

The thing that I can't forget is Anton's optimism. He told us his story, about how he'd had to relocate his family before because of conflicts in his region, about how he'd barely made it out of his country with the proper visa. And despite all that, he still had a lot of hope. Hope in the idea of America. Hope that tomorrow can be better than today. Hope that things are going to be okay. 

May that hope that carries Anton carry us all. We'll need it for the days ahead.