Over and over again, TikTok reminds me that I’m eligible for its monetization programs like TikTok Seller, TikTok Live, and whatever TikTok Service is. But there’s absolutely no way that I, in good conscience, could or would sell anyone anything. Sales, even if we weren’t in an apocalyptic-like hellscape full of fascism and oligarchy, has never been my thing. I run solely on mission, values, and kindness, and it is unkind to try to sell capitalism to people who are barely getting by to eat and are getting robbed by utility companies trying to overcompensate for appeasing the wealthy data centers building boxes for an industry that hasn’t yet found a way to make a profit.

The 9-to-5 structure of working was formalized in 1938, and that was to break people out of the 12 hour shifts that was normalized during the Industrial Revolution. Before settling on 40 hours a week, it was 44. One would think that with so much technology at our disposal, AI “taking everyone’s jobs” would shorten the workweek or perhaps be an argument for a 32-hour workweek, but no, it seems that we’re leaning into the same framework that allowed states to privatize the railroads, the public utilities, and turn housing into a product more than a commodity. I will never understand how people allowed companies to privatize all of the necessities that we need to live, and to then sell them to us a la carte.

America will be 250 years old this year. As far as empires go, we’re infants. I was watching a documentary, and it said that it took Rome about two and a half centuries until it collapsed due to no fault of its own. I’m not saying that America is decaying, but it seems like America is a nation that is determined to repeat history that it hates to even acknowledge, and at the same time, try to sell us on giving all of our tax dollars to wealthy people who pay close to no taxes at all.

The problem here is that the technology and the education that this current administration is trying to control is hard to erase. They can dismantle the Department of Education, but it’s impossible to erase the education that people already obtained. The same people who were forced to pledge allegiance to a flag every morning from kindergarten to high school are suddenly realizing the economic and social justices that exist. You can’t drill “just for all,” in our heads and then get upset when we want said justice for all and our tax money to go towards affordable housing, Healthcare, and access to healthy, affordable food. 250 years is a long time to exist and learn nothing. It’s absolutely going to take a miracle to get back on track, but one thing that is certain is that after this administration, we should never go back to how things were, as if the constitution is so easily breakable. Maybe, we need another look at the systems in place.

The people no longer trust the checks and balances, and they have the right to. When an administration abuses power, and it goes unchecked, we no longer have justice for all. Justice for some should not be accepted. Our tax dollars pay the salaries of the people who represent us, and the bare minimum should always be fair and true representation for all.This current boiling point that we’re at right now feels like the fable about the frog that is dropped in boiling water will jump, but placed in cold water that is gradually heated will fail to notice the danger and die. We are the frogs, our government is the water, what is the temperature where we all collectively say “no” and leap out of the water before it’s too late and democracy perishes? We cannot let a government keep selling us freedom and justice, but when we get up to the counter to check out, they don’t have any of them in stock. When will true freedom and justice ever actually show up?

Just like Rome wasn’t built in a day, it didn’t fall in one day either. – Uncivilized: How Empires Fall