January, the first month of the year, was one to remember. We have a new President, but not before a capital insurrection and riot that was encouraged by our former showman president. A meme stock rally, fueled by online social media users, has skyrocketed the share prices of near bankrupt companies GameStop and AMC, while leaving hedge funds and Wall Street on the losing end. The novel virus also remains widespread in every corner of the United States, as it did last year, but now we have a few vaccines and virus mutations floating around.
The hope is that things will get better, especially as we begin a New Year, but our reality is much harsher. We continue to be deeply divided by our own individualist interest, which only the idea of freedom can provide. Each of us misbelieves that our own personal definition of freedom is what the United States stands for, but only because that is what we have been sold on. We have lost our collective meaning of freedom, in a time when we needed it the most, only to be fractured during the worst health pandemic our generation has seen.
This month of January confirms that the United States, as we know it, is forever changed. Once a group of people riots and takes over the capital without much reprisal, someone will soon do it again, because a precedent was set. This is a similar to how a group of social media users realized that their collective online power could bankrupt greedy hedge fund from billions of dollars. Once government officials and politicians chose to be loyal to their political party or one person, instead of their country and the citizens they serve, corruption has set it. And, to remind you, this is all happening while the novel virus is killing thousands per day and infecting many more.
Stay Safe.
the Gentle Pragmatist 