After the Catastrophe of 11/8/2016 my son came over to visit me. I didn't go out of my house for three days. "What are you going to do?" I challenged him. "Continue to get good grades in school; work hard at work; be a good son." Stopped me short. "Oh yeah" I said with a laugh. Get on with life. His relentless sunny disposition and practicality snapped me back to reality.
I read a few months ago that for most Americans, life in America 2.0 will go on the way that it was. We'll continue to go to work, we'll continue to go home to our families. We will continue to have our diversions, TV shows, movies, sports. We won’t notice a difference. I got on with life after the Catastrophe. I wasn't the same in those years, though, I have to be honest. How could I be? The country was different. *It* was always there. It's impossible to totally tune out the news. I couldn't enjoy diversions like the "Heat" as I had. Both of those things are true, I wasn't quite the same and I got on with life and work and family.
Reality can be at odds with empathy. What about those people who are victimized by America 2.0? No man is an island. If my friend loses his job for insufficient loyalty to the Leader, what do I do? Whatever I can reasonably to help, which is not going to be much. And then I'll be to that degree complicit in his victimization.
The alternative is to emigrate. At my age? Leave my son and daughter and daughter-in-law to make their way in America 2.0? No and hell no...Unless it gets really bad, and it may! I'll get on with life and be the best father and friend that I reasonably can be for as long as that is tenable.
