I woke to the sound of gunfire. Looked at the clock — 4:17 a.m. Waking to gunfire is nothing new here, but still, it took several cigarettes and about 25 pages of reading before I calmed down enough to get back to sleep, and it seemed like only minutes until my alarm clock awakened me.
The date is November 15th in the year 2030.
Today is an important day for me and my two children, Eddie and Beth. Today is either the first day of the rest of our lives, or else it is the last day of our lives. I do not know which it will be, but I know that I am willing to risk not only my own life, but that of my children to get us away from the living hell that has ensued since 2024 when a true madman took over the nation. We have friends in Canada who have told us where to cross in order to avoid detection, and who will help us with shelter and food until I can find a job and we can get back on our feet. What, you ask, has led me to such a dangerous and traumatic decision? Let me tell you about the year 2025, the first year of hell.
The 2024 election was won by the Democratic candidate, but he and his family mysteriously disappeared less than three weeks after the election. Six years later, and there is still no sign of him, his family, or his body, but it is believed that he and his family were murdered. I still do not understand how the election results were overturned, but they were, and long story short, the Republican candidate took office … and he is still there today with no plans for any future elections.
What changed, you ask? So many things have changed that I cannot even keep track, but a few of the most crucial things are the nightmares that invade my sleep each and every night. First, the new ‘president’ was inaugurated on January 20, 2025, and he gave a lengthy speech thereafter, promising (warning) that ‘big changes’ were coming. He was surrounded by ‘his people’ who applauded until I thought their hands must surely have blisters. Among those ‘big changes’ that came in the first year were cuts to such things as Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, housing and food assistance for the poor, and programs that provided financial assistance for college students whose families couldn’t afford college.
But the next year was worse. 2026 would normally have been a mid-term election year, but as we neared November, something didn’t smell right. I had a bad feeling, a bad vibe you might call it. And sure enough, in late October, there were six school shootings resulting in the deaths of 223 students and the injuries of far more. This led to protests in nearly every city across the U.S. as people demanded gun regulations. But, instead of responding with any degree of empathy, even false empathy, the ‘president’ called out the National Guard and put the entire nation under a lockdown. We were allowed to go only to work and back home, or to buy food, medicine, and absolute essentials, and even then we had to show ‘passes’. What followed, of course, was that the president declared the nation to be in a ‘state of emergency’ and the election was cancelled. When the state of emergency was finally lifted some seven months later, the ‘president’ had appointed the new members of Congress using ‘emergency powers’ that he created and the U.S. Supreme Court, such as it now is, supported.
Schools are now regulated, meaning the only science courses that can be taught are such things as Physics, Astronomy, and Oceanography. Biology is taboo. U.S. History is now a joke. Our children are taught that white men brought Black people here to rescue them from the horrible conditions in their native Africa, and that white people treated them so well that they begged to live and work forever on white man’s plantations. Indigenous People are no longer mentioned in the history books and such men and women as Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington are not found in any book in the schools or public libraries. Such books are considered ‘contraband’ and possessing one can send a person to prison.
Legislation has been passed and signed into law making Blacks, women, Hispanics, Asians, Muslims and Jews basically 2nd class citizens. If a white person is caught out in public with one of these people, they can go to jail. The 2nd class citizens can only hold certain jobs, such as maintenance, auto repair, sales clerks, restaurant and factory workers. They are not allowed to enroll in any college. Colleges and high-level jobs, government positions, are all reserved for white males only.
There is a state religion that everyone is forced to become a member of and adhere to. It is a very intolerant religion that praises white males, calls for subservience by the rest, and calls for the execution of LGBTQ people. On August 20, 2027, more than 12,000 LGBTQ people were rounded up in every city around the nation and executed in a very public manner. It was replayed on television endlessly for days. I’ve never cried so much in my life, for my brother was one of those who was murdered so brutally before a firing squad. I watched with tears rolling down my face, while the crowds applauded and cheered and said they were “making America great again.” Perhaps my definition of ‘great’ differs from theirs.
We live under a brutal regime, our every move watched 24/7. Our lives are not our own. I cannot live like this any longer. My children and I are so hoping for a better life north of the border, but if we fail, we will have no life and will fade into the annals of obscurity. Either way, we will be free of these chains that bind us. Our world is on fire and there is nobody to save us.
Fiction? Yes, this is my nightmare of late, or some variation of it. The things I wrote about above … well, my friends, those things or some semblance of them could come to pass if we don’t guard and protect our Constitution, our republic. Today, there are so many in positions of power who are, at heart, autocrats and who have whatever it is that brings followers, ignorant souls who do not know history and cannot envision the future, to their cause.
You won’t see a back-to-school ad like this in France, Germany, or the UK. You won’t even see an ad like this in Syria or Afghanistan. Only in America would you would ever see an advertisement like this one.
Yep … kid-themed bullet-proof backpacks. Wow, huh? According to a CBS News report …
The NRA and our own lawmakers have suggested that arming teachers is the solution … more guns. But we all know it isn’t. Guns don’t belong in schools. Period. Not in the hands of teachers, and for damn sure not in the hands of students. Only in America would such a ludicrous proposal even be considered.
Filosofa's Word 