Jack of Harts

The people I’ve talked to who lived through the Second Great Depression remember a time of plenty and opportunity. And a time of horrible division. They could buy anything they wanted from food to electronics. They could move from coast to coast on a whim, or play in virtual worlds better than the real one. And at the same time, the political and cultural divisions were beyond anything a people can survive for long. Political parties taught their members to hate people based on their race, their heritage, and their religion. They called their political foes mentally deficient, crazy, or hypocrites. They attacked political rivals with demonstrations and riots. Political assassinations, both virtual and real, became commonplace. Homes of opposition supporters were vandalized, and businesses were protested out of existence. The politics of destruction allowed no one who believed differently to survive. Many people just checked out of politics and tried not to pay attention to it. Others wallowed in it and moderates faded from the political landscape. Most people just didn’t care what was happening in Washington by the end. Apathy is the five-dollar word people toss out for why people let it get so bad. I suppose there are worse ones out there.