I make it very clear every time I get a platform to speak about this; I am concerned to see America getting divided and more eroded from the inside out.
The adversary wants a divided America
Where can I even start? 2023 is nearing its end by being one of the most bizarre years in American History. This is supposed to be a feel-good article – but there are realities we need to address. Why? Because I love America, that is why. Yet this weirdness is not very evident to great swaths of Americans – and many other world citizens. Yet, in a curious twist this madness is designed to be that way.
Yes, it is largely meant to be that way. Let’s start with the greatest catalyst – our political challenge and its congruent widespread apathy. Not necessarily by politicians – but by a large segment of people who are not at all interested in the political realities. I don’t blame them; politics can range from boring to exasperating. Neither of those extremes make it any more palatable. And yes, it is designed to be that way. Because that way a lot of decisions enacted by politicians happen unnoticed while in plain sight. Bizarre!
If you have been a reader of mine for a while, then you know I love to throw a couple of pop quizzes here and there. Don’t worry, there is no letter grade required on these questions I pose. But the correct answer to the crazy stuff I ask is still important. And the reason is because what I ask directly affects our lives – collectively. To be honest, sometimes I wish I could just look away and let things happen without a second glance. And once in a while I do – for a little bit. For sanity’s sake.
But the problem is that by letting things happen without our situational awareness, we tend to miss important indicators. For example, although there is plenty of political theater going on in Capitol Hill right now, there is also no shortage of the correspondent aftermath that affects our very lives. These could be in the form of taxes, changes to entitlement programs, legislation that messes up with our way of life, etc. Some laws pass without an audience understanding how different their lives are about to become.
Further, some of the politicians have staff who seem very incompetent. And I mean this is glaringly evident by the number of gaffes that occur on a regular basis when elected officials are questioning people during many hearings. It would be tragically amusing if it was not so disturbing. Some of these staffers should probably pay more attention to the facts before their Representative or Senator spews information that is totally divorced from reality. Unless that is the intent. I am hoping it is incompetence – but I would not hold my breath on that possibility – if this benefit of the doubt was supposed to be a bet.
Political Theater in Capitol Hill
So, let’s do a quick pop quiz to my American Citizen readers. How many U.S. House of Representatives and US Senators can you name? From those, what are their platforms? And what do you like or dislike about each? How many can you name? 10, 15, more? If you did, that would be awesome! There are 100 U.S. Senators and there are 435 members in the U.S. House of Representatives. I bet you most people only recall some of those names who seem to be appearing in the news a lot. And quite a few of these politicians do appear (or are cited) repeatedly, although not usually for good reasons.
Yet these representatives do vote on legislation that affects our entire country. It is true that some have not introduced actual legislation to the floor, and also a significant number of these politicians seem to be divorced from reality. That does happen quite a lot – unfortunately. Let’s talk about a few to see if you are familiar with them. You’re welcome to like them or dislike them – that is not the intent for today’s article. But what I want to do is point out how likely we are to hear some clout in a very small number of politicians while many others are largely unknown to the majority of the country. Yet their voting record can be less than stellar, and hidden from view – in plain sight.
I’ll just mention the names, I won’t go into if they are either good or bad. But if you recognize the names, just think about – why do you like them, or why do you very much dislike them? In order for this exercise to make sense, your opinion over them cannot simply be because of what your favorite news outlet or pundit tells you, but rather on the understanding of their actual platform and voting record. That official participation is what really speaks for them. That voting record is what really counts regardless of what anybody says on TV or any other media outlet (to include independent outlets).
The following U.S. House Representatives are listed in no order in particular: Alexandra Ocasio Cortez (AOC), George Santos, Kevin McCarthy, Lauren Boebert, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, Matt Gaetz, Majorie Greene, James Comer, Steve Scalise, Jamie Raskin, Omar Ilhan, Antony D’Esposito, Tim Burchett, Jim Jordan. How do you feel about each of those mentioned?
Here is the entire list: How many of them can you recognize?
https://www.house.gov/representatives
The following U.S. Senators are listed in no order in particular: Corey Booker, Bill Cassidi, Susan Collins, Christopher Coons, Tom Cotton, John Fetterman, Lindsey Graham, Chuck Grasley, Tim Kaine, Robert Mendez, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, Charles Schumer, Tommy Tuberville, Elizabeth Warren, Rick Scott, Berny Sanders. How do you feel about each of the Senators I mentioned?
Here is the entire list: How many can you recognize?
https://www.senate.gov/senators/index.htm
Please don’t feel bad if you cannot recognize them all. That is true for the short lists that I put in the paragraphs above or the full lists linked to this article. Unless the ones you cannot recognize are your own state senators and district house of representatives – then yeah, you probably should have known who they are. Why? Well, for example when people become Naturalized U.S. Citizens they take an oral civics test, and THIS question is asked. And yes, you’re required to answer correctly. I know I was asked this very question (among others) when I became a Naturalized U.S. Citizen. And understanding civics does make sense when becoming a citizen. I am sure you would agree to that. Should not natural born citizens be held to the same standard? We are all Americans after all.
I am sure most of my readers actually know the correct answer to this question I just asked (who is your House Representative and State Senators?). But unfortunately, that is not true for everybody else. In fact, just in the last couple of days I did my own unscientific poll asking random people about this very question – this included natural born U.S. citizens and Naturalized citizens. Which group do you think was most likely to answer these questions correctly? Why you think is that? (The answer was the Naturalized Citizens group by the way).
This priming question also helped many (not all) understand some of the intricacies about how legislation moves through Congress, and what is the relationship between the Legislative power in contrast and conjunction with the Judicial and Executive powers. Once we understand how the system works, then it is a lot easier to understand if a Senator or Representative is actually working for the good of their constituents (and by extension the country) or are they just occupying a seat in that exulted position but only fanning the flames of political theater.
Why do you think I picked up all those names and listed them in random order? Notice that I did not put their political affiliation (either Republican, Democrat, or Independent). Well, for two reasons:
First. Because chances are that you might recognize some of those names – because they do appear in the news a lot, and some were even presidential hopefuls, or held a very high ranking or influential role in Congress. Some are very good people; some others are awful – I won’t go on to say which one is what. A quick google search can give you plenty of information (good or bad) about each. Depending on what outlet you choose your information from. This is of course an invitation to spark your curiosity about each politician I listed. And of course, on hearing favoring and dissenting views on each of these political figures.
Second. Because they have been the catalyst to either moving or stalling important legislation, and the have been covered in the mainstream media quite a lot in the political discourse during important turning points in recent American history (when it comes to politics – for better or worse). Yes, those listed have different political affiliations. And many of them are not good at playing as a team. Further, some will be very incendiary in their remarks and partisanship – and quite a few of them are somehow involved in at least one major scandal.
By the way, I do plan on writing about the historical bipartisan vote to expel George Santos from Congress today. I’ve written about him before, and the inevitable happened today. Please come visit us again this weekend for that conversation.
Also, in separate articles I will delve into each of them as they are individually and collectively relevant. It won’t be in this article because otherwise this will turn into a book. There is plenty to talk about and some of that talk will be pretty intricate. Instead, my intent with this article is to spark your curiosity. True that some of these politicians are featured in the airways very often – but are their words in front of the camera actually matching their voting record and their actual service to the American people – or are they falling short on that commitment?
What I can tell you, and it is demonstrable, is that many of those I listed had repeated adversarial [to the US] nation propagandistic talking points verbatim. And this parroting of adversarial talking points might be unintentional, that does not make it any less stupid. This legitimization of adversarial talking points both bolsters adversarial nation’s influence and alienates the U.S. from actual allied nations. Does that sound hyperbolic? It should not… let me explain you why.
When adversarial nations show that the “Shining City on the Hill” is not only imperfect, but it is actually being portrayed as unhinged – this gives the adversarial nations ammunition to validate [even if falsely] that THEIR regime governing system is the way to go, as though the U.S. was too flawed to be a viable model in the world stage. Every time our elected representatives throw feces at each other, adversarial regimes rejoice. We are making it a lot easier for them to discredit the U.S. by our own mouths.
For the rest of the world, particularly countries who are not necessarily an adversary to the U.S. – but rather they might or might not have undivided loyalty towards the great U.S. of A. – seeing the US lose ground in the world stage will make an impression to them as though there is a “more viable” option. In other words, start leaning towards other nations who are not the US or US allies! These nations who are on the fence can very well choose to go for another “world leader” – who does not seem to be in disarray. Understanding that I am not talking about world politicians moving their fondness away from the USA – I am talking about everyday citizens of the world who might start seeing the USA influence as a lesser choice.
American influence in the world stage
Not everybody out there is very savvy on global geopolitical intricacies. And why should they? – It is a very large world out there. Mathematically the task is daunting at best. But if a country at any point in history is the #1 most influential nation, then it does not matter who is #2, #3, or #47 for that matter… The #1 nation for better or worse will set a certain status-quo (like it or not) that normalizes what is or is not acceptable in the world stage. And with this I know that a lot of people around the world does take exception with the assessment of touting the U.S. as the #1 nation in the world. Actually, that statement alone makes a lot of people cringe (mostly outside the USA).
And that is a whole topic in its own right. I know many Americans will not necessarily like to hear that there is not unmitigated positive perception about them outside our borders. And yes, some of that perception is not a fair assessment. But as I said this is a very sensitive and actually quite complex issue – therefore it deserves its own dedicated article (at the very least). What we will discuss is quite eye-opening no matter how you feel about it.
However, setting a positive standard for USA is that among other beneficial things; the fact that the federal government is not going to kill you and everything you loved if you speak against the government – that is not something every nation in the planet enjoys unequivocally. Also, the peaceful transfer of power. That latter did not happen in 2020 – For the first time in U.S. history we did not transfer power peacefully. That was wonderful news to the adversarial nations – the world takes notice of that. I bet you there are plenty of Americans who are unaware of the nefarious January 6, 2021 insurrection in Capitol Hill. Or at least some people don’t quite understand the significance of that day. I know that for a fact, because I like to ask these kinds of things. And some of the answers can be quite frustrating.
Also, gaining the title of who is the #1 nation in the world is actually a lot more subjective than most people can imagine. And that perception is quite exploitable by propagandists. So, let’s put some #1 place when it comes to the U.S. in order to spell-out what does it mean. Some are good, some are not so good (as in not good at all).
Some of the USA #1 categories
- Largest Economy in terms of gross domestic product
- Largest Military force by far
- Most mass shootings by far (tragically)
- Most diverse country in terms of ethnicity, culture, art, etc. Because the U.S. Population (to include American Citizens and Permanent Residents) do span the entire planet.
- Largest Oil, Natural Gas & Coal reserves
- Largest Beef production
And I can go on… but I must also mention we are pretty far behind on other areas such as: Access to medical care (not the same as how good the doctors are in USA; it does not do a sick person much good if the doctor is excellent but prohibitively unaffordable), pragmatic equity, our wealth gap is gigantic. While some people can barely make a living, 1% of the country has more wealth than the rest of the 99% combined. And no, I am not asking for wealth redistribution in this article – I am just stating a fact. The amount the private wealth of a small percentage of the U.S. population is mind-bending. Moving on, our education system is not necessarily the best – it depends largely on several factors. Also, the higher the education level, the more exponentially expensive it gets.
Also, our manufacturing is very far behind on the world stage and incredibly expensive. If you have a “Made in America” product – you are going to have to pay pretty-penny for it 9 times out of 10. And of course, that creates a vicious circle of trying to get products from other places – because they are a lot more affordable. But in the end, it destroys the sustainability of a viable long-term economic model for the USA. It makes it harder to compete with the rest of the world in manufacturing. There are many American companies who found it cheaper to produce stuff overseas and ship it to the USA for sale.
And of course, a lot of the distribution channels will need to make some compromises on the quality of the products given to consumers. Let me give you an example, a lot of the produce (fruits and vegetables) we consume are not all that tasty. Why? Because it needs to be strong enough to survive the gigantic distances it needs to cover in order to be available nationwide – ensuring it won’t turn into mush will also kill a lot of the flavor. A lot of our food does have a lot of “help” to not go bad in transit (preservatives and particularly bio-engineered to sustain that arduous process). In smaller countries – for example Italy, a regular tomato will have a much different taste (as in amazing) than a regular tomato in USA. But the same delicious tomato would not survive the trip from origin to your plate.
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Quick author sidebar: Shoutout to Italy – another country I love so much. I know that for a fact that Italy is a country like no other, I spent four glorious years living in Italy – and I left kicking and screaming among when it was my time to leave. Among other things because the food in Italy is beyond wonderful. If you haven’t gotten a chance to visit Italy, you’re missing out. Save up some money and bring a big wallet because the experiences you’ll enjoy are unforgettable. I’ve been from the southern-most point in Sicily to the northern regions in the country, the coasts, and everywhere in between – every place is unique and indescribable. I will be writing a lot about Italy in future articles. Meanwhile you can see some awesome shots in my Instagram from my last visits to Italy.
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© 2023 Marcelo Baqueroalvarez / HLC | Preparing last 2020 dinner with my wife US Capitol view
The good in USA
But back to the USA. USA is my home, I am an American Citizen, I dress in the cloth of this nation and have been serving on active duty in the United States Navy for 20 years. My love for the great USA is beyond what words can describe, and I am chatty A.F. but even then, I am at a loss for words when it comes to speaking about what the USA means to me.
And for that I will have to dedicate an entire book – seriously. My mother brought me to the USA in 1995 and this country not only opened her arms to me but adopted me as one of their own. This is my home, my Wife and Daughter are both American-born, I’ve lived here more than two thirds of my entire life. I’ve visited the world, but my adopted country is my home.
I’ve been to 47 out of 50 states in the USA, and several U.S. Territories around the world. And the common denominator of what makes the USA wonderful is their people. Sadly, some people (fortunately very few in the great scheme of things) are advocating for dividing our population in an “us against them” manner. That is why I am so adamant about trying to write content that will help us come together.
Unfortunately, chaos and bad news and sensationalism is what drives the clicks and the attention. I am lucky that I was able to create Half Life Crisis as a means to express my mind in an unfiltered manner. At this exact point in time, I am not as worried about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Marketing, or other stuff that would be just looking after monetizing what I do. To me it is about the message. I created Half Life Crisis so I could rant… a lot… about things I feel are meaningful and that deserve having a platform. And these will be immortalized without fear of being censored by any outside special interests group ruling Half Life Crisis – because it is really only me typing and editing all this stuff you see presented in my articles.
I do intend to include and feature more stories that hopefully will be inspiring to our readers. I don’t want to type sensationalistic content just to search for clicks, although I do want my words to travel as far as possible – because my message is meant to bring us together. But in lieu of sensationalistic topics I want to continue writing content that is thought provoking. I appreciate all my readers as I look at the analytics of my site to see that they are enjoying this type of narrative and they are hanging out long enough to read these words.
To all my readers, I want to thank you again because I don’t take for granted any visit to my site. I have already been gratefully surprised at how far this little platform has been growing. True that I have not gotten the bandwidth nor the savviness to make it a mega project. Not yet anyway – but as I say on my site’s front page. I am playing this whole thing by ear and you might be as surprised as I am at how far I might be able to take this project. And my intention is to do so by staying true to my principles. Even if it takes a little bit (or a lot) longer.
There is plenty we need to address in our beloved USA. We cannot bask in old successes and think that is enough to keep this good thing going. It takes the attention to detail to the generation who will be in the driver’s seat to maintain and make it better for everybody.
For these days I am trying to focus more on positivity, because the truth is that the world is actually a scary place and it is getting scarier. But sulking in a corner sucking our thumb is not going to fix the situation, what can fix it is the people – and for that it takes individual introspection to understand what needs to be addressed. But talking too much about negativity brings people down, and defeats the will to fight, especially if the fight seems distant from the battle space.
The first step is introspection, and by this, I mean it is important to understand what is being fed to us by elected leaders. What is true, what is noise? And there is plenty of noise and conjecture taking over facts. That is dangerous, because things can and will get worse – unless – we the people decide to be part of the collective solution. And it is as simple as understanding what this noise is being propagated onto us, and to separate facts from falsehoods.
In order to achieve this goal, what it takes is bringing our natural curiosity and comparing the facts with the reality. For politicians, looking at their voting record in the links I gave you is a pretty good start. Start with your incumbent Senators and representatives. I promise you it will be time well invested, even if it is an acquired taste. But those are the people who are making decisions on our behalf and some of them don’t have any business being in those exulted positions. Good news, elections are coming near!
As always, I want to thank you for spending this time with me. I don’t take for granted the fact you chose to read my words. I would love to hear from you, we can always continue this conversation in the comment section on this page – or in any of our social media platforms. Thank you for being with me through this journey! HLC