HEY AMERICA! When did everyone become so damn mean and angry???

Well, America, here we are. A country once admired for its innovation, its resilience, its ability to pull together in times of crisis, has somehow devolved into a never-ending rage-fest where facts are optional, critical thinking is for losers, and if you don’t agree with someone, you’re either a communist or a fascist.

So, the big question .

When did we become so damn pissed off, angry at everything anyone else said we don’t agree with, and just plain ‘ole mean?

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment America collectively decided to eat itself from the inside out. Was it 9/11, when an entire religion was blamed for the actions of a handful of terrorists, igniting a new wave of xenophobia? Was it the relentless anti-Semitism that has never really gone away but has found fresh oxygen thanks to MAGA cultists and hate groups? Maybe it was when we gave reality TV an actual seat of power and let a man who lies more often than he breathes redefine "truth" for a disturbing portion of the population.

Perhaps somewhere in the middle, when we started believing that everything on both “Real Housewives” and “Duck Dynasty” was a microcosm of what America really was like.

Let’s talk about that for a second.

The United States—land of the free, home of the stunningly gullible and easily amused. There was a time when people at least pretended to verify information. Now, they read something on Facebook/Instagram/TikTok/Reddit, written by some guy named "EaglePatriot1776," and take it as gospel. And heaven help you if you dare correct them! Because if there’s one thing people hate more than being lied to, it’s being told they’ve fallen for a lie. The ego is a fragile, ridiculous thing. We’d rather live in a fantasy than admit we got conned.

November, 2024. But, I digress.

And speaking of gullibility, let’s talk about the absolute phenomenon of Donald J. Trump. Here’s a guy who wouldn’t know the truth if it sat on his head like a poorly secured toupee, which isn’t that far from the truth. He tells his followers anything, and they lap it up like starving water buffaloes. "The election was stolen!" Sure, why not? "The media is the enemy!" Of course, because how dare they report facts? "I’m the only one who can fix America!" Yes, the guy with six bankruptcies, a fraud conviction, multiple felonies on his permanent record, and a complete inability to form a coherent sentence is definitely the savior we need.

Seriously, have you actually sat and thought about the infantile manner with which Trump puts together sentences? It’s as if one of the writers from “Duck,Duck,Goose” is talking into an earpiece prompting him on next lines. Big Bird from “Sesame Street” has a more refined vocabulary.

So what’s the psychological take here? How do supposedly smart people get bamboozled into believing a man who changes his story every ten seconds? There’s actually a science behind it—confirmation bias. People want to hear what they want to believe. And when they hear it enough, it becomes their truth, no matter how absurd. When confronted with reality, they double down because admitting they were wrong feels like a personal attack. And let’s not forget the sheer addiction to outrage. People like being mad. It gives them purpose.

Therein lies the angry and mean part of all this. Those are the people completely torqued because they know they’ve been suckered, but they want to keep talking to convince you they haven’t been suckered.

Suckers.

This, of course, brings us back to the bigger question—why is everyone always so full of spit and hate? Remember when politics was boring? When disagreements were polite, and you could have a civil conversation without someone accusing you of being a traitor? Ah, those were the good ol’ days. Now, every issue, no matter how minor, is a war. Social media has trained people to be perpetually angry, to react without thinking, to assume the absolute worst about anyone who disagrees with them.

Someone….disagreed…..with me…..must…..answer back…..with angry post…..must…..not…..let them…..get away with…..questioning my……fragile manhood……must…..not…..give in…….

And let’s talk about the real problem—nobody actually researches anything anymore. The internet is an endless library of information, yet somehow, people use it exclusively to argue with strangers and watch cat videos. There are literal fact-checking sites, actual historical records, credible sources all available at the click of a button. But nope! Why bother? Why fact-check when you can just feel your way to the truth? Research is for nerds!

Besides, Donnie wouldn’t lie.

Would he?

So, what now? Do we just keep spiraling into this abyss of rage and misinformation? Or do we actually do something about it?

Here’s a radical idea: Maybe—just maybe—we should all stop being so miserable and start demanding truth again. Maybe we should expect better from our politicians, our media, and, most importantly, ourselves. Maybe we should stop assuming that everyone who disagrees with us is our mortal enemy. Maybe we should accept that being wrong isn’t the end of the world, and learning is actually a good thing.

Or, you know, we could just keep fighting like lunatics and let America eat itself alive.

Your turn, spunky.

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