It’s Only An Illusion – And You Created It

Posted on May 14, 2021May 14, 2021 by Joe Merkle

What makes for a great illusion? One that is so convincing you have no doubt it is real. Any master illusionist who has mastered the art the illusion will tell you that confidence and attitude will help sell the illusion. It is easy to sell the trick to an audience that is a willing participant. But the illusion itself is what stands the test of time.

This is not unlike what we as souls create for ourselves time and time again. We, souls, are a fun-loving, playful, experimental bunch. Not unlike a child. As beings that have eternity to entertain ourselves, we must create our own entertainment.

Children role-play to experience both sides of their imaginations. One day a group of young boys could be playing cops and robbers and they will experience what it is like to be the robber being shot and killed and the next day being the cop doing the killing. And they are highly creative and have fun with both roles. They go home as friends, having had a great time “just playing”.

Then, sadly, they grow to be adults, and most will lose their playful self to the illusion they themselves created…their grownup lives. All of us without exception create the world we live in. It is simply an illusion that seems so real we find ourselves trapped within it. Only with the help of good friends we have known through countless incarnations can we eventually break free.

Now, what I mean by good friends is this. We as souls attract like-minded beings to play with. These souls are often good friends and family members in your physical incarnations because you all like to play the “cops and robbers” game. One of your best friends may be the one that murders you in this lifetime because that was the experience you both wished to have this time around.

I know what I am proposing may seem blasphemous to many. So be it. Every spiritual master that has walked this earth has been considered a blasphemer in his/her lifetime. Not that I am proposing I am one. I, like you, am no different than them. They simply are more evolved souls trying to tell us to break through the greatest of illusions, that being that we are fatal creatures that die. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We are eternal, loving entities on a journey to God-realization.

Having gotten that out of the way the question that remains is how do we go about our daily lives once this realization dawns upon us? This is the tricky part. We are so utterly consumed by this great illusion that all of us will need help from one that has seen behind the curtain.

No, I am not referring to some religious figure. I am talking about a real person or persons in your life that through their example they take you by the hand and expose the illusion for what it is. One that is close to you and demonstrates a love that rises above the pettiness that often shows its ugly face in human encounters. A divine love that touches everyone around them.

If you think hard, I am sure all of you have met someone in your life that fits the bill. A person who rarely has anything bad to say. Easily forgives. Smiles so bright it hurts your eyes. Seems never to be controversial. Makes you grateful just to be in their presence.

I have been fortunate enough to have known several such souls in my life. But none more than the woman I married. For 47 years we spent a wonderful life together until she chose her end to this particular illusion of hers by creatively using dementia as her excuse. Like she did for me every day in our shared world we created she is most likely lighting the way for me towards our next adventure. I cannot wait to see what’s in store for me.

Needless to say, this scenario crushed me. Tore at my very existence. For two weeks I could barely breathe. No, I did not want to breathe. And then, on that fourteenth day, and no doubt with her assistance, I had an awakening. This is MY illusion. This is the role I created. This is what in my make-believe play world I wanted to experience. Now, we can laugh together again at how much fun this adventure has been for us.

Faster than a hummingbird’s wingbeat speaking cosmically, we will again be together, planning our next adventure. But I will insist on perhaps both of us dying together in a crash while flying a glider over the Grand Canyon at sunset. Doesn’t that sound like fun? I know we would both be laughing our asses off.

Lover’s Poem

Posted on April 25, 2021April 25, 2021 by Joe Merkle

 When we meet 
 We shall touch the stars
 The little children will laugh at us
 And to each we shall teach love 

 And we’ll float on the soft summer breeze
 I’ll carve our initials in the clouds
 And in a fleeting moment
 That which not tangible shall succumb 

 And our love will become inimitable 

 We’ll explore the silver sum
 And search for the silver man
 And will mix the colors on the palette
 And paint the world 

 Then we’ll say our good-byes
 And no regrets will there be
 Only happy memories we share 
 And our initials in the clouds

Inhale

Posted on January 17, 2021October 12, 2021 by Joe Merkle

Inhale, Slowly, Deeply

Feel Your Chest Expand

Exhale, Mouth Wide

Upon Life’s Windowpane

Create New, A Canvas

Born From Within

Touch, Fingertip, Moist

Cold Upon The Glass

Begin, Search, For Colors

Of Your Soul’s Palette

Paint Life, Love, Encompass All

Reach, Expand, Your Consciousness

Who Really Runs The World

Posted on November 16, 2020January 2, 2021 by Joe Merkle

What if I told you approximately 150 people run this world? How could such a thing be possible? Why would global citizens allow such a thing to happen? Who could possibly believe such a thing?

Well, 150 people are running this world. They are the elite members of NGOs. You just don’t know it. Or worse, you have chosen to ignore it. They have no loyalty to any country. They operate from a global viewpoint.

They decide who runs governments, banks, stock exchanges, companies, and even religious institutions. They decide which countries will thrive. Nothing at the highest levels of government occurs without their influence.

These men (yes, they are all men) use their enormous wealth and/or power to manipulate the masses for their own ends. They incite dissonance if it is to their benefit. They promote lies through social media outlets that sway public opinion. They also generously donate funds to non-profit organizations. On the surface, this provides them a cover for their global, and often criminal actions.

There are crimes of passion, debauchery, violence, greed, pride, envy, theft, child trafficking, murder, and the list goes on. The men that run this world have become experts at one or more of these. They learn to like it, no, they become addicted to it. Many are born and raised to wear the crown of power. Global control is their mantra. Greed is their only motivation. Power is their elixir.

They hide in plain sight. That is of course if you live in a very, very wealthy neighborhood. They give generously to good causes, not to ease their guilt, but to gain tax benefits. But the real reason for their generosity is to lend themselves a sense of legitimacy. This is such an effective yet simple ploy they use to gain the trust of the people they are stabbing in the back.

NOT FOR ONE MINUTE

That is how much thought they give to anyone or anything outside their circle of like-minded friends. Starving children in Africa. Nope. Kids in cages. Nada. 8.8% of people living in poverty on a global scale. Too bad. Climate change. Let them all die; we have our bunkers. They exist simply to gain treasure.

Since Homo Sapiens have walked the earth clever men have manipulated the masses through lies and deception. The first such one would have schemed to make others believe that he alone controlled the rising and setting of the sun. Hence, the first ruler rose to power using a lie while promoting fear. Sound familiar?

But now our rulers have made a quantum leap in the use of deception. Today’s 24-hour news media allows them to manipulate the masses into believing that murder at the hands of law enforcement is justified. Or the disappearance of dissonates is just a mystery. Or a deadly pandemic is just a hoax. And that a crash in the stock market is horrible and the global economy will tank. One can write volumes on these alone.

What is far worse is their manipulation of faith. This is without doubt the most powerful weapon in the game of deception. Name me one faith-based institution that is not dripping with money. Go ahead. I’ll wait. The greatest scam perpetrated on humanity is religion. Do you really think Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism would have been viable institutions for over a thousand years if others did not profit from them?

I am not denying that spiritually advanced souls have incarnated on earth to provide us guidance. I am quite sure they had no intention of their messages being highjacked by profiteers. How do I know this? It was never the intention of Jesus, Muhammed, and Buddha to control the masses. Nevertheless, this was the result derived from their messages by men hungry for power and wealth. Buddhism largely escaped this takeover. Islam has been weaponized. Christianity was highjacked by the Catholic Church for untold riches and influence.

No president, dictator, or autocrat has risen to power in the last 100 years or more without their influence. These pre-selected heads of state have been chosen to perform certain tasks. Those could be to have a beneficial or catastrophic influence. Whichever benefits the band of 150 brothers.

Do not believe for an instant your vote matters in Presidential elections. No matter what country you live in. The candidates have been proffered to the voting public.

Yes, this article is most likely not what you wanted to hear. Knowledge is power. Perhaps if enough citizens of the world realize that a small group of men is largely determining our fates, we can begin to be less gullible, more inquisitive, and start a groundswell revolution.

Trump’s America – Red, White, And Red

Posted on October 24, 2020October 12, 2021 by Joe Merkle

Why Trump Cannot Win The Popular Vote

Image by Mike Hensdill/The Gaston Gazette

Why would anyone running for President do everything in his power to anger voters in the states with the highest populations? It would seem to be a losing proposition right from the start.

And why would a New York City real estate mogul target rural voters to be the base of his support?

Trump’s 2016 campaign WAS NEVER intended to win the election. What were the real intentions of his campaign? The first and foremost was to aid Putin in sowing discord among Americans. His reward for this would have been more money in his pocket with a Trump Tower Moscow. The second was to sew racial discord throughout the country. The Trump family has always been racist. The third was to set the stage for a new Trump television platform where he could preach to the uneducated, racist, gun-toting sycophants that would contribute money to “their” cause that would go directly into the Trump bank account. No different than his Trump University Real Estate where he promised hardworking Americans a way to get rich in the real estate game, but it was all based on a lie for which the Trump organization had to settle the case against him for $25 million.

Trump was aware of the fact in 2015 and still is today that New York had him pegged as a despicable human being and failed businessman. He was already told by every legitimate bank in the country they would not do business with them. Anyone who spent 10 minutes on the Google machine could have found this out before the election.

Trump was already aware the rest of the country was already on to him. Because of this Trump had to target the less informed rural voters. Rural education is falling farther behind by the day. In 2018 when West Virginia and Oklahoma school districts went on strike they were using textbooks that had the most recent president as Ronald Reagan!

And most rural dwellers were already ardent believers. Not of him, but of their faith. And two-thirds of Protestants live in or near poverty. Why is that important? Because they have fewer means of gathering information. And because believers of any faith are less likely to look beyond their beliefs for proof of evidence. And another big plus for Trump is that ad spend is much less in rural areas than in metropolitan areas.

All of this still was not enough for Trump. His ego is insatiable. He had to ensure his beloved followers would follow him over a cliff. And in his most malevolent manner, he preached hatred of others. It wasn’t good enough to disagree with the opposition. His voters had to hate them. They had to hate the “invading” brown hordes, the blacks, democrats, women, and upwardly mobile successful liberals.

Now in 2020, the Trump Zombieland has gone so far as to make plans to kidnap a sitting governor. The FBI caught the suspects by thorough investigative work. Trump did not praise them for their work and has shown zero sympathy towards the governor. Even if he wanted to, he could not. He cannot show “weakness” to his adoring fans.

A bully always must remain a bully in front of his disciples or his downfall will be swift.

But there is even a bigger reason Trump relies on Red states. Dumb voters.
Yes, I know I will get flack on this. So be it. How do I know this? Because they continually vote against their own best interests. Over the last three decades, the rural population of America has been shrinking, aging, and is becoming poorer.

The number one reason for this they continue to vote for Republican politicians whose only interests are to look after their mega-donors, not the voter’s interests. They do not push for better schools or healthcare facilities. Or better infrastructure to lure more businesses into a community. They vote against healthcare that covers their constituents. They vote for tax breaks that already make the rich wealthier. And still, their constituents keep voting them into office. Sorry, that is just dumb. They are susceptible to the whims of any politician who uses their religious beliefs to gain their trust that those same politicians abuse time and again.

Politics and religion should never be on a ballot. One’s religious beliefs are his own, and that is fine. It should not be in a government policy that affects others that do not share in that belief.

To quote the Constitution: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

We now have a president that has shredded the Constitution. He tried to ban Muslims, a faith, like any other, that is protected in the constitution. He has constantly attacked the free press; the peaceful protests involving Black Lives Matter and has declared a war against the first amendment in every possible way.

And make no mistake about the fact that most of his Red State voters are complicit in the destruction of the Constitution they claim to hold so dear. I would go so far as to say that just like the President most of them have never read the Constitution.

A Human Life In Perspective

Posted on October 10, 2020April 25, 2021 by Joe Merkle

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 5ef8de4f374c91b032fcaf4b8c1f05e6-1024x530.jpg — Photo by StockNation

There are 700,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets in the universe. That’s 700 quintillions. The universe is 13.8 billion years old. The average lifespan of a human is 79 years. To put a lifetime into perspective that is 0.0000005724637681% of the age of the universe.

So, in reality, a human lifetime fails to register as even an insignificant speck of time. A beat of a hummingbird’s wings is universally speaking much longer than a lifetime. It doesn’t matter if you are an illiterate person or a historically famous one. Your life is simply an illusion, a moment in time, which is also a creation of the human mind.

In their conceit humans generally think their lives are significant. No matter what you think, you are still a speck, proofing that yours or anyone’s opinions or achievements simply don’t matter. The only way to escape from these illusions is when you expand your consciousness beyond the limits your physical senses place on you.

And really? Do you really believe that with 700 quintillion planets in the universe we are the only intelligent (jury is still out on that) species? Or that the God you choose to pray to or believe in has a special place for just humans? Talk about arguing for your limitations.

Keeping this mind, the wise thing to do as a human would be to explore beyond your earthly bonds. To look for answers that can’t be explained in a book. To expand your consciousness beyond the physical world. In other words, to put your existence into perspective beyond your senses.

As humans, we become aware of only one thing that doesn’t perish, love. When a loved one dies our love for them lives on. Yet, you can’t see love, or touch, taste, or feel love. But what we most often do is wrongly classify love as an emotion, therefore limiting something that has no limits or boundaries. We attach emotions that throttle all the possibilities that love presents to us.

Divine love is the thread that binds all of creation at every level of existence. To try to put it in words is impossible. As your awareness expands it continues to trickle into your consciousness subtlety at first, providing hints as to what awaits. You begin to slowly let go of attachments and beliefs once held as truth. Things that were once important are exposed as tethers holding you back from self-realization.

Not unlike a six-year-old that has mastered simple addition. He is rewarded with praise from his teachers and parents. He becomes important in his own eyes. If that same six-year-old chooses to become a quantum physicist he will have to unlearn those early lessons that will now become an illusion to him.

The realization begins to envelop your consciousness that what matters most is helping those get ready to start a most spectacular journey of discovery. This can take many forms, most of which are subtle suggestions to sow the seed of greater awareness. Everything else becomes the means to succeed in this endeavor. The only reward is the submersion in divine love. Nothing could be greater.

WARNING, this is often a bumpy ride.

Wonder – The Greatest Human Attribute

Posted on October 3, 2020October 3, 2020 by Joe Merkle

The greatest achievements of humanity can be traced back to wonder. How many great historical figures asked themselves…What if I could…why does that happen if I…where does this path lead to…who was the first person to…how can I…you get the point.

Wonder or curiosity to humans is like water to a fish. We cannot survive without it. Now don’t get me wrong, there certainly are those of us that choose utter ignorance as their lifestyle choice. They rarely stray from a beaten path, never wondering what may occur if they stepped into the forest.

Imagine if the ancients Greeks Pythagoras and Aristotle failed to wonder why the night sky rotated the closer one was to the equator, concluding the earth was spherical. Almost 2,000 years before Magellan’s proved it by sailing around the globe. Or what was Magellan thinking by embracing such an adventure?

A question that has stumped archeologists and mathematical scientists for centuries are how did the ancient Egyptians build the Great Pyramid. The Great Pyramid of Giza is built on the exact center of the earth, where the parallel and meridian intersects each other. The chances of that happening. One in three billion! Books have been written about the stunning mathematical genius of the pyramid builders. To this day we cannot achieve much what they did with all our modern technology. But, by continuing to ask themselves how they may find the answers.

When did you become self-aware? When did you realize yourself as unique? When did you have that first moment of realization that came crashing into your consciousness like a tidal wave? Or have you not reached that stage of development. The more you ask yourself why, when, how, where, and what the greater your self-awareness will become.

Who wrote the first language, the first song, the first book, the first mathematical equation? Who created the universe, or Cracker Jack? Who invented time? Or the Hoola Hoop?

Imagine yourself standing on a shoreline, looking out to sea, and asking yourself where the other side is. Before boats were invented. Could such a person have been the first to hollow out a tree and venture into the ocean blue? Setting the stage for humanity.

The above mentioned are rather substantial situations. If we allow ourselves to wonder we will have aha moments every day, such as I wonder if I should do laundry now or read a book. Or where did I leave my keys now? Or when was my doctor’s appointment or how did I get into this mess I’m in, or why do I keep going to this job I really hate? Or who will I become in a week, month, or year from now?

Be curious. Surround yourself with wonder. Become childlike again. Challenge what you think you know. Ask yourself where would like to be in a year from now. Why do you feel a need for change? When exactly will you pursue your dreams and how are you going to take those first steps to a new you?

“No matter how qualified or deserving we are, we will never reach a better life until we can imagine it for ourselves and allow ourselves to have it.” ~ Richard Bach

Trump -Putin’s Useful Idiot

Posted on September 28, 2020March 18, 2022 by Joe Merkle

The majority of Americans shake their heads in wonder that a man with Trump’s qualifications –NONE– could have become the President of the United States.

The popular justifications are:

The electoral college (no longer needed and should be abolished0

Hillary Clinton (a horrible, but completely qualified candidate)

The News Media (we could blame them for everything bad in America)

Poor Voter Turnout (no doubt on this one as it reflects that the dumbing down of America worked)

All of these are legitimate arguments, but none are the reason America is where it is right now.

Make no mistake, the last election was rigged by Putin.

The only justification one needs to come to this conclusion is that a sitting President, in front of the entire world in Helsinki, chose to side with Putin at the expense of his own intelligence community

But there is more. Trump was surrounded by campaign aides with Russian ties. As soon as he could he fired James Comey, the head of the FBI who was leading the investigation into Russian interference. And the very next day, in the Oval Office, he laughed about it with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, calling Comey a “nut job”. He did not stop there as he continually attacks the FBI and its leadership to this day.

Now ask yourself this. How would a corrupt, conman whose every business venture ended in bankruptcy, know how to maneuver through a complex government system of checks and balances to bring it to the brink of collapse? Do you think a former KGB intelligence officer of 16 years could give a wannabe autocrat Trump and his flunkies some unhealthy directions to take control of America’s government? Do you seriously think that Trump could have won without the aid of Putin?

The world knows that Russia interfered in the election. The evidence is anywhere one chooses to look. Trump’s own lawyer was negotiating a business deal for a Trump Tower in Moscow while Trump was campaigning to be President. Six of his campaign staff have been indicted. He was running a criminal enterprise and the Republican party in the end became complicit.

Another piece of information confirming that Trump is Putin’s handmaiden is the fact Trump took no action to stop the practice of Putin putting bounties on the head of American soldiers in Afghanistan. After all, according to Trump’s own words, they are just losers.

And to this day the disinformation campaign headed by Putin has not stopped. It is in full throttle for the 2020 election. How do we know this? Trump’s own national security teams have told us so.

The question that needs to be explored is why is Putin doing this? We know Trump is in it for the money and self-gratification. That has been Trump’s modus operandi his entire life. But Putin is another matter altogether. He is smart as a whip. Every word he speaks is measured to produce his desired effect. Combine that with the fact he is pure evil, and you have the perfect comic book villain ready to rule the world.

With just a modicum of intelligence, one could conclude that Putin has the goods on Trump. He also knows how to play the man like Eric Clapton can play the guitar. So exactly what is the real motivation behind Putin’s game plan?

Power. Not just monetary or political power. He already has that. Nuclear power. Imagine what Putin would do or could do with the nuclear weapons he would control if he controlled Russia’s and the United States’ nuclear weapons programs. Trump ripped up the nuclear arms deal between the United States and Russia. Why would any President do such a thing? It could be this simple. Trump recently blurted out that America now has a “super” new nuclear weapon. Wouldn’t that be just grand in the hands of Putin? In fact, he may already have that information. We simply do not know because there is no oversight of this administration thanks to the Republican-led Senate and Trump sycophants in the White House.

The world should be very scared. Every person on the planet should be quaking in their boots. We are on the verge of the top three nuclear arms programs being controlled by autocratic leaders. Until now the United States has kept Russian and China in line. If Trump wins there is a real possibility of every nation in the world being subjects to blackmail by nuclear threat.

It should come as no surprise why so many military men have recently spoken out against Trump. They know better than anyone what the real threats are.

Trump Doesn’t Need Death Camps — He Has COVID-19

Posted on September 19, 2020September 19, 2020 by Joe Merkle

Image for post — Auschwitz – Photo by The Guardian

Stalin and his predecessors have killed nearly 62 million people in Russia/Soviet Union. Hitler and his Nazi cronies killed 6 to 7 million in the death camps they built. A recent report puts that number around 20 million. But Trump, in his infinite callousness, simply must ignore science to reach death tolls of approximately 7–8 million people.

The sheer convenience of this should escape no one. Trump does not have to spend tax dollars building death camps, nor does he have to round up millions of Americans and have them work for slave labor. Nope, he just needs to convince enough people that “it will just go away”. What wannabe dictator would not love this scenario?

Like so many that have fallen under the spell of promises made from power-crazed politicians, we have seen 35–40% of Americans be blindly led to the edge of a cliff. They are willing to leap without a parachute into the abyss created by a false prophet.

And just like German citizens who recognized what Hitler was and stood silently by while their country was hijacked, so too are many Americans doing the same in their complacency regarding a lawless president.

Trump has simply given up pretending that he cares. Every time he speaks regarding COVID-19 he brings up herd “mentality”. Just three days ago in a town hall meeting, he once again gave no other solution to the pandemic. He is promising a vaccine will be available by the election (how convenient) when all the science says otherwise. Several scientists have stated that at best it would take until late 2021 to manufacture and distribute a vaccine to all Americans, assuming one has proven safe and effective.

Let us break down the math of herd immunity. To reach a herd immunity threshold 70% of the population would have to recover from the virus. Keep in mind that COVID-19 is a novel virus and scientists still can’t be certain that reinfection won’t occur in those that already recovered from it. Using this template approximately 245 million Americans will need to recover from COVID-19 to reach herd immunity.

The current positive test rate of the virus in the United States is 8%, far short of 70%. The current death rate is 3.3%. Taking the death rate of 3.3% and multiplying that times the 245 million needed to reach herd immunity we come to the conclusion that approximately 8 million Americans will need to die in order to achieve Trump’s solution to the virus. EIGHT MILLION!

That is more dead Americans than the Civil War, WWI, 1918 Spanish Flu, WWII, Korean, Viet Nam, and Afghanistan wars combined. This scenario does not consider the introduction of a successful vaccine that would drastically reduce this number. But because of Trump’s lies and constant reprisals of his own CDC, many Americans may simply not trust a vaccine and simply not get one.

Just who will feel the brunt of this cruel strategy? Trump supporters. Yes, the very people that support this derelict of a president will be the ones most affected. They won’t wear masks, they won’t socially distance, but they will suffer far more than those trying to keep safe. The vast majority of those making up “the herd” will be from Red states largely supporting Trump. Rather ironic, don’t you think?

The level of contempt and disregard for the lives of Americans displayed on a daily level by Trump and this White House is also a novel virus that needs to be immunized this November. VOTE.

Rural Vs Urban The Real Division in America

Posted on August 14, 2020August 15, 2020 by Joe Merkle

Why has the USA struggled more than any other country to get a grasp on COVID-19? Like any global pandemic there are certainly several reasons that lead to success or failure in treating and eliminating a deadly virus.

The first and most obvious case in America is Trump’s utter failure to create a national strategy to address this pandemic. Every country in the world that has seen success in containing COVID-19 has HAD A PLAN. A leader that wallows in chaos and destruction is incapable of planning anything other than more chaos.

industrial-revolution — Industrial Revolution

But the bigger and more problematic issue in America is the division between rural and urban Americans. This division has grown exponentially since Trump has run for office. But it is not new to America. This division has been seeping into the American mindset for over 100 years. The industrial revolution in the early 1900s led to a boon for metropolitan areas while rural America began to lose its identity. There was a massive population movement that saw millions of Americans leave their rural roots for more opportunities that were being made available daily in the rapidly growing urban communities.

Ten years ago, I retired and moved from the Chicago area to a small retirement community in Arkansas. Half of the population (12,000) is over 50 years of age. It is a beautiful area and people tend to be very friendly. Many are like me and retired here from other parts of the country. But what I have observed through my time here is most of those who have retired here are from other rural areas. They were looking for a similar rural vibe with better weather and lower taxes. This contrasts with the many retirees from metro areas that tend to move to warmer metro areas.

The division between rural and urban Americans is becoming more evident every day. Urban citizens tend to rely on each other more. Many rely on public transportation. Their workplace environments most often require interdependence with others to do their jobs effectively. This naturally leads to better team-building skills and better communication skills. Urban dwellers also are more likely to have advanced education, whether it be scholastically or trade school environments.

Rural inhabitants are nearly the exact opposite of their urban brothers and sisters. What I found most shocking to me when I moved here was how many people were obsessed with owning land. Not necessarily a home, just land. Now some do earn their living off the land and that certainly makes sense. But many own acres of land just because. They do nothing with it, have no plan to develop it, do little to care for it. I have concluded that it is just a shelter for them. To separate themselves from neighbors. There is no question that the average rural occupant has a more “don’t bother me, leave me alone, stay off my property” attitude than their urban cousins.

And herein lies the real danger from the rural and urban divisions in a pandemic. Everyday city dwellers rely on those around them to perform their daily functions. Because of this reliance, they understand that each of them needs to do their part if they are going to be successful in defeating COVID-19 and see a return to normal life. They are also far more likely to know someone who has died from it.

On the other hand, the more typical attitude of rural folks is one skepticism, indifference, and defiance. So many simply do not care if they are exposed or expose others. It’s just a hoax. This blew my mind and I have been here for 10 years! They talk about freedom as if it is something they inherited, like blue eyes or red hair from Gramma. “I’m an American and I can do whatever I want.” Yeah, try not paying your taxes and see how well that works out. I really am shocked at how indifferent they are towards so many Americans dying. I guess this shouldn’t surprise me since most of them I have met believes that Trump can walk on water.

I do have some hope as most of the younger people I have met here are more inquisitive and more likely to get their information from a variety of sources. Sadly, those fortunate enough to go away to college will be less likely to return to their rural home to make a life. Once exposed to a variety of people and knowledge at a university their world view changes significantly.

Do I hold out any hope that these divisions can be healed? No, I do not. Rural communities by their very nature are isolated. Most have little to no industry, high-speed internet, or access to Interstate highways. The only hope for rural America to have a chance of surviving would be a massive infrastructure bill to come out of Washington. And we all know that won’t happen.

America will continue to spiral down the rabbit hole that COVID-19 and Trump’s response to it has created. Rural communities will choose their “freedom” over the health of the nation. I was hoping that I could inject some humorous quip into this article at some point. I just can’t find a single thing humorous about this massive and apparently hopeless division in America.