OPINION: Democracy is Dying, Doublethink used to be for Dystopian Novels

One of my students has asked me on more than one occasion, “Will we be in the ‘Hunger Games’ pretty soon?”

He’s only half joking and, at age eighteen, reflects a cynical worldview shared by many young people who have grown up in a world where their first President was elected by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision.

He lives in a country where our current President admitted to sexual assault, is openly racist, separates children from their parents, puts children and babies in cages, and lies constantly.

Now, the latest Supreme Court Justice, an alleged sex offender and obvious liar has been confirmed by a Republican-controlled Senate; too concerned with winning to retain the court’s integrity. His lifetime appointment is our life sentence.

Your President engaged in a classic dystopian tactic when he claimed that women were angry about the way Brett Kavanaugh was treated; it’s called doublethink.

The only problem is, we live in the real world, not a novel, and women aren’t buying what he’s selling. We know better. We deserve better.

We are tired of being told we don’t know how to handle our own healthcare issues. We’re tired of being told we don’t know what we think. We’re tired of waiting for permission to have equal protection under the law.

We know that gender equality isn’t just good for us, it’s good for men. We know that when woman are equal, men don’t have to be afraid, because we can trust each other. We know this because we love the men in our lives as dearly as we love the women in our lives. But, we are angry because you have failed us.

You have shown us that you don’t just fear us, you don’t even care about any of us. Our lives don’t matter at all to you.

Women come from every background on the face of the earth. We have families of every gender: people we love, people who matter to us.

We see you for what you are and we are paying attention. We are angry. November is coming.

Kathleen Ross
Ed.S Webster University
Educator, Artist, Writer
Ballwin, MO

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