Change is Good

I watched Amsterdam on HBO this week. The cast is stellar, and although the movie can be preachy at times and could have been so much better, there is a point swirling through the screenplay. History repeats itself, and people must be held accountable for change to happen.

The film is based on the mysterious murder of a US General in 1933 who discovered the plot of a group of wealthy industrialists to overthrow FDR’s government and install Smedley Butler, a senior marine corps officer, and create a fascist government. Sound familiar? Another piece of history swept under the carpet because nobody was ever prosecuted.

We are an incredibly diverse country. Right now, so many factions seem to be trying to hold onto something that makes people comfortable. We are seeing it more and more as our country moves down a new path. People fear change and do not like being outside of their comfort zone. We are more sheeplike than we admit.

Mainly the white hierarchy is afraid of diversity in our schools and neighborhoods. For instance, they are banning children’s books that have anything to do with sexuality. How many kids have read those books and felt seen for the first time? Conservative parents holding on to what exactly? How about the Conservative Senators making voting decisions because of the donors lining their pockets who want more control over every person who disagrees with their desire to control the country’s policies?

The good news is the internet exists, and everyone can read anything they want. The desire of a small group of people to take over the government in the past and not-so-distant past is just repeating history. These groups attempt to isolate anyone who disagrees with their moral values. Each group is narrowminded, foisting their ideals on the community and country.

The good news is these groups are getting older and smaller in numbers. We are entering constantly entering a new world. We evolve as humans as new technologies come into our lives. With the fusion breakthrough this past week, the explosion of AI, the working world in a post-Covid world that includes fewer people in the office and more people at home. There are others, but the one consistent thing is the people’s will; the majority always wins.

Change is part of life, and we would all be better off if we just embraced it instead of attempting to hold on to something that probably needed to change in the first place.