I Want to be an Optimist

Watching the House show the world how incompetent and vitriol our country has become makes it tough to be optimistic. It pains me. I also happen to be deep in the cannabis space. Watching the rules, regs, and the execution of an endless supply of checks and balances is mind-blowing. One day I will write those stories. And then I came home and read an article by X Gonzalez, who is brave, transparent, self-aware, and intelligent, and writes her post-Parkland survivor experience where her friends were gunned down.

I remember when the shooting happened, as we all do. Seeing the aftermath of Parkland that was kept alive, or perhaps the media kept it alive because it was an affluent community. Regardless I believed that these young activists would finally be able to make change. Other organizations, such as the Jed Foundation, which has taken helping the youth with mental health into their own hands. Gun control needs more organizations like Jed and more potent lobbyists than the NRA. The government doesn’t do anything until they are prodded and they are incapable of executing; it is the private sector that always makes the difference.

It is terrible that this is where we are. The number of mass shootings seems endless. This past week a six-year-old child brought a gun to school and shot the teacher. A few teenagers were hanging out, and a young woman refused to get this guy something he wanted her to retrieve, and he shot her in the head. This freaks me out. There is something seriously wrong with our country. We keep sweeping this under the rug at the top Government level.

I believe the next generation of politicians will push for massive change in how the media unfairly reports for eyeballs and will begin to shake out the old guard who has allowed this to continue.

Based on this past week’s activities on the House floor, I hope this happens sooner than later. I am an optimist, after all.