2028
This must be what it feels like to live under Big Brother’s watchful eye. The government has shut down — again. Eight days and counting. Thirty-five was the longest — under the same president, different term. There’s another shooting in the news. More souls lost to hatred — when hatred is such a waste of time. Public broadcasting has been defunded. Say the wrong thing out loud and another news program gets shut down. The National Guard has been deployed in Chicago. People are being picked up off the street — even at your local Home Depot. Arrested among shiny sinks, fixtures, and faucets. Handcuffed and interrogated — some citizens, some not. Doesn’t matter. The crimes are all the same: being born in the wrong country, and coming here with a dream. There’s another shooting in the news. More souls lost. We’ve turned on each other, drawn lines, picked sides — a fractured democracy disguising itself as unity. We’ve allowed this to happen — too busy surrendering to the next Netflix binge. We let it unfold around us as we doom-scroll: the next phenomenon, the next big scandal. You’ve already scrolled past — the shootings, 😢 crying emoji scroll the defunded programs (you weren’t watching anyway, so who cares), scroll the images of people being cuffed, 💔 heartbreak emoji scroll. Another family photo post. Another restaurant tag. Another sunset photo. Your dog’s latest shenanigans. Another vacation captured through a screen — documented for the consumption of others. If they can distract us long enough, we won’t be able to stop it. Atwood tried to warn us — Orwell too.