What Place in the World Do You Never Want to Visit? Why?

One of the silliest features in WordPress is the Daily Writing Prompt. I suppose it is intended to inspire creativity for authors suffering from writer’s block, but the prompts aren’t particularly inspiring. Here are a few I answered in five seconds or less.

• Describe a decision you made that helped you learn and grow: I moved to France.
• Jot down the first thing that comes to mind: I’m horny.
• How do you use social media? I don’t.
• How do you unwind after a demanding day? Music, booze, cigarettes and sex.
• What makes you nervous? Brainless macho dudes.
• Write about a time when you didn’t take action but wish you had. What would you do differently? I should have moved to Europe earlier.
• Describe a risk you took that you do not regret: Every risk I’ve taken.

Much to my surprise, today’s prompt inspired a longer answer: What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?

The United States. It is a mean, cruel, hateful, violent country run by wealthy narcissists and their sycophants who take pride in their cruelty. It is a country where truth has been replaced by fiction and paranoia, a nation determined to destroy the environment, hasten global warming and make life unlivable for everyone on earth, all for the sake of making the rich even richer. The people of the United States voluntarily chose this path, partially out of hatred of people who are educated, liberal, not white, not heterosexual and not American; partially because of trivial shit like the price of eggs; and partially because many are too lazy or too stupid to vote. The United States is now a de facto dictatorship in the business of creating chaos all over the world and no longer the beacon of hope for anyone except other greedy, insecure male assholes. To those who hope that the United States will “return to normal,” I’m sorry, but the United States you knew is never coming back. The fix is in; the laws are irrelevant; taking back one or both houses in Congress won’t change a damn thing because Trump will issue executive orders and if the courts don’t back him up (unlikely), he’ll just ignore them. Impeachment with removal is impossible because the two-thirds requirement for conviction by the Senate will never happen thanks to all those gerrymandered red states.  Even if you could pull it off or find some other non-violent way to get rid of Trump and his merry band of racist, sexist, faux-Christian bullies, few countries on earth will ever trust an American government again. I wish I could pray for a miracle but I don’t pray and I don’t believe in miracles.

I have to keep reminding my colleagues at the EU that not all Americans are morons who were stupid enough to fall for Trump’s con, and there is some karmic justice in that the MAGA crowd will get royally screwed by Trump’s mismanagement of everything  . . . along with everyone else. In a conversation with my director, I suggested that the EU might want to consider granting sensible Americans refugee status. “The 1951 Refugee Convention defines a refugee as a person who, owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of [their] nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail [themself] of the protection of that country.” As Trump is persecuting LGBTQ people, minorities, college students, academics, universities, law firms, scientists, Democrats, journalists, artists, U.S. citizens and everyone who disagrees with him, we could add a whole lot of talent to our population. She laughed and said, “You make some good points,” but I don’t think my idea is likely to get much traction.

My family has agreed that we will no longer purchase goods or services from the USA unless it’s completely unavoidable (like if my Mac blew up). Dad sold his last two houses in San Francisco (I thought he had sold them long ago); his only remaining connection is his monthly Social Security check, and he expects that to disappear sooner or later. We had to give up several streaming services, but baseball isn’t what it used to be (goodbye MLB.TV) and American providers rely too much on violence and dystopian fantasies (bye-bye Netflix and Apple TV).  Giving up my daily Diet Coke was easy enough because nobody wants to be seen drinking a Diet Coke in France. WordPress is the only connection left for me, but I’ve already paid for another year and have plenty of time to find a non-American option before renewal. I thought of doing another American Boycott and reviewing only albums created by non-Americans, but hey, y’all know I’m not going to review jerks like Ted Nugent and Kid Rock. Most American artists in any field you care to name are not MAGA-enablers, and as we learned from my Songs of World War II review, music can help people hold it together during tough times. I may not be able to offer Americans a solution to their problems, but I will do my best to lift your spirits.

A final bit of advice: get the hell out if you can, but if emigration is not possible, do your best to spread kindness and joy to counteract the ugliness.

p.s. I hope to avoid commenting further on American politics because reading the news from my former homeland is unacceptably stressful and there ain’t a damn thing I can do about it.

*****

In less than a month, I will relocate to the Emerald Isle and take some time off to get our house in order. I’ve found that writing about music helps preserve my sanity, so I’ve been stockpiling candidates for future reviews. The ability to work remotely will hopefully lead to weekly reviews beginning in mid-June. Next week I will post my review of Genesis’ Foxtrot, followed by a complete overhaul of my shitty review of Are You Experienced? Here are the other albums I hope to review shortly:

• Ray Charles: The Atlantic Years and Anthology
• Songs of Leonard Cohen
• Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners
• Enya: Watermark
• Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 9
• Peter Gabriel: 3 (Melt)
• Big Bill Broonzy: Trouble in Mind
• Dave Brubeck: Time Out
• The Turtles: Save the Turtles (Greatest Hits)

I’d also like to do more Nilsson and Todd Rundgren once I make up my mind about which ones. I’d also like to review more Irish artists as long as their name doesn’t begin with a U and end with a 2. I am open to requests, but make sure you thoroughly peruse my no-fly list before getting your hopes up. Please note that I do not review any album until three years its release.

Be safe, everyone, especially the good people stuck in the USA.