The United States of Tom

In 2016 we are currently living in the United States of Tom. The United States of Tom is one that consists of people who praise wealth and fame and believe that they are the true tickets to and definition of success. People living in the United States of Tom also have a “It says so, so it must be true” mentality, where individuals are blindly believing statements with no truth behind them. Finally, individuals living in the United States of Tom will not take the blame for their mistakes, and are not willing to help people that are different than them.

The Kardashian family is a perfect example of individuals who are praised solely for their wealth. The Kardashian family has become extremely famous because people ravenously follow their lavish lifestyles on television and media. The Kardashians did not become famous because they positively impacted the world through talent, the effective use of money, or by assisting others. No, their fame is fueled by Prada dresses and millions of dollars spent solely for aesthetic and personally beneficial purposes and not for ethical or helpful reasons. But, one cannot totally blame the Kardashians for their strange success. The Kardashian’s popularity is fueled by our society and the strange obsession and emphasis on this family strongly displays the immense value our society places on money and fame.

Another issue society has that shows we are living the United States of Tom is the constant manipulation of information and facts that shines through in our media and on the internet. People are often too content with information they first receive and go through little to no effort to find evidence to either prove or disprove the supposed facts they were told. This manipulation is especially prominent in our media; celebrity magazines constantly photoshop images and alter information given to them so that they can make stories more eye catching and dramatic and therefore, sell more copies. (Which also goes back to the wealth and fame mentality, people are willing to manipulate the truth in order to get a few extra bucks). Again, the sad part of manipulation is that magazine companies know this manipulation will sell because too often people believe the information is true because it is printed in a magazine or published on the internet. Society has this “It says so, so it must be true” mentality that is often deadly when real facts are attempting to shine through.

Donald Trump is the king of passive blaming, and this is a man some people believe should be our president, and if he were to become president, he would definitely represent the United States of Tom. Trump believes that we should ban all Muslims from entering into the United States, this created outrage all over the world because Trump is blindly perceiving a whole population of people as a threat to our country. Trump also is not willing to help or understand people who are different than him, like Mexican immigrants, Muslims, and women. Trump is advocating a pretentious and closed mindset that easily directs us to a life in the United States of Tom.

Our current society has proved through things like media and politics that we are in the United States of Tom. The United States of Tom only leads to regression as people will continue to stop looking for facts, become money-obsessed, and have very close-minded mentalities. As a society, we must make a change. We must become a United States of Huck, one where ethics and morals reside, and humanity is truly embraced. There is a Huck in us all, one that embraces diversity, empathy, and love, and if we search deep enough, we can find those principles and make a change for the better.