Page 23 - Horizon Elementary Literary Submissions 2022

Birds Aren’t Real
With the nation waiting in anticipation for the holidays looming around the corner, many people are looking forward to the opportunity to get together with many immediate and extended family members for perhaps the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began almost twenty months ago. Along with the meaningful connections we make with family during this holiday season, we can’t forget the annual honor that completes the colloquial dynamic duo: listening to that one aunt or uncle however many times removed tell us about conspiracy theories he or she may or may not have taken some creative liberties expressing at the dinner table. Don’t be embarrassed; we all have that one “unique” relative.
So whether they’re educating you about how they believe that all birds were killed in a government orchestrated genocide in the 1960’s and replaced with robotic avian cameras that report to the government, how the moon landing was fake and all images of Earth are simply immaculately photoshopped dupes, or of course the all time fan-favorite: how the Earth is flat and scientists are trying to suppress this very truth, we can learn a lot from these claims. They don’t need to be correct, relevant, or even logical for us to learn from them. And since we all know not even the most experienced party host can change the subject from how the government is hiding aliens in Area-51, you may as well try to make the inevitable conversation as productive as possible so you don’t lose thirty irretractable minutes of your life.
It doesn’t take a genius to find a pattern in conspiracy theories, regardless of the topic: the government is hiding important information from the American public. Whether or not this is true, the shared statement among so many people nationwide is unsettling. How can we as a country expect to make any progress economically, militarily, scientifically, or philanthropically if the American public doesn’t trust the very organization whose sole purpose is to serve them? The answer is simple. We can’t.
Ever since the days of Eisenhower and Kennedy, the nation as a whole has expressed a downward trend in trust of government, with peaks during Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush’s presidency and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and record lows during Jimmy Carter’s presidency and the beginning of Barack Obama’s presidency. It makes perfect sense that partisan support and trust ebbs and flows as does the political views of the American people. However, over the past several years, America’s trust in their government has relied more heavily on the party in power than ever. Currently, with a Democratic president in the Oval Office, Democrat and Democratic-Independent absolute trust in the government is at 36%, with Republicans and Republican-Independents at 9%. An incredibly similar trend happened in the previous Trump administration, just vice-versa. During the Kennedy administration, however, both parties gave a 75% absolute trust rating. So, regardless of whether trust is down because of increased partisanship on both sides of the isle or because America is simply disappointed in their leaders as a whole, our country has a problem on its hands.
So while most people may not speak about it as vocally or dramatically as conspiracy theorists, an overwhelming percent of our population does not feel they can rely on the government. Without people feeling represented and protected in politics, our country cannot progress in the way it needs to so that it may maintain its position on the global stage, but more importantly, to maintain our country’s identity and not lose what we believe in. There is a cause of this downfall, but without people, both those in power and the average citizen, trying to identify it, how can we expect to solve it? The answer is simple. We can’t.
Isabella S. St. Mary School–Berea Mr. Jones Eight Grade