Thomas Veil
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USA Today has a somewhat longish but dead-on opinion piece about the self-centered nature of America today.
The author argues that in a country where many people have it pretty good, asking the slightest thing in return (like wearing masks) has people acting out like drama queens.
Keep in mind the parents and grandparents of these pampered babies fought in wars and made great sacrifices. But somehow they think things are even worse now.
The author goes on that this is not something peculiar to the Trump era. It’s been in the works a long time.
He also says lazy ignorance on the part of these folks sets them up to follow unscrupulous politicians who tell them what they want to think.
And finally:
He’s got something there. When people are so used to having everything they want, they cannot conceive of anyone saying no to them. And so they cry that their rights are being violated.
So there may be drama queens and (excuse the term) welfare queens), but from now on when I hear and see these snowflakes acting out because FREEDOM and ‘MURICA, I know I’m going to start thinking of them as freedom queens.
The author argues that in a country where many people have it pretty good, asking the slightest thing in return (like wearing masks) has people acting out like drama queens.
Keep in mind the parents and grandparents of these pampered babies fought in wars and made great sacrifices. But somehow they think things are even worse now.
The people I have always counted on to be patriotic, sensible, and steady – like our ancestors had been under far more trying circumstances than our own – were now sirens of drama and complaint. Everything, they said, is as bad as it’s ever been. These, they were sure, are the worst times ever. We are all victims. Someone must pay.
The author goes on that this is not something peculiar to the Trump era. It’s been in the works a long time.
The moments that weighed on me accumulated over the years. Friends who had grown up with me in economically strapped circumstances, for example, would tell me how they thought America was a disastrous mess – while sailing their boats, or sending me pictures from their multiple vacations. Political arguments that were once friendly jousting took on an almost religious hue.
He also says lazy ignorance on the part of these folks sets them up to follow unscrupulous politicians who tell them what they want to think.
…our democracy now practically must run on autopilot independently of a public that is happily and willfully ignorant of the issues and wants nothing to do with the dreary business of governing. And with increasing frequency, our form of government is under attack by bored working and middle-class citizens – led by clever political and television figures – who have no use for democracy other than as slogans and window-dressing around their need to be the constant center of their own reality show.
And finally:
Our parents and grandparents had the fortitude to endure the 20th century, with two world wars and an economic disaster. In the 21st century, we lack the resilience even to overcome a pandemic, much less the great trials of a war or a depression. Worse, we are not mature or stoic enough even to endure the prosaic and often dull routines that are part of daily life.
He’s got something there. When people are so used to having everything they want, they cannot conceive of anyone saying no to them. And so they cry that their rights are being violated.
So there may be drama queens and (excuse the term) welfare queens), but from now on when I hear and see these snowflakes acting out because FREEDOM and ‘MURICA, I know I’m going to start thinking of them as freedom queens.

Trump is not ruining democracy, we are. And it's been anguishing to confront: Tom Nichols
I was worried long before Trump and the Capitol riot, as political jousting turned zealous and well-off friends called America a disastrous mess.
www.usatoday.com