I deserve a better country.

Everyone, today let's talk about a conversation that left me feeling very uneasy. The speaker is Tighe Barry, the head of an American anti-war peace organization. He wasn't commenting on any president, but expressing a kind of disappointment: any government that promotes people's hatred is not a government worth having; I deserve better for my country, I deserve better choices, better than Trump and Biden. He feels that the problem now is not just policy—the American soul has disappeared, they have lost their direction, and no leader can guide them. The left talks about society and the rule of law, the right talks about the economy, but what he sees is this: the economic gap is widening, and the standard of living is declining. Economic data looks good on paper, but in real life, people can't even pay their bills. Once this incredible atmosphere appears, people naturally turn to things that are unfamiliar but easy—those easy targets. He says, yes, Americans are suffering, and he agrees with that: the hourly tax burden, housing issues, the cost of living—these are all important. But the real problem is the human soul. In his view, many of the divisions in America today have been packaged as cultural issues, while the economic and social divisions are actually very similar—the split between the top and the bottom is the fundamental one. This is also why Biden is being forced to fail economically. His criticism of these transnational elites is especially sharp. He says leaders should be able to guide people like Bezos and Musk to do what America must do; but these people are international, they only pretend to be American. When it suits them, they raise the American flag; when things go bad, they leave. They have places to go: Switzerland, Brazil, and banks all over the world. He finds this pathetic, but also reality. Is this a war between the right and the left? He says, actually not. It's a war that some people want. People on the left usually don't want anyone to suffer; but people like Trump, he doesn't care. He feels this is not about right or left, but about those who only want certain things versus ordinary people. Many people choose Trump because they believe he will end wars. He says if Trump really ends wars, he will support it; but he will not support Trump's other policies. If Trump can stop America's attacks abroad and withdraw troops from Iraq, then all the things we can do, he will support. But he is also wary: Trump could be a 'virus.' If this were Switzerland, if this were the Netherlands, and they elected a crazy right-wing figure, who would care? But America has enormous power and can cause a lot of destruction. And he doesn't like that his country is about destruction. In the end, he returns to that line: I deserve a better country. America should not be about destruction, but about responsibility and values.