I grew up in a broken home. My mom committed suicide when I was around 3 and my father and brothers all had problems with drug and alcohol abuse to various degrees. In retrospect I wish I had found more common ground with my father but he was a blue collar carpentry type fella and I liked to draw illustrations all day. If there's one thing I'll give my pop it is that I think his choice in hobbies was far more useful in the life skills department than my own but we tend to like what we like with no exceptions or compromises. I simply never got into any "manly man pursuits" beyond a bit of martial arts and some landscaping and volunatary fire-fighter work (Don't be impressed with the voluntary fire fighter shtick, I passed the physical but only got to go out for one fire. lol.) once I was older and worked at job corps. Between those years I also visited my fair share of mental wards due to depression, self harm, and not knowing how to "fit in" with other teenagers.

To this day I'm limited by poverty and my disabled status. With government assistance I can afford rent,food,an electric bill,other utilities,and even a bit of entertainment on the side but if you looked at me you'd probably still be able to tell I'm from "that" part of town. When the prices at a Good-Will are nice and cheap,whose to say hand me downs cannot be sheik? (Thumbs up)

If there's anyone that should have a grudge against America it is probably me. I'm one of the "little people" who the elites would hold up as a martyr or a "victim of the system" but if things for me were truly that bad I certainly wouldn't be communicating with you right now. (I'd be living under a bridge eating rats out of desperation instead.)

America is one of the few places you can have a check of just over $700.00 a month and miraculously "live okay" with the assistance of HUD or section 8 and just a bit of EBT food stamp money on the side. It's also one of the few places you can start out homeless (Like I was shortly after college) and find yourself some housing so long as you're not abusing substances or making overly stupid decisions. (Heck, sometimes you can even find housing in spite of those things but I digress.)

In addition to that here are some other things I believe we should all keep in mind

+Historically human beings have all been terrible to each other. Don't believe any revisionist history that tries to blame one particular race for all the world's ills. Every culture has brought about good things and bad things. Even white people have their own history of hardships and not being "top dog". Just study what it was like for the slavs under muslim occupation or how the irish were treated by others indigenous to the English and American populations. Even right now white farmers are getting attacked and murdered in South Africa.

This is not to say white people did not do bad things either but education today seems to omit the atrocities other races did. Additionally the accomplishments of other races are praised while the accomplishments of whites go unspoken. Say what you will but we made many breakthrus in technology and medicine that save lives and contribute to better living standards to this very day.

As for Native Americans? They had their own tribal wars and struggles over land,resources,and women before we even came. They were not simply a peaceful collective besieged by a bunch of nasty meanie white settlers!

If you think I'm trying to argue "white man superior" you are missing the point. White people are not perfect but neither are people from any other ethnic group. If other races are allowed to have pride without shame then that same privilege should be granted to Caucasians as well.

+Shaming people over their gender and race is lunacy. None of us get to choose our skin color or gender when we are born so this weird "culture war" targeting men and white people in particular never sat well with me. It's no better than discriminating against women or any other ethnic heritage. Noone should "owe reparations" for events in the past they had no control over. "Guilt,shame,and atonement" are not collectively passed down. We do not inherit the sins of others. Rather we should be weighed and judged for our own actions as individuals.

+ I'll be the first to admit capitalism's "current state" of big mega corporations buying up more and more smaller companies without restraint is not a perfect system but when I stop and ponder how I live now compared to how I'd be living in a place similar to Venezuela that makes me grateful to be American real friggin fast!

+ I "like" free speech and I rather innocent people be able to protect themselves with fire arms even with the caveat being my mother killed herself with a gun. I cannot own a gun because of my mental illness but I hold no ill will or jealousy towards regular law abiding gun owners. More power to them I say!

+ Those who riot and destroy only know how to riot and destroy. They'll tell you they hate America but ask them if they have an in depth plan of how they'd "rebuild civilization" after destroying our current infrastructure and not a one of them will be able to give you an intelligent answer.

+Offensive speech should be allowed. Let's be honest, the sexist and racist jokes are the funniest ones! A person can post Anti-Semetic memes without being Anti-Semetic or put up signs saying "It's okay to be white" without being white supremacists. Sure enough, sometimes you will encounter a generally racist or sexist person but before you justify hurting them or calling them evil remember said individual might be a good person with a twisted perception because of some really messed up life experiences. Make the attempt to be kind at first and never resort to violence unless it is necessary for your survival and that of your loved ones. Regardless, "comedy" is effective because it gives us the power to laugh at things that would normally bother us or we'd be afraid of discussing. Comedy cannot thrive when it's not allowed to push boundaries. Mel Brooks knew this when he dressed up like Hitler and did a musical number about becoming a nazi. So did Dave Chapelle when he did a skit about being a black and blind klansman!

+Be ever aware of the saying "Then they came for me". Perhaps you're not into anime so you really do not care when activists try to censor or outright remove Japanese animation. Perhaps you're not into comic books so a bunch of radicals using that form of entertainment to push their own agendas whilst they shame and silence the rebelling fanbase is not front and center. Heck, maybe you even agree all forms of erotica are "disgusting" and are only for sexual deviants. BUT eventually they will come for something YOU enjoy. Just give it time.....(This is why fighting for freedom of speech and freedom of expression is so important.)