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Reading the news the last week has made me feel like I was five years old again.

I remember reading Dr. Seuss books in preschool and at home, just before The Muppet Show came on Channel 2 after the news.

Then I would see the Mr. Potato Head commercial come on and then I would think, Should I nag my dad about buying a Mr. Potato Head, or just stick with plan to get a bicycle?

Life as a kid was great, but for some strange reason, all this is back in the news, and for all the wrong reasons.

Look, I get it. I loved being a kid in the late 1970s. But its 2021, and times have changed.

Those Dr. Seuss books with the cartoonish drawings of Asians and Africans, those arent acceptable anymore. And only, like, six books have them, so classics like The Cat in the Hat, Hop on Pop and Green Eggs and Ham, theyre still around.

But turn on Fox News or check in on some conservative radio show or on Twitter, you would think that the end of the country as we know it is coming soon, and the main sign is that Mr. Potato Head is going gender neutral, or theres a warning about sensitive subject material at the beginning of the streaming of old Muppet Show reruns on Disney+.

Really? We still are in a middle of a deadly pandemic, were investigating a seditious riot at the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead, and us Texans are still trying to get back to normal after a rough winter storm left millions without power and/or water and 30 dead? And were talking about Mr. Potato Head and Dr. Seuss?

Yeah, I know, cancel culture.

Never mind the conservatives that are now screaming about cancel culture are the same ones that tried to cancel the Dixie Chicks, Janet Jackson, Kathy Griffin, The View and Colin Kapernick.

This is why I hate the culture wars that are blasted on television news and on social media.

These things, that may be nostalgic to some, but have little importance on your life at this moment.

It seems like conservative media is determined to try to distract you from so many big issues going on right now, like getting the vaccine, or how do we rebuild our economy, or how schools are handling the virus.

And thats because they have no easy answers to give their audience.

Which is what everyone wants, right? A simple, no nonsense approach to tough questions.

But thats not how the world works.

You have to have more nuanced answers to tough questions, and not be afraid to tell the truth, even if it is unpopular or against someones beliefs.

Instead, we get angry over cultural topics that have little to do with our lives right now.

But even worse, we let simple things get politicized. Like wearing a mask in public to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Its a shame that a mask has the same kind of cultural trigger like a gun or a Planned Parenthood storefront.

Instead of educating the public about how much a mask can help a person stop spreading the virus, we read on social media about how a mask doesnt work (which is false), or how it is a weapon against free speech (which is stupid since people can hear what you are saying through the mask).

But no, culture war gets ratings, retweets, likes, all that nonsense.

Can we just agree that America has many different cultures that there is no need for one dominant culture in this country, and trying to cancel people that you dont agree with is not only dumb, but also counterproductive?

Good. Now lets all watch and enjoy the Muppet Show in peace. Its time to play the music.

Read the original here:
Culture wars are ruining our memories and our politics - Fort Bend Herald