Every night I watch the news

Every night I watch the news, I want to scream. I find myself furious at the television, even though it's not the television's fault that the country has fallen into the state it finds itself in. This is a precarious time in the United States, one to surely make the textbooks. America is in pain. Some are grieving the losses of family members from COVID-19, which have topped well over 150,000, and others are engaged in protests against police brutality in a fight for racial equality. These are no light issues. 

Every night I watch the news, I want to yell at the people not wearing masks, not social distancing, and crowding on beaches. It's as if they simply don't trust the science we can ascertain about COVID-19, that it spreads through air particles, that it's highly contagious, that masks help, and that there can be long-term implications for perfectly healthy victims even if they don't die. The nation's top infectious disease doctor is being shunned by the President as a political move so while this science is reaching the ears of many Americans, it's the ones who simply don't care or who see taking precautions against COVID-19 as a political statement who are causing great harm to this country. It's paradoxical from the perspective of a high school senior who's in the midst of the college application process. While this is obviously not at the forefront of the nation's mind right now, it is on mine. And I can't help but wondering, what's the point of education if some of the most educated people right now are being shunned by the president?

Every night I watch the news, I think about the economic impacts of COVID-19. The US produces 2 trillion dollars of GDP roughly every 5 weeks. This simply means that additional week we spend in quarantine amasses to massive losses. Every week we can reduce of quarantine and every mask someone wears to slow down the spread of the virus will contribute to the speed at which we can return to normalcy. The US GDP contracted 32.9% this past quarter. If this country doesn't start taking this virus seriously, it will prolong the economic effects, more people will lose their jobs, homes, and not be able to afford food. I'm scared to know how this US will recover in the next 5 years, but from what I'm sensing, this is something that will take years to bounce back from. As long as the virus rages in this country, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. It will take a serious effort from everyone to stop the virus before we can return to some degree of normalcy. 

Every night I watch the news, I can't help but think how this administration has resurfaced some deep racists. Racism is unacceptable. That statement has no political party affiliation. I feel like racism has never been so imminent and forefront of a problem since I've been alive, and I'm glad some of the dark truths about the injustices in this country are surfacing. Nonetheless, to see people mowing down peaceful protests on TV and to see the national guard disbanded upon our own citizens is disgusting. These are not the ways social injustices should resurface, though history has shown it is unambiguous acts of violence such as those that ignite peaceful conversations. It's a shame and a disgrace to call myself an American at this point in history. America was built by immigrants and people of color and for these groups to experience continued ostracization in this country is shocking.

Every night I watch the news, I try to remain hopeful that all these crises toppled on each other will bring forth change. There is a lot going on in this country and around the world right now. This new decade surely hasn't hit us smoothly but I'm optimistic that this epoch of grief is where monumental change, governmental, business, social, can bud.