You hear the word everywhere wealthy white people gather to guzzle wine and wear odd dresses made of sustainably raised ostrich feathers. You hear it whenever wealthy inhabitants of cities like San Francisco or New York meet up for a night of whites only theater. You hear it every time Leonardo DiCaprio and his rich friends get together to make movies about how poor people are destroying the planet by eating and asking for housing. You hear it when you walk past some useless golf course on your way to the bus. You hear it when a politician representing a major corporation shamelessly pays a struggling single dad about eight bucks an hour to beg you for votes. You hear it whenever the center right social media overlords get their panties in a twist because someone acknowledges the failures of the Obama administration. You guessed it. “Progressive”. That’s so progressive. How progressive. My, my, my would you just look at how progressive he is? Helping the poor is progressive. Helping the chronically ill is progressive. Helping the mentally ill is progressive. See how I just put a dollar tree bandage on that dirty poor person’s gaping wound? See how I just called an ambulance for that person with epilepsy, saddling them with even more medical debt that I will later refuse to forgive? See how I just gave the wealthy even more tax breaks? See how I just created a bunch of jobs that are even shittier than the ones you had two years ago? See how I’m fixing infrastructure that I helped to destroy? See how I helped all the pretty white people with problems? Isn’t that progressive? Aren’t I progressive? How progressive my progress has progressed! What a progression! Yes, wealthy people love to boast about how “progressive” they are, about how much they helped the little guy, about how much they totally owned the conservatives. But, unfortunately, it’s all a mirage, a lie, a game. There has been no forward movement in terms of social justice in this country since the 1960s, and I do not expect there to be any real progression on civil rights until I am cold in my grave. See, in order to actually help people, you have to be a selfless person. You have to go into politics knowing that in order to truly help people, you’re going to have to tell a few of your rich friends to take a hike. But the rich people in this nation would never do such a thing. They all go to the same Ivy League colleges for fuck’s sake. What did you expect? Did you think that Joe Biden was really going to help you in any way that would actually get you out of poverty? Ha! Sorry, but I have to laugh. I have to laugh at ignorance these days. I have to laugh at gullibility. If I don’t laugh, then I will be depressed again. I have struggled with the depression that comes along with being rejected and disappointed for most of my life. I am too exhausted to put up with that any longer. So, I made a decision to just laugh the rejection and disappointment away from now on. That way the pain is dulled and I can keep having a reason to get in the morning. I hope you know that you can only upset people so much before they lash out at you. I hope you realize that people see you hoarding money and resources. I hope you are aware of the fact that inequality is not going anywhere, and that it is getting worse, not better. I hope you realize these things because I really don’t want to see you harmed. I want you to live a long life, even if I dislike your pompous lifestyle. But these regressive politics, this unwillingness to do anything for anyone who actually needs help, will be your undoing. I can’t stop that. I cannot prevent the criminality you are creating, the desperation you have unleashed unto this once great nation. There’s nothing I can do about it now. So, as you stare down the barrel of your own gun, painting yourself as some caring individual, I hope you remember that everyone can see right through your disguise before it is too late for even money to save you.