I grew up in a community that was dealing with the same problems that other communities across the country were dealing with. But because it serves their needs to have us believe we are special—our communities, our lives, our desires, our fears—those in power tricked us all into believing we were different than every other struggling white, or black, or brown community we might see on the news or that we might pass by on the freeway.

This is how we convince a 17-year-old white kid to cross state lines to shoot down Americans protesting racial injustice.

This is how we find him not guilty of the murders he committed. And this is how we make him a hero.

The thin line between imagination and reality is becoming harder and harder to navigate in America. What we share as Americans above and beyond our perceived communities, interest groups, and racial and ethic background is disappearing from our field of vision. Our right to protest is being threatened by those who don’t agree with us. Differences of viewpoint are now flashpoints for violence and degradation, and unlike other such moments in our past, a substantial number of Americans believe they are entitled to settle these differences at 45 rounds per minute. The very basis of democracy—free and fair elections unmarred by violence—has been taken from us.

This is how we convince a 17-year-old white kid to cross state lines to shoot down Americans protesting racial injustice.

This is how we find him not guilty of the murders he committed. And this is how we make him a hero.

Columnist Max Boot, in his November 22, 2021 opinion column for The Washington Post, states that, “The message many Republicans receive is that violence is justified to save the United States from a leftist takeover. An audience member at a pro-Trump event spoke for many when he asked: ‘When do we get to use the guns?’” Although I disagree with some of the comparisons Boot makes—he implies, for instance, that left-wing violence of the 60s and 70s is comparable to current right-wing violence—his larger point remains valid: Republicans are now embracing militants and well-armed individuals as the de facto military wing of the party. By defending and valorizing the January 6th insurgents and the killing of protesters in Wisconsin, Republicans have, as Boot points out, determined to retain power by any means necessary—even if it risks destroying the American democracy.

But why should it have come to this? What Boot doesn’t examine, nor do many others across the entire political spectrum Left to Right, is the fact that we have come to this by design. Neither the Left nor the Right can be counted on to speak the truth about what ails the United States. Both parties are too dependent on the status quo to ever speak such a truth. Kyle Rittenhouse was created just as any political operative is created: to serve the agenda of those who would prefer to remain hidden in the shadows. The rich. The powerful. The oligarchy that has most certainly formed in the United States. It is in service to them that white supremacy and fascist tactics are deployed. It is in service to them that books are burned, school boards disrupted, curricula eliminated, mask mandates thwarted, protests demolished, violent insurgents and political murderers coddled.

This is how we convince a 17-year-old white kid to cross state lines to shoot down Americans protesting racial injustice.

This is how we find him not guilty of the murders he committed. And this is how we make him a hero.

And this is how democracy ends—not with a whimper but with a bang.