For the longest time, I was shocked. Donald Trump currently has a 50% chance of becoming the next leader of the United States of America? Seriously?!?
He's self-centered, full of faux outrage, willfully ignorant and wears arrogance proudly. Certainly he's not.....

Well, wait a second...The more I think about it: Doesn't that seem to describe where we're at as a nation?

I never want to paint over any mass citizenry with such a broad brush stroke but chances are we all fit under at least one of the top four descriptors. If not all four. You absolutely know somebody that fits all four. Just check your Facebook feed.  More importantly, check your latest Facebook rant and I'm sure you were railing against a person or group that fits under one of the four. They're out there. They're probably us. And we've created a monster....

Before I delve too deep, let me say this: I'm not a Trump supporter. Nor am I particularly fond of where the Democratic Party sits right now (re: This is written post-California primaries....You know the one, where everybody was incensed that the AP had given the nomination to Hillary Clinton, decrying that "California hasn't even voted yet!" And then California voted...and Hillary won handily). I'm not anti-Hillary either. If anything, I'm very middle, or middling, in that I'm fairly anti-political process at this point (yes...I voted).

If anything, I would say I'm anti-Trump, in that him in any leadership position in the free world makes it less "free." He's the best that the GOP could find to represent itself? Yes. Yes he is.  Frankly, most of the GOP is scary right now, their leaders are the epitome of contempt, derision and delusion, and they have effectively shot themselves in the foot over the past 20 years of essentially breaking down a democracy from the inside out. Cry foul enough, and foul is what you get.

However, the more I think about it, Trump is a great candidate for everybody across the spectrum. And I don't mean "great" as in "superb" or "Make America Great Again," I mean "great" as in a fine representative of the populace of the United States. He's almost too perfect.

He's the embodiment of self-centered, angry, ignorant and arrogant. As are his supporters. As is, sadly, most everyone...

He's self-centered.

Aren't we all? I mean, isn't that the very basis for social media? There was a time when we would cringe at a neighbor coming home from vacation because we'd have to sit through interminable slide shows of their trip. Now, that's all my Instagram feed is. We order meals, then let those meals get cold because we're too busy choosing the right filter to make our farm-to-table kale quinoa summer squash salad really pop in thumbnail pictures. Our celebrities - those bastions of success and dreams - are now 19-year-old kids who begin most of their vlog posts with "Let me tell you about my day and what I think of the world" to millions of viewers and millions of dollars.

There was a time when a sex tape would be a point of shame. Now it's the stepping-stone to a multi-billion dollar family franchise. Sex tapes are now passé.

Instead of social warriors or screen legends, we make celebrities and idols out of Honey Boo-Boo, the Duck Dynasty folks and innumerable flailing, screaming housewives. The networks pay them pennies on the dollar and, if and when they become too big for their britches and demand a bigger piece of the pie, the networks cast them aside to save a buck and launch the next series starring truckers or lumberjacks or fishermen or pranksters. Humans, and our humanity, it seems, are easily replaceable.

I don't blame reality shows or YouTube. Far from it. I blame those that watch them as a source of entertainment. Who's the bigger fool - the fool, or the ones that follow the fool? But here's the rub: It gives import and substance to people that never earned it and don't know how to use it. All they, and we, know is that I can be rich and famous for being me. And I deserve it.

We live in a culture now where a kid can bite his brother's finger, their parents can record it, and by sheer luck, that's a serviceable road to a six-figure income. More people on paper would probably recognize the "Charlie bit my finger" kid over Malala Yousafzai nine times out of ten, and she's a peace-mongering Nobel Prize winner who took a bullet in the face from the Taliban to stand up for her rights!

I believe that's really the main mindset of today's American: Where's mine? Why not me? How can I do less and get more? Why aren't I rich and famous and on every TV show and magazine cover? Because that's "success," right?

If I was in school now, I would probably drop out, move to a bigger city, become some kind of epic trouble-maker and be set for the rest of my life.  A college degree? Why would I waste my time getting that? So I can work for somebody else?

Better plan: Make millions off of having people watch videos of me playing video games. I'm not saying that wouldn't require work, but not the kind that's actually, y'know, work.  Heck, I'm writing this and hoping everybody reads it because it's me today.

I just wish there was a candidate that represented that. Someone who didn't have to work for their millions, it was just handed to them. Somebody that stays relevant by being a trouble-maker and loudmouth. Somebody who deems success as having their name writ large and in lights. Somebody that thinks the universe should rotate around them.

Oh....there he is!

He has faux outrage.

This is probably going to seem like some sort of paradox: Outrage about faux outrage. So I apologize.

However, at some point, we have to simmer down a bit and focus on real issues and how to really solve them.

Currently, there's an outrage movement about supposed feminist rights and gender equality because Jennifer Lawrence's character is getting choked by Oscar Isaac's character in the new billboards for "Xmen: Apocalypse." Apparently, this is appalling and is setting women back years and how dare Fox show two comic book characters in probably a very representative climactic scene from the newest overblown comic-book movie. Fox even apologized. Thank goodness!  I can almost hear a sigh of relief from the grave of Susan B. Anthony as everything she fought for has finally been redeemed by this new "take down those Xmen billboards!" movement.

Is the billboard in poor taste? Meh. Maybe. Is there anyone that actually drove by it and thought: "Wait! Poor Jennifer Lawrence's character! What about women's rights!?!" No. I'm pretty positive about that. And yet....

We need to relax. Real issues like gender equality and racism and abuse and a myriad of other issues get lost in the white noise of Facebook feeds and social media outrage and sensationalized news cycles and those issues still persist because the faux outrage over nonsensical non-arguments clouds the issues. It doesn't resolve them. It merely makes noise.

Chris Rock nailed it with his monologue. Are there a lack of quality roles for black actors in Hollywood? Sure. (Just don't tell that to Asian, Native American or Indian actors...). Does Jada Pinkett-Smith not attending the Oscars create such a strong statement that it creates the beginning of the end of racism in America? Not even close.

Yes, ending racism is a marathon - one that's gone on way too long, of course - not a sprint, and every little bit counts. But sometimes it's just too little and it fuzzes up the narrative.

Want to really make a statement? Take those millions you and your husband have earned and self-finance a Harriet Tubman biopic. I would take that way more seriously than you saying you're not going to attend an Awards telecast in which you weren't even nominated.

All of this is to say: Choose your battles. Don't just rage to rage. Don't yell just to yell. Don't hurt a cause by taking up arms to fight a cause on a microscopic level. I know this would leave our Facebook and Twitter feeds almost entirely devoid of content...but that wouldn't be the worse thing.

If only there were somebody that flies off the handle like this. Somebody that just shoots from the hip. Somebody that muddies the waters of an issue by making mountains out of molehills.  Somebody that can incense a crowd with verbiage that really means nothing and preys on emotions rather than logic.

Oh wait...Hello, Mr. Trump!

He is willfully ignorant.

There was a great article I read recently about America's "willful ignorance." The being okay with not knowing. Or knowing, but being okay with appearing like you don't know. That's where we live now. We literally don't have to know something anymore. Don't know something? Pull out your phone and Google it. Your retention rate will be nil, but at least in the moment you will know something then and there. Then quickly forget it. You just don't need to know.

At the risk of sounding like a "get off my lawn" geezer, there's a pretty well-known law that you should use your turn signal when either changing lanes or, y'know, turning. I could make up a statistic here, but let's just say "most" people don't do that. Ever. Sure, there's an amount of "I only care what I'm doing in my car and F you because turn signals are meant to inform everybody else but me of my intentions." Ok, there's a huge amount of that self-centeredness.  There's also a hint, though, of "I know the law. But I'm not going to follow it." Of course, there's no consequence for that because I'm fairly certain that pulling people over for not using their turn signals is very low on the list of the local law enforcements, er, law enforcement list.

Living with no consequence falls squarely under "willfully ignorant" as well.  You may have read the first part of this post (and if you're still reading, thank you!) and thought:  "Well, Joel just hates Millenials." First of all, that's not true. ''Hate" is such a strong word, and not quite the right one. Maybe fear? Secondly, living sans consequence covers that generation, and the one after it, and the one after that, all the way square into the older Gen-X'ers among us.

I have what I call the Videogame Theory. To wit:
Years ago, we would have a few quarters in our pocket and we would take them to the arcade and make them last as long as we could. When the quarters ran out, our trip was over and our afternoon took a different turn. So you struggled and lost money but still worked to become great at certain games. Using this method, we could stretch our quarters out over a few hours and have an entertaining, competitive afternoon.

Then home videogame systems became prevalent in almost every household and there were no more consequences. Having trouble on world 1-2 on "Super Mario Bros.?" No big deal, just tap "continue" and you could keep playing. You didn't have to get much better, just good or lucky enough to pass in the time being. You always had an out. A way to replay every bad action or decision. And a reason to not have to get significantly better. In other words, you could play a game ad infinitum with no consequences. You didn't have to know how to pass the trial, you only had to know how to click "continue" every time you failed.

We enter into deals or sign contracts or buy houses or take out loans or take action and, if the end result isn't pleasing, it's somebody else's fault. There is no consequence because, surely, though I did something wrong, I couldn't have really done something wrong. And where's my bailout?!? We don't take laws and rules and warnings seriously. We act and worry about the consequences later. When they eventually rear their ugly head, we cry out for the government or the company or friends and family to bail us out. If they don't, certainly we can further clog up the legal system with our petty grievance or money grab. Even though, for the most part, we knew there was a 50/50 chance whatever action we took would blow up in our face.

Parents are quick to sue school systems if their kid gets injured because somebody socked him.  Instead of the child learning from getting socked, certainly the school must be at fault for...not raising every kid right? That's not their job! And maybe your kid's a dick and deserved it.

The point is: We know stuff. However, we go half-cocked into situations ignoring most warnings and expect to come out on top. And if we don't, what's the easiest way out? That's a willful ignorance that hasn't been seen in this country in ages. Or maybe we just never knew it was that prevalent.

Yes, there are people that get legitimately screwed by our convoluted systems of health care and justice and unions and big business. Absolutely. We're not always, entirely at fault when the chips don't fall our way.

However, how can we discern the serious from the very serious from the insipid anymore when all cases and stories are treated with such import or sensationalization?

If only there was a candidate who went off half-cocked. Somebody who blamed everybody else. Somebody who neglected facts and flaunted ignorance in exchange for howling rhetoric.  Somebody who was wrong most of the time but wouldn't admit it. If only there was somebody like that we could follow, who embodied that spirit....

He is arrogant.

Aren't we all? Through the above 3 characteristics, there is one common thread: We're always right. There's no debate anymore. No logical discussion. We spout out our truths, post our rants and forward our videos, and, though there is a "reply" button, we'd much rather just have you click "like" and thumbs up.

We're always in the right, our opinions are truths, and don't you dare disagree with us because we can block you or delete your comments.

Our logic is just that: Supremely ours. As I read in one comments section recently: "I don't care about the facts, I'll still believe what I believe." So there you have it. Whether we're referring to science, statistics or standards, it's our way or buh-bye.

We need someone in office who represents our arrogance. Someone who says they are the "greatest" without proper facts and figures to back it up. Someone that has the balls to say everyone else is wrong, I am right, just wait and see.

I think we definitely found that someone.

It says a lot about this amazing nation that we call Home that we can be this torn apart, this fractured, this broken, and still function as the leading nation of the free world, where dreams ostensibly still come true and foreigners are willing to break laws to get a piece of that American Pie. We're only functioning at a fraction of our potential, and we're still on a pedestal. A shaky pedestal, but a pedestal nonetheless.

Maybe we've taken all of that for granted recently. If you travel extensively, you can feel that America, or the perception of it, is on ever shakier ground.

We may have finally found a candidate that can knock us off our pedestal. Perhaps, by his nomination, he already has.

Let's be honest: It's not what we need, but don't we kind of deserve it?

I was recently asked (blessed?) to present a piece for Write Club at the Bootleg Theatre in Los Angeles.  Write Club is an "underground" writing competition where 2 writers, with disparate subjects, present on stage, and ONLY ONE SURVIVES!!  I was given the topic of "Legacy" and I was matched up against the very talented Steve Serpas and his topic of "Obscurity."
I won't tell you who one (though neither of us finished lower than 2nd place)

However, I don't think art, or anything close to resembling it, should exist in a vacuum.  So here now I give my piece one more glimpse of the light of day.
(And congratulations to Steve on the win.....Next time, Serpas!  Next time!!!)