A year in review:
Between social media addiction, a 24-hour news cycle that values fear over educating the public and a general population that spends too much time inside instead of out in the world, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that every year is worse than the last.
I’m here to tell you that this is a fine time to be alive.
Now hear me out. I know that our wallets have been beaten up by inflation, our 2022 gas bills look like the GDP of a small Third World nation, and crime is getting a little sketchy and not just in Philly, but it’s still pretty great to be living in America right now.
To prove my theory that it's a great time to be living in America, all it takes is a quick look around. Chinese citizens are still locked up by the Covid-19 police, following a zero Covid policy that’s clearly not working. You remember when those of us who like socialization were getting ridiculed for wanting to go to a restaurant with friends? We were told by the left-wing media that China was doing so much better with its strict lockdowns. It wasn’t that long ago. It was just last year.
Turns out they were wrong. All us “Covidiots” who enjoyed freedom and didn’t think lockdowns worked were actually kind of accurate. Can I get an Amen for Governor Ron DeSantis? We will all be waiting patiently for our apologies.
But who’s dwelling on the past. The New Year is a time to move forward, and here in America, we’re not getting barricaded into our homes every time there’s a Covid case in our apartment building.
We also have some pretty awesome women in America, and our women are equal to the men here. Have you seen the World Cup and the protests in Iran? I’m positive the women there are equally as awesome and should be given the freedom to go out of the house on their own and show it.
Everybody loves their First Amendment Rights in America. Although they consistently get tested, in 2022, those rights still made us the only nation in the world with near-absolute free speech written into our Constitution. Let’s give it up to the Constitution - may it never be terminated.
People in America seem to think other nations have the same right to free speech as we do. They more so have “Free Speech Light.” Sure, they can say most things, but their rights are granted by the government, not by the people, and the inclusion of “hate speech” clauses makes it so nothing is protecting you from the government if they really don’t like what you’re saying.
I’m sure we all remember the Canadian truck protesters. The government froze those peoples’ financial assets. Imagine attending a peaceful rally in America and then getting your bank account frozen? So yeah, countries like Canada have free speech … to a point.
There’s much to be thankful for in our country as we look back on 2022, even if it's just the small stuff. We let Twitter and cable news tell us how horrible everything is, and we believe it. We don’t trust the everyday interactions we experience in the outside world.
Well when I go out everyday, people hold the door for me when I walk behind them. Cashiers tell me to have a nice day after I pay. My daughter still laughs at some of my jokes. I can head over to Rocco’s and drink a Miller Light without government restrictions.
People are generally nice on a regular basis, and when we’re face to face, not buried in our phones, there doesn’t seem to be too much hate.
Sure, 2022 might have been tough, but it probably wasn’t as tough as you remember. Look back on the good times you had in a great country.
Michael Torrissi Jr.
Assemblyman
8th District
Trenton