11 serious trends that we may be ignoring

by Dr. Samori Swygert

Are we paying attention to these critical trends in today’s society? Our Brave New World is so busy. The average citizen is stuck on a social hamster wheel and the rest of the country is like a circus or movie.

It appears as if we only have enough time to take a breather of a nap, and do it all again the next day. We only have a morsel of “me time” between careers, spouses, children, relatives, social/civic/religious commitments, school, traffic and friends.

However, do we take enough time to piece apart what we are seeing? Do some of us just brush off serious events like they’re one-time scenarios? Are we growing desensitized?

Let’s look at these trends:

1. Parents killing children and children killing parents

A 16-year-old may face 40 years for killing his parents because they punished him by taking away his iPod. In the same vein, we just saw a father throw his child off the roof in New York City this winter, and a mother driving her kids into the sea, and a father hacked his son to death because he said his son was possessed. What’s behind all of this? I’m positive that there is some mental health issues at hand here. However, these are not isolated incidents. There has been a surge in these atrocities across the nation, but are we paying attention and taking tally? Why is murder considered as a solution for problems now?

2. Teen Suicide is on the rise

The cry for help, attention, and love from our children is reaching the highest audible decibel, but we still turn a deaf ear to our offspring. Elementary school kids to college students are killing themselves in unprecedented numbers. Our youth are killing themselves because they feel they aren’t accepted, they’re bullied, harassed about sëxual orientation, unloved, feel the pain of broken families, and more. Are we too busy as parents, relatives, friends, and neighbors to stop, listen, talk to and help workout the complexities of life with our youth?

3. There’s an increase in the diagnoses of Bipolar Schizophrenia, ADD, ADHD, OCD, Depression

Whenever you watch a TV show, a drug commercial comes on that advertises the latest prescription drug for a psychological disorder. The commercial typically starts like this, “Do you feel moody sometimes; Have your friends sensed a change in you?; Do you just not feel like that person you once were?; Do you have problems focusing through the day?” The commercial will list a myriad of signs, symptoms, and subjective adjectives that you can relate to. However, that is just the commercials. How many people do you know that have been diagnosed with a mental disorder? How many children do you know that have been diagnosed with a behavioral/mental disorder? Are you paying attention to this increase? What is it about today’s society that has many of us undergoing behavioral/mental/psychiatric disorders? Why are so many Americans suffering from mental illness lately?

4. There’s an increase in natural disasters

We have grown accustomed to natural disasters plaguing our environment. They appear to happen like clockwork. The only thing that we can’t predict is the severity and the number of casualties involved. Think about the tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, mudslides, wildfires, sinkholes, droughts, and flooding. Some of us are so busy, and don’t care to think in depth, as long as these disasters don’t affect us or our loved ones. I’m also aware of man-made disasters and human tinkering of our planet with geo-engineering, fracking, mining, and underground experimentation. Where are we headed environmentally if these disasters keep occurring naturally or by human manipulation of nature?

5. There’s an increase in emerging infectious disease

I’m not just referring to HIV, I’m talking about the resurgence, and spread of new and old diseases. Polio has reappeared all over the globe, we have MERS spreading, the measles and mumps are popping up all over the map, SARS and “SARS-like” diseases are spreading. There’s the Chikungunya virus plaguing Africa and the Caribbean. How, why, and where do these diseases originate? Are we dealing with pure microbial progression or something more sinister in nature?

6. A surge in blatant police brutality

It’s strictly my opinion that police brutality has increased in frequency and rapidity. It seems like every other week, police officers are being caught abusing their power, using excessive force, and/or shooting unarmed citizens. How comfortable or conditioned are we with this abuse of power, and increased militarization of local law enforcement?

7. Surges in banking fiascos

We can talk about the long list of banking employees that have committed suicide since last year. We can talk about how hundreds of millions of dollars keep going missing, and a manager will get fired with a fat severance check. We can talk about the Libor scandal, or even the closing of banks in Europe, or offshore banking with Credit Suisse. Yet, Wall Street is seeing one of its biggest rallies in history. How do you feel about that?

8. Stripping of civil liberties

Police can take your DNA samples, your phone, your email, and your text messages are no longer private. Drones hover above us; cameras are ubiquitous. Cops can now pull you over for driving and search your car based on an “anonymous tip.” Do you feel like everything is being taken away from you bit by bit?

9. Food, Device, Automobile, and Drug recalls

If it’s not tomatoes, spinach, chicken, thousands of pounds of beef, automobile airbags, ignition switches, defective seat belts, child car seats, peanut butter, or prescription medication, something is always being recalled. What is really going on in our production and manufacturing process? Does safety, quality, and care go into anything we make anymore?

10. Pastoral Suicides

I won’t even try to count the amount of pastoral suicides. All I will say is visit: www.allchristiannews.com and do your own homework.

11. Gentrification

Across America we’re seeing citizens being displaced from their communities. We can look at Harlem, Chicago, Washington, D.C., all the way to California, and you will see this socio-economic phenomenon rearing its head. How are we creating a population of nomadic citizens?

Thoughts????