A Supreme Court confirmation circus, pipe bombs, a caravan of migrants heading towards the border, a mass shooting at a Jewish synagogue in Philadelphia — chaos and violence have ruled the headlines in the past month, as America barrels its way toward the 2018 midterm elections.

On the political front, it’s business as usual, complete with partisan jabs and political slights — the demonization of opposing political philosophies. Talk of red waves and blue waves leave an electorate caught in a tumultuous sea of mid-term election rhetoric, lies and downright stupidity.

On a daily basis, the American people are being spoon-fed reasons why they should hate each other. Liberals and conservatives choose to paint each other as the boogeyman set on destroying the country, instead of having meaningful debate on the real issues that matter.

Depending on your network of preference, they can all tell you who the enemy is and why you should fear and hate them. The worst part is that we’re taking the bait, hook, line and sinker. Be afraid of this or that, America. Be very afraid.

Gone are the days of civility and statesmen, of compromise and cooperation for the betterment of American people. Even the very ideas of “truth” and “facts” have seemingly gone out the window, partially thanks to the wildfires of misinformation spread across the globe in seconds on social media. It’s easy to click that share button without a second thought, as long as it aligns with your views of the world.

We’re being manipulated at every turn, and the potential cost is our country. We’re being brainwashed by the TV, talk radio and so many other sources. We’re being conditioned to be loyal pawns to this cause or to that, foot soldiers for politicians that often care more about money and power than people.

We’ve come to a place in our society where a person’s politics define who they are as human beings, and it’s wrong.

The people in this world who want to see the United States of America weakened and diminished are all laughing their way to the bank watching our country tear itself apart right now. It doesn’t have to be like this.

So, the question is, what are you going to do about it?