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Minds Without Borders

A thoughtful look at how culture, society, politics, media and economics affect us all.

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Politics

Signs of A National Infection

We need to clear this up before it kills us

4 min readJun 19, 2023

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I shot this in Little America, IL. It makes me terribly sad. (Photo by Michelle Teheux)

Every infection comes with signs — perhaps a rash, fever and pain — that tell you something is wrong. You need a diagnosis and treatment to get better.

The U.S. body politic is seriously infected, and if you want to see the signs, I’ve posted an example above.

I shot that picture in an unincorporated community called Little America on my way back from visiting my dad on Father’s Day. I could have shot dozens of similar pictures on the road that day.

To get to my dad’s house, I drive through a lot of impoverished small towns. They aren’t located very close to any city. They have very few jobs. Most of them are lucky to have a few bars and churches. Many of them don’t even have a gas station. Sometimes you’ll pass by a crumbling old school house that was abandoned after a consolidation decades ago.

This is where I came from.

I grew up in a town of 200 not far from where my dad lives now. My hometown had a gas station, a post office and two churches. It briefly had a grocery and feed store. There was a pile of bricks that had been the grade school my mom went to, but I was bused to another small town.

Minds Without Borders
Minds Without Borders

Published in Minds Without Borders

A thoughtful look at how culture, society, politics, media and economics affect us all.

Michelle Teheux
Michelle Teheux

Written by Michelle Teheux

Lover of literature. Former newspaper editor. Fascinated by everything. Contact: [email protected]. To buy me a coffee:

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