ASMR: The Death Rattle of Decency

I try to avoid politics on this platform.

Not because I’m apolitical, but because I’ve written about them for years, and what I’ve learned is that deeper conversations about life and values usually lead to more meaningful change than arguing over limitations.

I deeply value love and kindness. I want to be a bridge builder when possible, to create conversations that bring people together.

But sometimes, there’s no avoiding politics when what’s happening is an affront to basic human decency.

I hit that point today when I got on Instagram and saw the post.

I saw it, and my first thought was…

No.

No way.

No way would the official White House account—the one that represents all of America to the world—just turn human suffering into entertainment for social media.

There is no way they would take a video of a man, bound in chains in his most vulnerable moment—being sent back to the very place he tried to escape—and repackage it as ha-ha-ha, ASMR!

And yet, here we are.

And there it was.

A video that, without question, does not represent the heart of the American people, yet it was published for the world to absorb.

The message was loud and clear…and completely devoid of humanity.

It said: “Not only are we an unsafe place for asylum, but if you dare to try, we will mock you. We will dehumanize you. We will make a spectacle of your suffering.”

It said: “This country is not just closed to you—it hates you.”

I guess I have a question for those of you who voted to put this hate into power.

To those who fought tooth and nail, shouting about morality, about faith, about family values.

I’d like to hear from y’all.

The people who claimed their votes were cast to uphold the sanctity of life. To protect the vulnerable. To stand for righteousness.

Where are you right now?

Where are the people who invoked the name of Jesus to justify their choice to vote for this man?

Where are those voices now that human suffering is being packaged as entertainment?

If that is you, and you are sitting back silent while the government dehumanizes people for sport, then I have to say:

Congratulations on bastardized everything you claim to stand for.

And don’t tell me this content is just brain rot or rage bait. It is far more nefarious than that. A government social media post does not happen in a vacuum. It is checked, double-checked, and combed over for context, for messaging, for dog whistles.

So you better believe they mean what they say.

The message is plain in what they’re publishing.

And this is not just about this moment.

It’s about what comes next.

They want to know how much cruelty the public will tolerate. How much apathy they can cultivate.

How easily they can strip away dignity—until suffering becomes just another thing to scroll past.

Until people stop noticing at all.

This was worse than a push for apathy toward cruelty. This was an invitation to delight in it.

And on no level—in no religion, no political ideology, no framework of moral conscience—can that be reconciled with honesty.

Because once you’ve lost that, even when it’s for people you don’t think deserve your compassion…

ASMR, the death rattle of human decency!

But that’s the point, isn’t it?

Apathy writes hate a blank check.

Our silence is saying:

“Do what you will. I won’t stop you. I won’t look too closely. I won’t even care.”

Unchecked power.

Unchecked cruelty.

That combination has been known to wipe entire peoples off the planet.

And the good people who sat idly by while it happened? I will remind you that history has not been kind to them either.

My God.

Don’t you see it?

Say something.

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Hey friends,

Your presence here means the world to me. Knowing you’ve taken the time to read thoughts on empathy and human kindness reassures me that these values still resonate.

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With love and gratitude,

Mary Katherine