Questions for the First Day of School

               Published in Marietta (GA) Daily Journal, 8/7/21

            Welcome, class, to the course on Contemporary America. You understand that to be educated is to know how things came to be as they are. Not all things, but at least those ideas/theories, people/movements, issues/controversies, and discoveries/events that have most significantly affected us.

            Let’s deal with some questions that all of us should care about. You give me your questions; I’ll give you my short answers which you can either entertain or ignore. Who has questions?

            Question 1: Is a populist revolution really occurring in America? Answer: Yes. Populist means “of the people.” Typically the word refers to the work-based, faith-driven citizens of America. Broadly, it means the middle class but more precisely it is both manual laborers and professionals, blue collars and white collars alike who, in the words of columnist Salena Zeto, have been “hidden in plain sight.” If the “silent majority” doesn’t quite fit them, we can certainly call them constitutionalists, pragmatists, and localists. In other words they want government to be limited, competent, and close to home. They are voters who in 2016 fought successfully for their cherished American ideals and won. Interestingly enough they basically come from the interior states, not the two coasts. Though they lost the 2020 presidential election, they are reshaping American politics by rightly questioning or ignoring the media and by speaking up more on all issues.

            Question 2: What is it about Critical Race Theory that the populists don’t like? Answer: Almost everything. I say almost because CRT does start with the basic truth that in America’s past, slavery and segregation were despicably wicked. But CRT adherents see racism in the heart of every white person. (It doesn’t matter that whites elected and re-elected a black president.) One of its founders, Kimberly Crenshaw, wrote, “CRT aims to revitalize traditional race consciousness.” A la Calvinism, CRT claims all whites are predestined to be racists. CRT, then, is white supremacy in reverse and yes, “the people” are standing firmly against it.

            Question 3:  Why do so many populists either question or totally dismiss all of the talk about climate change? Answer: Populists don’t always agree on this question, but consider this. Remember the term “global warming”? Why do you suppose it has been dropped? I mean, Al Gore received a Nobel Prize in 2007 for his advocacy of global warming. Uh-oh. That same year the International Climate Conference predicted that the Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035. However in 2010 the Conference reported its own errors, asserting that this melting would not happen then.

            On a personal note, my father kept a diary from 1941 to his death in 1979. For every single day of that 38-year period (the Conference’s projection was for a 28-year period) my farmer father recorded the high and low temperature. From the diaries I possess and the others I have checked, summer temperatures were essentially the same throughout those nearly four decades . Also, in 2009 the United States experienced extremely frigid weather in February. So, since the global warming theory is void of scientific validation, let’s just say that its believers have nervously opted for a softer term, one that’s presumably more easily swallowed: “climate change.” Feel the softness.

            Question 4: You said that populists are “faith-driven.” What does that say about populists and the culture wars? Answer: Plenty. Not all populists are people of faith and neither is fake news limited to politics. For instance, consider the myth of the dying church. Check out Glenn Stanton, director of Global Family Formation Studies (global family here refers to the universal Christian church, not to “we are the world” feel good-ism). His 2019 research indicates that “conservative Biblical churches are holding strong while liberal churches are hemorrhaging members” and that “young adult attendance at Biblically faithful churches is at a 50-year high.”

            As for culture broadly, yes, the nation is awash in junk culture. Do I need to mention Hollywood’s moral drivel, ubiquitous erotic fiction (listening, Stacy Abrams?), uninspiring, even filthy music, homeless-looking dress, anti-Americanism, or increasing profanity? Even great patriot Sen. Ted Cruz cannot talk five minutes without saying “Damn” and “What the hell.” Yes, figuratively and sometimes literally (check out the name Rod Dreyer) some populists are pulling out of the culture. I beg you not to.

            Question 5: What’s happened to the Durham Report? Answer: The WHAT? Ohhh … you mean the investigation of the DOJ’s counterintelligence operation against the 2016 Trump campaign. Don’t waste your time waiting for it. There are other hills to die on.

            Oops!  The bell. Let’s pick up there tomorrow. Don’t be discouraged. You’re not alone in the fight, but fight you must.

 

Roger Hines

August 5, 2021