Our Present Ongoing Strife
Published in Marietta Daily Journal (GA), Feb. 4, 2023
It
is sad but absolutely true, and the truth must be faced. From 1607 and the
founding of the first colony in America, on to 1776 and the breakaway of the 13
colonies from Britain, and then to 1945 when America began to establish herself
as a military and economic world power, Americans were a forward-looking people .
If any one word could characterize the
American spirit as it proceeded on through the 19th and mid-20th
century, that word would be optimism. Slavery was abolished, segregation ended,
capitalism thrived, and more and more citizens were able to avail themselves of
the so-called American Dream. I’m defining that dream as the deep desire to
overcome empty pantries and empty hearts, that is, to have plenty of food,
meaningful work, and a measure of achievement and happiness. I should probably
add a small house by the side of the road or a big house on a hill, or a life
of service to others, depending on the nature and scope of one’s dream.
The
achievement of that dream required two things: a determined dream seeker and a
country and political system that allowed and encouraged determined seekers.
What if Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford,
Martin Luther King, Steve Jobs, and many others had not sought their dreams?
What if the country they lived in had not allowed them individual liberty and
initiative? But their country did and it became a beacon to millions around the
world.
But
here is the sad part. That beacon has been dimmed, not so much as to stop
foreigners from coming here, but enough for American citizens to discern that
they are living in a time of diminishing expectations. In other words the
American Dream isn’t what it used to be. Historically that dream has required
self-reliance, faith in our system of government, ruggedness, and hard work.
But all of these requirements have been undermined by government programs,
government giveaways, and government regulations. For far too many, the spirit
of the little house on the prairie has been replaced by the extended hand reaching
out to receive Big Brother’s largesse. Currently one of our two major political
parties is totally committed to the continued reach and rule of Big Brother;
the other major party, for all its lapses, still is better at preserving
individual liberty and free enterprise.
There
is a strife that undergirds all things political in the nation today. That
strife is between populism and elitism. Major newspaper editorialists have
claimed that Donald Trump bestirred the populist revolt. The opposite is true.
The populist movement – the Tea Party, for one example – forged a path into
which a figure like Trump could step and lead. Oddly enough it turned out that
a billionaire from liberal New York would become the leader of “the folks,”
those who were as blue-collared as they were red-blooded, who preferred
localism over globalism, and who were all the more riled up when Hillary
Clinton dubbed them “a basket of deplorables.”
These
deplorables, coming primarily from the nation’s interior states – certainly not
from the “Super Zips” where media celebrities, corporate CEO’s, U.S. Senators,
and national anthem protesting athletes live – are still present and powerful.
Doubtlessly, some of them will desert Trump for another choice in 2024, but
their cause is bigger than Trump or any other candidate. Their cause is
deliverance from political and corporate leaders who have little if any
understanding of the lives of ordinary Americans, that is, deliverance from the
elites.
But
there is another revolt as well that comprises the other side of the strife.
The elites of the “Super Zips” and their comrades have revolted against
traditional institutions and principles that made America a beacon in the first
place. Elites do not accept limits or emotional ties to nations. You know,
borders. To transnational corporatists, America is simply one place where they
live and do business. To liberal professors, notions of “western culture” are
or should be passé. To members of the American Federation of Teachers, schools
are for teaching “equity” and transgenderism. To feminists, housework and
motherhood are still to be disparaged. All of this, too, is revolt, consequently our
strife.
Urbanization
has not served us well, having moved us from self-reliance to reliance on the
elitist village. Nor have out-of-wedlock births or the demise of families and
communities. And yes, we need fathers since 24 % of whites and 70% of blacks
are born to single mothers.
These
are not dead issues. Failure to address them in 2024 will keep us in strife and
keep us disillusioned. We best fight the good fight.
Roger Hines
February 2, 2023
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