The cause for the current atmosphere of fear, mistrust, uncertainty and tendency towards violent and provocative behavior lies much deeper and is embedded within the very social fabric of our culture. This condition has been festering for decades and much like a malignancy has erupted periodically over the entire course of the nation’s history. It began with insidious use of the forced abduction and enslavement of an entire people from their homeland in order to bolster the agrarian economy of the Southern United States - a practice that was prevalent at the very beginnings of the republic. It began with the territorial expansion of the country into the very heartland of the Native American peoples that resulted in the decimation of their numbers and the near genocide of an entire race. Currently, in this the year 2018, Native Americans and African Americans remain subjected to the fierce and apparently indelible hallmark of hate and prejudice as can be readily witnessed by the harsh economic conditions present within the Native American nations and the extraordinarily high representation of peoples of color in our nation’s prisons. It began with the long and torturous history of the treatment of non-white and Hispanic immigrants to our shores over the hundreds of years of our national “development.” It began with the growth of what President Eisenhower described as the “military-industrial complex.” This prodigious war machine currently consumes a huge portion of the nation’s budget and has been involved in numerous wars not fought to protect the safety of the nation’s people but rather to insure an economic hegemony over much of the human world. It began with the steady and inexorable rise of the corporate class to its current position of prominence, wealth and power. There was a brief respite from the collective cold and brutal logic of the ruling class, apparently devoid of any moral compass, during the era of the New Deal and in a few decades of the post-World War II era.
Apparently, the election of an African American to the office of the Presidency unleashed a fierce backlash that managed to rekindle this movement backwards toa cold and brutal past finally culminating in the election of an “idiot” leader – in the person of Donald Trump - who is a megalomaniac and deranged individual and an unadulterated spokesperson for white supremacy. This is a person who finds scapegoats everywhere – especially in the independent and free press and more than one-half of the national population who describe themselves as Democrats. Here is a personality that befriends cold and authoritarian world leaders like himself regardless of their political persuasions. Here is a personality that has raised the unabashed use of the lie to new heights in order to provoke fear and hatred among his constituents. Here is a personality that shows not the barest hint of compassion or caring for the lives and destinies of the American people. Here is a personality that has specifically chosen members of the corporate class to advise him and run the government all of whom share an explicit lack of concern for the human condition.
This is the path we are currently on as a people. We are seemingly a hopelessly divided and fearful people with no clear avenue towards reasoned discussion, serious dialog or compromise. This president is not the reason for our predicament. He is simply the conduit for all the dark aspects of the national character and the means through whom they find their ultimate expression. Without an atmosphere of harmony and cooperation emanating from the fact that so many of our people feel abandoned and disconnected’ there can be no real chance for human progress and development. Quite to the contrary, the flames of fear, hatred, uncertainty and suspicion are burning brightly. Currently, there is no apparent cure or remedy for this condition. We are in the midst of a radically new kind of civil war that has the capacity to consume us all quietly from within.
This the path we are on.
No comments:
Post a Comment