We live in turbulent times. The new normal?
Discontinuity. Much disruption and uncertainty surrounds our daily lives. Chaos
sows confusion, mistrust, divisions, and zero sum actions. One of the emerging
norms is quite troublesome: you are
either with me or you are against me. There seems to be no middle grounds,
no give and take, no win-win, just win-lose. If I cannot win, neither should
you (lose-lose).
How did we
get here?
It has been said that you have to work very hard to destroy
a great but imperfect country. We have been engaged in self-destructive practices
for some time. Some critical observations follow.
It all started in my view with radicals spitting on
our returning veterans from Viet Nam: men and women who risked their lives when
called by their country to wage what turned out to be an unpopular and poorly
executed war. The flag, a symbol of national unity to many, was desecrated and
used as a foil for humiliation.
Feminists followed. I recall how leaders of the NOW
movement exhorted their followers to abandon their families and join communes
where excesses were not only permitted, but encouraged. Women were pitted against men. Men were
labeled toxic, ridiculed and shamed. It was the beginning of identity politics.
In the attempt to make the political tent bigger politicians
encouraged fringe groups to join in. Unable to articulate a cohesive political
platform, both parties chose to fit as many groups in as possible.
To rationalize this decision, identity politics became
a weapon of choice. Soon, divisions began to surface: Blacks against Whites,
women against men, nativists against immigrants, young against elders, the poor
against the wealthy, highly educated against lesser educated, Judeo-Christians
against Muslims, the extreme left against the hard right, suburban versus
rural, and pro-abortion versus pro-life. Just to name a few!
We have reached a low level of civility. Folks are
pilloried daily by those opposed to their political views. Deranged people on both
sides of the isle, more often than we would like to acknowledge, resort to
violent means to get their viewpoint across.
State and local officials proudly refuse to enforce
federal laws with which they disagree. Collaboration between State, Local and
Federal authorities is shunned principally along the Coastal States. We seem to
have found our enemy. It is we!
Stifling
Dialog
If you criticize a person of color, regardless of
his/her ineptness, crookedness, immoral behavior, and ignorance, you will be
accused of being a racist. On the other hand, you are free to pillory a White
person. In fact, you can do so willy-nilly without proof or consequences.
If you criticize an inept, crooked, immoral, or
ignorant LGBTQ person, you will be accused of homophobia, possibly unsure of
your own sexuality, or worse yet for being an intolerant and backward SOB.
If you refer to undocumented immigrants by using the
term illegal alien, you are reprimanded for hating Brown people or for being
xenophobic. The reason? No human is illegal, undocumented or sin papeles immigrants yes, even though
they are breaking our laws and forcing their way in.
God forbid a man should criticize a woman for being
inept, crooked, immoral, or ignorant, you will be charged with misogyny – you
know, a man who hates women. Surely his masculinity therefore needs to be
purged and he will be ridiculed as being Neanderthal.
Digging
Deeper
Much controversy surrounds one of our cherished rights:
freedom of speech. If you openly
disagree with the position of either the far-left or the far-right, you will be
accused of engaging in hate speech.
What seems to define hate speech is any notion,
viewpoint or concept that one side sees as opposed to their side. You will be
labeled a fascist on the right and a communist or socialist on the left. Those
on the right should not be permitted to speak in our campuses or on television.
They must be silenced so that they cannot offend our tolerant sensitivities.
Violence against them is excused off as a provocation.
The left is adamant that this country has never been
great. Slavery, denied access, exploitation of workers, and other sins have
been committed in the past that disqualify the nation from greatness. Someone
wearing a Trump button, or God forbid, a MAGA hat, unleashes a torrent of
anger, profanities, and violent response. Is it not good for everyone if our
country does better?
The current economy is booming, more people are
working, wages after a long dry spell are experiencing a real increase. Minorities
are benefitting. Is this not a win-win outcome?
Diversity is celebrated. People on the left tend to
define it in terms of color, sexual preference, gender, national origin, young
and old, natives and immigrants. Some suggest that diversity of ideas should be
encouraged, not just people’s background. Better ideas can come from anyone
regardless of group or identity.
Inclusion by all is to be championed but in the end
performance should count. Access should be non-discriminatory. Although we are
all equal, not all of us perform equally. Some folks work harder than others.
Some are brighter than others.
It is a shame that universities rig admissions to let
the rich, the alumni’s descendants, and the “recommended” enter while excluding
worthy candidates. It is a crime in my view to keep some Asians out because
there are too many of them in the rolls. Letting some of the disadvantaged or
the rich in should not be done at the expense of deserving applicants.
Commentary
Morris Fiorina, a political scientist at Stanford
University, commented on the recent incident in Palo Alto that has received
national publicity. A weird-looking local lady attacked an elder man wearing a
MAGA hat at a local coffee shop and railed that he not wear it in “her” town
and lambasted him with profanities and epithets.
According to Gallup about two in five Americans
identify as independents. Those people who resort to extreme reactions, like
this crazed lady in Palo Alto, Fiorina explains results form “the more involved a person is in politics,
the more distorted is his or her views of the opposite side of the political
spectrum. Her image of Trump voters is that they are all racists, bigots, and
Bible thumpers – all of these perceptions that come from watching MSNBC and
CNN. The more liberal or conservative you are, the less accurate portrayal you
have.”
Fiorina continues
… “adding to the extremism of American politics today is the idea among those
deeply invested in politics that you have to prove just how serious you are
about your beliefs. They basically do things to make sure they prove how
serious they are by exaggerating their points of view and taking them to the
extreme.”
In a 2018 blog I commented on the subject of Compulsive Opposition. Compulsion often triggers neurosis. I am told that there are no
cures for neurosis; it is a chronic disease. We have witnessed the reaction by
some loyal supporters to Clinton’s defeat by Trump. They just cannot accept
that fact. Something sinister is to be blamed. Two years later, court
challenges and a special counsel’s investigation have yielded no solid proof,
yet many insist that there is all kind of proof. There is only one answer for
them: He did it!
Irreparable harm has been done to our Republic! We
have better things to do that beat a dying dog, so to speak. We have important
issues to solve and unfinished business to address.
Let’s get on with it!
