By Philip Drucker
In a country dedicated to the proposition that all persons are created equal you would think some of the basics of Constitutional analysis would be easy. The funny part is they are and the complexity begins when we discard the obvious until we inevitably arrive at the absurd.
Right now, we are all suffering through a phase where roughly one-third to one-half of the voting population is mired in rumors, lies, innuendo, half-truths, untruths and flat-out lies as the basis of an uninformed, incorrect and unfortunately, dangerous political grist mill comprised from a seemingly unending parade of memes and videos that, once released on the Internet, are now to the "faithful" or even better, those who “know” are real.
Problem is these memes are mostly photo shopped madness and no amount of wishing, dishing, repeating or praying will make political calculations based on a falsehood or two or three accurate, useful, or relevant.
While it is true that sometimes the truth hurts, it’s still better than the pain caused by acting upon information that is, was, and at a certain point, will cause irreparable damage to oneself, or even worse, to a loved one who will never be coming back.
Oh, it’s not that I don’t have any sympathy for the modern-day Bolsheviks among us who still think they’re ALWAYS “right” and continue to wait not too patiently for workers' of the world to someday unite and overthrow the upper class.
There is always room for another theorist and/or dreamer among us to help save us from ourselves. You know the type. I call them the “if only” clan, as in, “if only the world would listen to me…” followed by the end of world hunger, oppression, paper straws, and thereby creating a new paradigm, a middle to lower class utopia at the very least and lately, a fantasy world where submitting to the will of a homicidal racist madman is an act of patriotism.
The promise of self-governance easily discarded for an illusion of safety and freedom provided by Making America Great Again by accepting life under a despot, a demon, or a bit on the lighter side but not much, a theocracy. In fact, if you think about it, anything but a Constitutional Republic, or heaven forbid, a democracy.
For under a democracy, We, the People hold the power and it is in this great tradition of lessons learned during the Age of Enlightenment and the pursuit of reason, that simply put, any person who given the right access to meaningful, unfettered information of all kinds, shapes and sizes, will eventually rule out the “noise”.
Then as an individual, accepting the role of making the best choice as part of a far grander collective of individuals who collectively believe the best way to help people is to help those who need assistance directly, and not as part of an indirect and erroneous scheme that I call "trickle down poverty."
This is also referred to as the FDR standard of we all do better when we all do better. Or not, but we do it as a group, a people united in their quest for freedom from tyranny, from a mad king, from fascism, from a false idol who does nothing but deceive his followers, and yes, lately from a man who would be a God.
It seems funny to say it at the end of the year 2020, but while they roil at the mention of socialism or communism, MAGA mania is quickly meshing itself in a world best described as part fascism and if that doesn’t work, divine intervention. Both the very opposite of what the Founding Fathers envisioned for America.
This is not an overly simple, or unfounded statement. I don’t need a Ouija Board to ask George Washington or Thomas Jefferson what they thought “arms” were, or what is the goal behind creating a “more perfect union”.
We already know. Is there anyone truly willing to argue with me that the high water mark of the American mystique was winning World War II, becoming the world’s first super-power and using that energy to “invent” a true middle-class? The middle? Where most of the people are?
I must admit, I do from time to time wonder, is this really so hard to understand and importantly, accept as the fruits of our continued adherence to the rule of law? Where no one, for whatever reason, is suddenly above the law?
Not in a democracy. But isn’t it true in a monarchy, fascist regime, or sectarian society, a person, one person, some person, must by definition be put in a position of supremacy?
I believe most persons understand what a king is. A decision maker, and as Monty Python once pointed out, a decider who claims the right to reign because some watery tart living in a lake threw a sword at him or her, and not a representative or savior, based on any particular acumen or ability to lead. Divine birthrights and all that.
I call it the magic of blood. Today, we call this same phenomena “nationalism” as a code word for mixing false patriotism and racism into a potent blend of “as long as WE are in charge, everything will be alright, or at least as some strangely petty and jealous God would have it and therefore it is the way, even better than alright, but no one today seems to realize it.
In 1860 it was easy to spot. Half of the nation called it slavery. Read the Confederate Constitution. It clearly says slavery is an institute blessed by divine sanction, the way of all things subject to the golden rule of as above so below.
Today? What do we call it? “Institutionalized discrimination” in the pursuit of maintaining “white privilege” comes to mind as a possible definition for this new strain of hatred that even as we speak is desperately being promoted as the last chance to “save America” from those who would do nothing more or less than to reject this new and certainly more subtle than involuntary servitude for an entire race.
This is nothing more than a sad mutation of Nazi era blood and soil insanity passing for legitimate intellectual, emotional, or moral discussion and theory by people who claim to be the keepers of American exceptionalism.
Lately, you might be asking yourself, has it always been this way? Will it always be this way? And hopefully, is there anything I can do to change it? The only important question being the third, for it will decide the answer to the second, with the first being part of an admittedly ongoing but not without hope struggle for the very soul of humanity.
Because in America, the battle, the war, is never over until We, the People say it is. That is what it means to live in a democracy. That is what it means to be an American. Anything less, is quite frankly the abdication of a duty, an obligation, and the right to decide our individual and shared fate as Americans.
Quite frankly, any who would eschew, ignore or debilitate through their inability to accept the price of freedom by allowing another, one, any one person or entity to rule without boundaries, does not deserve the blessings of American freedom and is not entitled to live in a land of the free and the home of the brave, for they are neither.
You will know the true American patriots among us for they will listen to you. They may not agree with you, but they will listen. Those who cannot even hear an opposing viewpoint if it goes against what they want or believe to be true, often despite an enormous amount of evidence to the contrary, are not part of the “true” America, as they like to posit themselves, unless you believe the South won the Civil War, or at a minimum, should have.
Although I do admit, other than America, can you think of another country that allows the loser of a civil war to put up statues honoring what in the real world still amounts to treason? Taking up arms against your country suddenly a fundamental right of liberty? Rebellion and Insurrection?
I guess it depends on your definition of “freedom fighter” but a person who would end the right to pursue happiness of another in pursuit of their own right to happiness just doesn’t sound very American, does it? No, it doesn’t.
You will know the true American patriots among us for at times of great danger they will run toward the peril in an effort to help their fellow countrymen and women. Their families, friends and neighbors, total strangers, all in actuality brothers and sisters in arms, keeping America safe from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
They will love their neighbor as well as welcome the strangers among us for someday soon they too could be our friends, neighbors, or if they so desire, Americans themselves. We, the People will welcome the new cultures, expressions and ideas persons from other societies will bring into the melting pot that is, and importantly always will be America.
For in America we do not count as “greatness” actions and ideologies that deny the majority the creativity, inventions, innovations, and advantages of the minorities among us.
This is how we grow. Not by stifling bloodlines into royal and less than noble categories, but by the purposeful and yes, consensual injection of new blood into our society, into our culture and eventually, except for those who wish to hide in the darkness of ignorance, into our homes becoming another part of what it means to be an American.
In closing, I want to give one last rotten, deranged citizen award recipient shout out to anyone who still thinks we need a “businessman” as our President. I think we’ve all seen enough of that reality game show to know better, but some won’t, guaranteed. You know, I’ve always hated the following grotesque quote.
“The meek shall inherit Earth, but not its mineral rights.” -J. Paul Getty
Next year, you will know who the real Americans are as they will not seek to disrupt, divide or destroy America. They will assume an obvious and familiar role as peace makers and yes, they will be blessed.
They may or may not be meek, and hence may never inherit the earth, but after all, is our planet subject to ownership through inheritance laws, death and taxes? I would like to think not.
As for the mineral rights, Mr. Getty, you can keep your fucking oil as we don’t need it anymore and to each and everyone one of you reading this, this is my wish list for the following year. God bless you and God bless America. -PD
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