One evening I dozed off, comforted in the fact I was part of a majority of citizens who held our country in high esteem. We were proud of our identity as Americans. The next morning I found to my chagrin that Americans were ashamed of our country, our flag, our anthem, our history and our shared values.
The timeframe may be exaggerated, but the mutation evolved in a single generation, a mere nano-second in the prolonged history of our country. Previous generations felt this way, too, about change. Unlike past attitudinal shifts, this seems a permanent.
My angst isn't about whatever Woke means. When the gender of a plastic toy, Mr. Potato Head, earns a headline, I shake my head and laugh about the sad lives of those who give a rats about such nonsense. No this is more sinister, scarier and strikes at the root of what it is to be an American.
Pride in country is the glue that binds Americans. People of all ethnicities, colors, religious beliefs and genders once found common ground in American symbols and values, even if we disagreed on everything else. In famines, world wars, pandemics, political crisis, Americans rallied together.
Nothing remotely like that exists today. Disunity is stoked daily by the news media, politicians, activists, movies, television and educators. We are a nation at war with ourselves because we have nothing in common. Our values, history and social norms are vilified instead of celebrated.
Take American history as a prime example. The New York Times, a sower of discord and disinformation, is fronting a new version of American history, named The 1619 Project. This distorted account of the country's history frames slavery and white supremacy as the founder's goal.
This deceptive trope, dismissed by historians as misleading and chocked with unverifiable claims, is being made available to public schools in the form of curriculums. Kids are being spoon fed a narrative that America's defining moment was the arrival of slaves in 1619 at Jamestown, Virginia.
In the Times alternative version of history, America's current institutions, attitudes, economic and social structures are the result of slavery. It even blames slavery for suburban traffic congestion and for the prevalence of obesity and diabetes. White folks are villains through the Times' prism.
This theme was echoed recently by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a Biden appointee. In a speech delivered to the U.S. General Assembly, she told delegates "the original sin of slavery weaved white supremacy into our founding documents and principles."
This narrative about a racist-founded America has been simmering for decades, long before Project 1619. What is different is that it has metastasized into accepted mainstream doctrine. Historical scholarship is an inconvenient truth, disregarded in favor of a new, darker American catechism.
Rewriting history is not unique to present day America. One of the Nazi regime's first strategies was to contort the country's history after German suffered a humiliating defeat in World War I. Hitler's propaganda exploited the ordinary German's post-war, self-loathing to write a false reality of history.
The essence of the Nazi propaganda method was repetition. This anti-American theme oozes through every communications form: books, speeches, social media, slogans, graffiti. The result is dethronement of reason and the elevation of emotion. Feelings, not facts, matter.
Daily pervasive misinterpretation of American history is not benign. It engenders a seething hatred of America, which manifests itself in many ways. Those who refuse to stand for the national anthem, preferring to take a knee, are embolden because blasphemy of country carries no economic penalty.
There are other manifestations of this poisonous paradigm. College professors teach America's history is replete with killing people (wars), colonialism and white supremacy. Rioters, Capitol insurrectionists and looters address their grievances with America through violence, chillingly similar to Nazism.
Patriotism is no longer fashionable. The latest Gallup Poll found that 63% of Americans are either extremely or very proud of their country, the lowest level of patriotism since the research group began asking the questions in 2001. Among 18-to-34-year-olds, only four in 10 are proud of America.
Even American exceptionalism, once a banner of national pride, is ridiculed by elitists and politicians. New York Magazine labeled it a "dangerous myth," thus disparaging our unique form of government, national credo, history, promotion of democratic ideals and willingness to die for those precepts.
America, like every country, has its imperfections. But anyone who has traveled the world can attest Americans are blessed to live in the world's most free, multi-racial, prosperous society. Since most Americans never venture outside the country, they lack perspective on how the rest of the world lives.
That fact helps explain this American alienation. Nevertheless, it does not justify it.
Americans no longer cherish their freedoms, including religious worship. When a government can shut down churches and limit attendance, it violates a core principle enshrined in our Constitution. Even in a pandemic, it is unAmerican. Issuing health advice is the role of democratic governments.
Shuttering churches is right out of the playbook of the Communist Party in China. Yet few flinched when it was mandated. Religious freedom also means people should not be forced to change their core values or beliefs to conform to the prevailing cultural norms or government policies.
Most worrisome is how many Americans remain silent. They are lulled by their belief the pendulum of history will inevitably swing the opposite way to restore values, customs and traditions that have defined America. That is the optimistic view, a hallmark of being American. But is it realistic today?
America is suffering from truth decay. Major influencers are aligned behind an orchestrated effort to denigrate the country by blurring the line between facts and opinion, between right and wrong. To what end, you ask? Nothing less than the destruction of American institutions and transcendent ideals.
Once those crumble, the country itself implodes. People no longer trust any institution, including the police. An atmosphere of distrust creates a tinderbox environment, ripe for exploitation by anarchists and political despots. Citizens willing surrender their rights in hopes of stability and safety.
I make no apologies for the somber, pessimistic tone. However, I refuse to allow this to happen without raising the alarm. America is on the brink, teetering between authoritarian socialism and democracy. Those who want to stifle dissent and reorder our democracy are counting on your silence.
How will you answer the call when America desperately needs voices of freedom?
No comments:
Post a Comment