Sunday, September 26, 2010

America's Future

It is said that every revolution carries its own seeds of destruction. In looking at America today, I wonder if those seeds from our revolution have taken root and are starting to sprout. If you were to ask someone overseas what was America’s essence, they would tell you that it was individual freedom, and indeed it was. America’s Founding Fathers embedded the concept of individual freedom in everything they wrote and said. The Constitution says that as citizens we the right to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, and yet look at us now.

Americans are now little more than economic serfs. We have a debt and tax burden which is unsustainable. We’ve created an entire underclass, which is expanding and ever increasingly depended on the government for their survival (“entitlements” they’re call); the majority being black Americans who have been lured into trading their masters of old for new ones rather than seeking economic independence. In a society such as ours, capitalism must be ever expanding in a perpetual self-created world of obsolescence. Large multi-national corporations regard governments simply as another tool to achieve their economic ends and keep the populace in line. Employees are just another liability to be used and discarded; another cost to be cut. We’re less citizens and more captive consumers. It seems that somewhere along the line, we’ve forgotten “pursuit” and inserted the word “right”. But such “rights” come with their own chains. What the government gives with one hand, it takes a large piece of with the other.

Americans by and large are a religious lot, whether or not we attend a place of worship on a regular basis. We deeply cherish our freedom of and from religion. We have no national religion. We stand by the separation of Church and State as matter of national principle. We are one of the few countries which have freedom of speech and a relatively free and open press (the integrity of which comes into question from time to time, however, that very fact is a visual demonstration of that very freedom). While we may argue amongst ourselves over issues, we stand together in defending our right to speak our minds.

So, how to we defend that right when discussing a religion which would like nothing better than to imbed itself in government; to create a theocracy? What do we say to this growing religion which openly espouses the destruction of our government, of our Western values and our religious beliefs? We’re speaking of a religion whose sole aim is absolute global domination; elimination of all other religions; forced compliance with their religious laws; abolition of basic rights such as open and free debate, equality among sexes, religious tolerance, religious courts with the right to issue beatings and death penalties.

We are a nation of immigrants. It has been our diversity which has made us the most successful nation in the history of the world. We brought with us the best of our native countries and eagerly blended them with others. No other phrase was spoken with such feeling by our immigrant ancestors as “I am an American”. Nowadays, we’re fast becoming a nation of ethnic groups. We see people walked down the street in their native costumes. We have a population who refuses to learn our language and, in fact, demand that we learn theirs. Where, else in the world can an immigrant population demand that the host country cater to their language and customs? Politicians only see voters and the next election. Businesses only see consumers. The American People see their nation unraveling.

When asked why America is the world’s destination, the answer is the same now as it was in past: a better life. Yet, we have millions coming here illegally. America is a sovereign country governed by laws like every other country, but we find ourselves unable or unwilling to act to secure our borders. Our federal government ignores the overwhelming will of the people with greater and greater impunity on this and other issues. The end result is an ever increasing burden on an already overburden infrastructure. Those who claim that illegals “pay their way” overlook the fact that the majority who pay any kind of taxes are at the extreme low end of the economic scale and thus are unable to pay even their share of the tax based services they use. These same individuals also have very low levels of education and not only don’t know the language, but many actively refuse to learn it or allow their children to learn it. The result is the creation of yet another subclass.

Americans pride themselves on their right, as guaranteed under the Constitution, to self-protection. Perhaps it’s our national individualist streak; maybe it’s because our Founders knew government couldn’t always be trusted and therefore the citizenry had to have the means to fight back, but either way, we cherish our guns. However, there are those who believe that individual ownership of guns does more harm than good; no guns equals less violent crime. These same individuals seem to ignore Man’s propensity to violence with or without guns. Man is a natural killer. We’ve been doing it for hundreds of thousands of years. We’re very good at it. When someone knows they’re likely to get killed doing something wrong, they tend to go elsewhere.

So, how do we get out of this rabbit hole? Will we have to destroy America in order to save it? How to do reconcile religious freedom, freedom of assembly, and free speech with groups who aren’t merely trying to incite media attention, but aggressively attempting to destroy us while hiding behind our most cherish rights to do it? How to we end economic serfdom while keeping at least a measure of capitalism? We’ve reached an over saturation point in current debt and taxes. Our grandchildren are coming into the world with an estimated $42,000 tax debt tied around their neck. Of course, we must somehow break the current business-government exploitement of working America.

Unions did much to counter the corruptive power of corporations in the latter half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, however many unions became as bad as some of the companies over time. As a result, the reputation of organized labor became forever tarnished, and membership dropped (and with it, political clout). Perhaps it’s time to revisit those early unions once again and not become the cash cow of either political party this time.

No less important is whether we can remain a single united nation with both business and our elected officials promoting multi-culturalism to the point where we are losing common cause with each other. The only result, if we continue along these lines, is a defacto Balkanized country if not a divided nation.

All nations rise and fall. Perhaps now is our time. Then again, perhaps Americans will decide that it’s time to start over.

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